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Benicio del Toro

Benicio del Toro has built a career around characters who rarely explain themselves. His performances tend to work through watchfulness, unusual rhythms and a sense that something important is being held back. That quality has made him especially effective in crime dramas, but his filmography also stretches across comedy, comic-book spectacle, science fiction and historical biography. Born in Puerto Rico on February 19, 1967, del Toro moved into acting after an elective drama course encouraged him to leave his business studies. He trained with Stella Adler and Arthur Mendoza in Los Angeles and at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York. Early television work led to his film debut in Big Top Pee-wee and a role as Dario in Licence to Kill. The Usual Suspects provided his 1995 breakthrough. As Fred Fenster, del Toro turned a supporting role into something strange, funny and immediately distinctive, winning an Independent Spirit Award. He won the award again for Basquiat, then underwent a major physical transformation to play Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Traffic brought him to a wider audience. Playing Mexican border policeman Javier Rodriguez, with most of his dialogue delivered in Spanish, del Toro won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, along with Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild honors. Another Oscar nomination followed for 21 Grams. His portrayal of Che Guevara across The Argentine and Guerrilla earned him the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actor award and a Goya Award. Del Toro later found another formidable role in Sicario as Alejandro Gillick, a former prosecutor driven by revenge, and returned for Sicario: Day of the Soldado. He has also stepped into major franchises as the Collector in the Marvel films and DJ in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, while The French Dispatch gave his contained intensity a distinctly Wes Anderson setting. Alongside acting, his work has included directing, producing and screenwriting—a fittingly broad career for a performer who has never seemed interested in taking the most obvious route through a scene.