Benicio del Toro

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is del Toro and the second or maternal family name is Sánchez.

Benicio del Toro
Del Toro in 2014
Born
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez

(1967-02-19) February 19, 1967 (age 57)
San Germán, Puerto Rico
CitizenshipSpain
EducationUniversity of California, San Diego
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
Years active1987–present
Children2
AwardsFull list

Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967)[1] is a Puerto Rican[2] actor. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Silver Bear for his portrayal of the jaded but morally upright police officer Javier Rodriguez in the film Traffic (2000). Del Toro's performance as despairing ex-con turned zealot Jack Jordan, in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams (2003), earned him a second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He is also known for his breakout role as the eccentric, unintelligible crook Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects (1995); Benny Dalmau in Basquiat (1996), winning two consecutive Independent Spirit Awards for both films; Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998); gambling addict Franky Four Fingers in Snatch (2000); the predatory, unhinged antagonist Jackie Boy in Sin City (2005); revolutionary Che Guevara in Che (2008), a performance that earned him the Best Actor award both at the Cannes Film Festival and at the Goya Awards; and as Alejandro, a mysterious, ruthless agent out to bring down a drug cartel in Sicario (2015), for which del Toro was nominated for several awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

His other roles include portrayals of the Collector in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; drug lord Pablo Escobar in Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014); Lawrence Talbot in the 2010 remake of The Wolfman; and the codebreaker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). In 2018, he starred as Richard Matt in the Showtime miniseries Escape at Dannemora, for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

  1. ^ This Is My Life: Benicio Del Toro - Memories of a bittersweet childhood. Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Gabriel de Lerma. The Miami Herald - El Nuevo Herald. 10 October 1997. Accessed 27 November 2020.
  2. ^ Méndez-Méndez, S.; Mendez, S.M.; Cueto, G.; Deynes, N.R.; Rodríguez-Deynes, N. (2003). Notable Caribbeans and Caribbean Americans: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-313-31443-8. Retrieved August 10, 2019.