Overview (4)

Born February 19, 1967 in San Germán, Puerto Rico Birth Name Benicio Monserrate Rafael Del Toro Sanchez Nickname Beno Height 6' 2" (1.88 m)

Mini Bio (1)

Trade Mark (5)

Deep raspy voice



Slurred mumbling voice and odd mannerisms



Frequently portrays dark, tragic characters



Frequently plays moral characters in harsh environments



Dark circles under his eyes



Trivia (44)

Son of Gustavo Del Toro and Fausta Sanchez Rivera (both lawyers).



Passionate about oil painting.



He was sent to boarding school in Pennsylvania when he was age 13.



Has one older brother, Gustavo Del Toro, who is a physician in the United States.



His mother, Fausta Sanchez Del Toro, died of hepatitis when he was age nine.



His family urged him to become a lawyer because they felt there was no future in acting.





Studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting on a scholarship.

Attended the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), but did not graduate.





Burned himself with cigarettes repeatedly for the elevator scene in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) because the real Oscar Zeta Acosta did as well. The shots of the burn were deleted.

Attended and graduated from Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania (1985). He was a basketball star and artist there, but not an actor.





He badly injured his wrist during a stunt fight during the filming of William Friedkin 's The Hunted (2003). He fell on his wrist as he dove for a knife and actor Tommy Lee Jones fell on top of him. He was injured so badly that he was out of work for months, even though the film was virtually completed. He required three hours of therapy daily and reportedly there is a question whether he will regain full use of the wrist.

"Del Toro" means "of the bull" in Spanish.





Received the 2003 Audience Award for Best Actor at the Venice International Film Festival for his role in 21 Grams (2003).



Benny Dalmau's last name (his character in Basquiat (1996)) came from Raymond Dalmau, a Puerto Rican basketball player in the 1970s and early 1980s. Raymond Dalmau wore the shirt Benicio wears in the film when he was in the Puerto Rican National Selection.



Had a long-term relationship with Chiara Mastroianni (1998-2001).

Before moving to Pennsylvania, he was a student at Academia del Perpetuo Socorro in Miramar, Puerto Rico.





Because of his pay-or-play deal, he was paid $5 million for American Gangster (2007). The film was due to start shooting in October 2004 - with Denzel Washington co-starring - but Universal Pictures postponed it because of budgetary concerns. The film eventually got the green light in 2006, with Ridley Scott replacing Antoine Fuqua as director.



He was considered for the lead role of Eddie Kagle in Angel on My Shoulder (2005), a role that was played by Paul Muni in Angel on My Shoulder (1946). Producers not only wanted him for his amazing talent, but also for his close resemblance to Muni.



At 21 years old, he is the youngest person ever to portray a villain in a James Bond movie: Dario in Licence to Kill (1989).



Had a cameo as a background character in Madonna 's music video "La Isla Bonita" (1987).



Mark Ruffalo was a fellow student at the Stella Adler Conservatory in Los Angeles.

His father owned the property across the street from his childhood home and turned it into a full-size basketball court so he and his brother Gustavo could practice and play with their friends. The property has since been built into a condominium.



Currently resides in Los Angeles, California.





Vocalist Macy Gray is one of his huge fans. They were born the same year.



Became a father for the first time at age 44 when Kimberly Stewart gave birth to his daughter Delilah Genoveva Stewart Del Toro on August 21, 2011.



Is one of four Academy Award winning actors to play a James Bond villain. The other three are Christopher Walken Javier Bardem and Christoph Waltz . Benicio is the only one not to play a main villain and to play a villain before winning his Oscar.



He was considered for the role of John Harrison in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), but eventually declined due to monetary issues. The role went to Benedict Cumberbatch

Received an honorary degree from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico for his impact on the cinema enterprise, during the celebration of the university's centennial. [March 2012]





Benicio and longtime friend Josh Brolin were once told by then Miramax Films executive Meryl Poster , that they were the worst auditioners she had ever witnessed.

His maternal great-grandfather, Rafaél Rivera Esbri, was one of the heroes of the El Polvorin fire in Ponce in 1899. He was later Mayor of Ponce, from 2 January, 1915 to 2 January, 1917.





Alumnus of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

Personal Quotes (11)

Before I was ever in high school, I had dark circles under my eyes. The rumor was I was a junkie. I have dark circles under my eyes, deal with it.





My career went into the hole after Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). People might have seen what they saw on screen and subconsciously, people in the business might have taken what they saw literally. I think people thought, "He got fat. He got weird. His mumbling increased tenfold." I was trying to do an interpretation of a masterpiece of a book, and that's what the character was - an animal!

I like anything that's three-dimensional, anything I can believe in - even if it's fantastic, surreal or from another planet.



I like to keep growing. I haven't gotten anywhere, as far as I'm concerned.



I'd like to do completely different roles - a romantic lead, for example. I'd like to be dressed up in a suit and get the girl at the end of the movie.





I see The Usual Suspects (1995) as the time where I was, quote unquote, discovered. It took me six, seven years to get to that place. And it was not easy. You're fighting with people who doubt you and your choice of career. There are a lot of doubts - and you have to stay focused with what you want. I never put a time limit on me being successful or not. I just cared about the work as an actor. But it wasn't easy because there were a lot of ups and downs. I don't know if you know much about baseball, but baseball is the game of failure. You deal with failure - strike, strike, strike - all the time. Acting is like that. You have to have a very thick skin in a way - your hair is too dark, you're too ugly for the part, your audition wasn't good.

I do get more recognized now. If I go to dinner, people look at me more now and whisper. But as an actor, I would be no one without the people who come and see me. So it would be ridiculous for it to bother me. It just bothers me when I'm intoxicated.





My goal as an actor has always been to reach a level where I can find a lot of interesting work, and I think I'm at that point now. The Oscar has given me a lot of recognition, but I think Traffic (2000) alone would have done a lot for me. It's the kind of role you die for because a lot of people are going to focus on your work. It gives you a very high profile.

I used to play basketball and I was pretty competitive, but I was never a bad loser. I never got angry. For me, it was always about doing my best and devoting myself to a challenge. Sometimes that will cut it, other times it won't. But I'm someone who remains faithful to my dreams. That's how I looked at acting, even though I knew it would be tough going at first. I didn't think about the money, I've always lived simply. I just need my books and I can get by.



I like to take things very slowly. When you start to become a movie star, it's easy to believe that you are Superman. That can fool you. That's why I prefer not to pay much attention to fame. The truth is that I don't give it much thought. I don't suffer. I don't hang my photographs on the wall. Without realizing it, you can enter a vicious circle and think that you really are a superhero. That's the moment when you get yourself in real trouble.



It's funny, but when I arrived in California to start college, I was much more interested in becoming a surfer and cruise along in life from one beach to the next. I didn't plan out any huge career for myself. Now that I see that I have this career and it's worked out for me, it still feels like I'm surfing, only that it's on a different level. I feel very free and that's all that I've ever wanted out of life.

