Benicio Del Toro

Biography

Having emerged from the fertile world of 1990s independent film as one of its most compelling performers, Academy Award-winning actor Benicio Del Toro made the jump to studio films and became known for playing brooding, tortured souls in a wide array of projects. 

Del Toro first earned considerable praise as the mumbling Fenster in Bryan Singer's enigmatic ensemble crime drama "The Usual Suspects" (1995) and went on to several supporting roles in films like "The Fan" (1996), "Basquiat" (1996), "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998) and "Snatch" (2000). 

The actor broke through in a big way by winning the Oscar for his performance as a conflicted Mexican police detective caught between corrupt cops and drug cartels in Stephen Soderbergh's epic crime thriller "Traffic" (2000). From there, he delivered one of his best turns as an ex-con whose rebuilt life is shattered after causing a fatal car accident in Alejandro González Iñárritu's dark character drama "21 Grams" (2003). 

After donning heavy prosthetics to play the abusive Jackie Boy in "Sin City" (2005), Del Toro delivered a commanding performance as Latin American revolutionary Ernesto Guevara in Soderbergh's complex biopic, "Che" (2008), before returning to the mainstream as "The Wolfman" (2010), a remake of the classic horror tale. 

Whether starring in brooding indie character dramas or large-scale studio films, Del Toro always made sure that he maintained his focus on carefully chosen works that were more substance than style.