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Benicio-del-toro - Biography
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Benicio-del-toro Biography
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| Name : | Benicio-del-toro |
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Birth Date :
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February 19, 1967
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Birth Place :
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Santurce, Puerto Rico
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Height :
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6' 4
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Education :
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Stella Adler Acting Conservatory in Los Angeles on scholarship
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Nationality :
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Puerto Rican
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Profession :
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Actor
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Claim to fame :
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as Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects (1995)
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Benicio-del-toro Trivia
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- Scarlett Johansson and Benicio Del Toro were so smitten with each other at a pre-Oscars party, they didn't care about being spotted with their arms all over each other. (March 3, 2004)
- Was a basketball star and artist at Mercersburg Academy, but not an actor.
- Benico badly injured his wrist during a stunt fight during the filming of William Friedkin's THE HUNTED. 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 reportedly will be out of work for months, even though the film was virtually completed. He requires 3 hours of therapy daily and reportedly there is question whether he will regain full usage of the wrist.
- Burned himself with cigarettes repeatedly for the elevator scene in FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS because the real Oscar Zeta Acosta did as well. The shots of the burn were cut.
- Family urged him to become a lawyer because they felt there was no future in acting.
- Offered the role of Reinaldo Arenas in BEFORE NIGHT FALLS (2000) that eventually went to Javier Bardem. He turned it down to be in friend Christopher McQuarrie's THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000).
- Passionate about painting.
- Reportedly turned down the role of Frida Kahlo's husband Diego Rivera in FRIDA KAHLO (2001) because of the weight gain that would be required.
- Trade mark: Slurred, mumbling voice and odd mannerisms
- Is one of only four actors to have won an Academy Award for a part spoken mainly in a foreign language (most of Del Toro's dialogue is in Spanish). Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, and Roberto Begnini are the other three.
- Broke his wrist while filming a fight scene in THE FIGHT (2001) with Tommy Lee Jones halting production for four months and pushing back the release date.
- His delivery of the line He'll flip ya'. Flip ya' for real is straight from the movie THELONIOUS MONK: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER (1989) about jazz pianist Thelonius Monk. Monk says the line himself. (THE USUAL SUSPECTS)
- In the scene of THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000) where he and Phillippe, Ryan are flipping through radio stations in the car, one of the brief news reports on the radio says something to the effect of: Director Singer was found molesting adolescents... - a reference to charges brought against Singer during the production of APT PUPIL (1998).
- He gained 40 pounds for his role as Dr. Gonzo in FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (1998)
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Benicio-del-toro Detailed Biography
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Born in Puerto Rico on February 19, 1967, Benicio was the son of lawyer parents Gustavo and Fausta Sanchez Del Toro. His mother died when he was young, and his father moved the family to a farm in Pennsylvania. A basketball player with an interest in acting, he decided to folow the family way and study business at the University of California in San Diego. Changed major to acting so he could audition for a role in a school production. Decided to pursue acting full time so he left school and moved to New York City. Studied at Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York. Won a scholarship to The Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting where he studied for three-four years. During the late 80s he made a few TV appearances, most notably on an episode of "Miami Vice" and in the NBC miniseries "Drug Wars: The Kiki Camarena Story". Del Toro had a tougher go on the silver screen, he followed up his forgettable Pee-Wee debut with a role in the mediocre James Bond flick License To Kill (1989). Two years later, he snagged a small part in Sean Penn's warmly received directorial debut effort, The Indian Runner. Del Toro received his next paycheck for his performance as a thoroughly despicable rapist in the laughably awful Christopher Columbus-as-swashbuckler debacle Christopher Columbus: The Discovery. In spite of such career dead-ends, the game young actor managed to stay afloat with convincing supporting performances in such creditable dramas as Fearless and China Moon. His persistence was finally rewarded in 1995: the year began with a small role alongside Kevin Spacey in the bitter-pill Hollywood satire Swimming With Sharks.
In 1996, Del Toro parlayed his newfound celebrity into substantial roles in three films. He resurrected the oft-donned gangster persona of his early career to play a vengeful crime lord in Abel Ferrara's noirish art-house crime drama The Funeral, and then turned in a well-received portrayal of Benny Dalmau, faithful friend to the late American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, in Basquiat. Del Toro appeared in the film for free as a favor to painter and first-time director Julian Schnabel, a close personal friend of his. To stay afloat financially, Del Toro accepted the role of a self-obsessed baseball player who dies at the hands of a psychotic knife salesman (played by the Grand Poobah of all nutcase portrayers, Robert De Niro) in the half-baked baseball thriller The Fan. Del Toro managed to put the experience behind him by landing his first starring role, opposite It-girl Alicia Silverstone, in the 1997 kidnap farce Excess Baggage. Silverstone, who pulled double-duty as both the film's leading lady and producer, handpicked Del Toro to play her romantic counterpart after being wowed by his turn in The Usual Suspects. Now living in Los Angeles, Del Toro maintains a low profile between movies, and has thus far managed to avoid becoming entangled in any celebrity romances. His screenwriting and directing debut short Submission, which starred a pre-celebrity Matthew McConaughey, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1995.
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