Rafael Del Toro Sanchez

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Benicio Monserrate Rafael Del Toro Sanchez is a Latin American actor born in Puerto Rico. He was one of two boys and both of his parents were lawyers in Puerto Rico. Although Benicio had few lead roles, he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as well as other accolades for different films throughout his career. Del Toro set his mind out to do what he felt passionate about and became renown as one of the most popular Latin American actors in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Benicio lost his mother to hepatitis when he was nine years old and that is when his father, Gustavo, decided to move Del Toro and his brother to a farm in Pennsylvania to start a new life. From a young age Del Toro was interested in acting and basketball, …show more content…

Only a year after that, Del Toro starred in a James Bond film “License to Kill” as a henchman, Dario, to the main villain. Del Toro was only twenty one years of age at the time making him the youngest person to ever be casted as a Bond villain in franchise history. Unfortunately, the Bond film was one of the disappointing movies of the franchise going against tough competition during the summer of its release. Del Toro went on to act in The Indian River, Money for Nothing, Fearless, China Moon, and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery. Del Toro’s performance in The Usual Suspects earned himself an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the movie went on to win an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Del Toro continued to act in independent films throughout the next several years. Del Toro’s first commercial movie was The Fan starring Robert De Niro, where Del Toro played an arrogant Spanish baseball star. In 1997, Del Toro shot his first movie as the leading actor when he was specifically chosen by Alicia Silverstone for the movie Excess Baggage. His second leading role was with Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Del Toro devoted his entire body into the role, going as far as gaining forty pounds as well as burning himself with a cigarette for one of the scenes. When the movie received less then favorable reviews, Del Toro took the criticism …show more content…

The cast was star studded, including Michael Douglas, Selma Hayek, Dennis Quaid, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but Del Toro had a stand out performance, and his Best Actor award by the Screen Writers Guild validated that belief. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in 21 Grams, as well as winning a hand full of smaller awards. He also gained attention for his acting in Sicario in 2015 and Che in 2008, earning nominations and winning smaller awards. Del Toro was the third Puerto Rican to ever win an Academy Award and only the second male Puerto Rican to do so. Furthermore, he was granted an honorary degree by the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico for his standing impact on the movie business. According to the Huffington Post, in 87 years, only one Latino has won an oscar for best actor. (Jose Ferrer.) Zero Latinas have won an oscar for best actress. Mexican actor Anthony Quinn is the only Latin actor to ever win two oscars for best supporting actor. Rita Moreno is the only Latina that has won an oscar for best supporting actress. Mexican cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, has been nominated for an oscar in a major category 7 times, but has only won once for the movie

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