Spanish Actors and Actresses

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Spanish Actors and Actresses

Benicio del Toro

When Benicio Del Toro first announced to his father and siblings that

he intended to pursue a career in acting, they didn't take the news

very well. As Del Toro told one interviewer, "My family freaked when I

told them I wanted to be an actor. It was like telling them I wanted

to be an astronaut. On top of that, it was like saying that in order

to be an astronaut, I was going to have to drive a cab in New York for

five years.

" The family probably felt that its worst fears had been realized when

Del Toro won his first movie role, playing "Duke the Dog-Faced Boy,"

in the ill-contrived sequel to Pee-WeeÆs Big Adventure, Big Top

Pee-Wee. Undaunted by the execrable effort, Del Toro stuck it out, and

over the course of the next several years, he paid the bills with a

steady stream of supporting roles, both in films and on television,

including several memorable portrayals of drug-dealing heavies.

His career caught fire with the role of enunciation-challenged con man

Fred Fenster in Bryan Singer's stunning ensemble crime drama The Usual

Suspects (1995), a performance for which he won an Independent Spirit

Best Supporting Actor award; he won the same award the following year

for his work in the critically lauded biopic Basquiat. With a résumé

comprised in equal measures of mainstream fare and independent

projects, Del Toro is uniquely positioned to become a draw both at the

box office and on the film-festival circuit.

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 scree...

... middle of paper ...

... of 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'

and 'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!' piqued Hollywood's interest in the Latin

sensation. He crossed over to American pictures in 1992, playing a

young Cuban musician in 'The Mambo Kings.' At the time he was cast,

Banderas spoke no English and had to learn all of his dialogue

phonetically.

Despite the language barrier, the role provided the jump-start Antonio

needed. He was cast opposite TOM HANKS in the 1993 Oscar?-winner

'Philadelphia,' then went on to take a bite out of the big screen --

and some innocent victims -- with fellow blood-suckers BRAD PITT and

TOM CRUISE in the 1994 blockbuster, 'Interview with the Vampire.' His

other early credits include 'The House of Spirits' (starring MERYL

STREEP, GLENN CLOSE and WINONA RYDER) and 'Miami Rhapsody' (SARAH

JESSICA PARKER).

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