How Benicio Del Toro got fame

Benicio del Toro, a Puerto Rican actor, became known in the mid-1990s as one of the most likable and charming character actors to emerge in years. Beloved by moviegoers, del Toro garnered much public interest when he portrayed the corrupt but truly committed Mexican cop in Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Traffic’ in 2000. He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Tránsito, giving much pride in the flag of Puerto Rico.

Del Toro chose to go the family route and went to the University of California, San Diego to study business. His fascination with acting started because of an acting class. He then dropped out of college and embarked to study in Los Angeles, California with Stella Adler, a renowned acting teacher. He also studied in New York City at the Circle in the Square Theater School. He hid his new studies from his family for a brief period.

He appeared on a few television shows in the late 1980s, most notably in a 1987 episode of ‘Miami Vice.’ His film work began at a leisurely pace and his first role was in ‘Big Top Pee-wee’ as Duke the Dog-Faced Boy in 1988. But things took a turn for the better when he was cast as Dario, one of the henchmen from the main movie. antagonist, in the 1989 James Bond film ‘License to Kill’. His co-stars were taken aback because, at 21, he was the youngest actor to play a Bond antagonist.