“When I was young, I said no to movies out of rebellion and without thinking.”

He speaks slowly and thoughtfully, as if he chose every word with precision and care, and snorts when the question is more complicated than usual. It goes with dark circles and that eternal hangover aspect that always goes with it. But the thing about Benicio del Toro (Saint-Germain, Puerto Rico, 56) is pure façade because during his speech on Friday at the press conference on the occasion of the honor he will receive tomorrow during the 10th edition of Platino. Awards, leaving many headlines, which is difficult in a very prequel work.

He had already hinted at it when he went on stage in Albéniz’s room, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Madrid, and, with complete self-confidence, put on his sunglasses, and marked, as he said, Ricardo Darín, who was among the guests and had never taken them off. Moment. “It is an honor to be here to celebrate our Spanish identity”The protagonist of films such as “21 Grams”, who confirmed that he feels “honored” to follow in the footsteps of other actors such as Carmen Mora or Antonio Banderas by receiving this award, said.

Young Del Toro played basketball, listened to music, wrote and painted, but ended up getting into acting. “I didn’t sing, I didn’t play any instrument, and drawing and writing was very lonely,” identify. Instead, “acting was like going out on vacation.” He started taking lessons and rehearsing with other actors and from there he “got a taste of it”. In addition, he realized that it was an art that could be learned. “I thought it was something you were born with, but you can improve on it, it has logic, it has science, it’s not random,” he says.

And in those walks representative who He emphasizes that he is now trying to “be in the present”, without stopping to look back forward. “Now I see dolls much more than before,” he says, referring to the animated series he watches with his 11-year-old daughter. And as SpongeBob says, for all these years he’s worked with “excellent” directors, producers, and screenwriters, he’s “grabbed it all.” “Now I’m interested in exploring other things like producing and directing. I’ve been saying that for a while, but acting still attracts me, what happens is that as an actor you evolve and inevitably start creating your own taste and style,” he admitted.

Part of it can be seen at “Reptiles” is the last movie he worked in. in which he plays a New England detective who, after a case where nothing is what it seems, ends up having his life questioned. Since it was Grant Singer’s first film, he became “fully” involved in producing and editing. “I’m improving little by little,” he says between laughs.

His participation in the “Golden Egg”

And in this development, he realized that he had made mistakes. “When I was young I said no to projects and films out of rebellion and without thinking,” admits one who took the time to learn that “you have to give to receive.” However, these decisions don’t keep him up at night.

He has agreed to play the Miami boyfriend of the protagonist of “Huevos de oro”, the 30-year-old Bigas Luna. Thanks to her, the actor’s family began to accept his profession. “My family wasn’t very happy that I decided to be an actorBut the old man liked this movie, maybe because I made it in Spanish,” he explains about the photo shoot that allowed him to become friends with Javier Bardem.

About that, he told a delicious anecdote:It was shot in Miami and I was shooting another movie in Pennsylvania.It was winter, and I ran off to make “Huevos de oro.” I couldn’t catch the sun, because I had to turn back, so I wore a Mexican hat when I wasn’t filming.”

With films like Traffic, for which he won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, and series like Escape in Dannemora, the Puerto Rican has made a career in Hollywood where “most tales aren’t designed for minorities.” “There are stereotypes because characters representing minorities haven’t been explored, perhaps because writers telling the story of Hispanics in the United States haven’t fermented,” he says. As a countermeasure, “At some point, I don’t know how because I didn’t plan for it, I decided that if I was going to interpret stereotypes, I would do it in search of humanity and complexity in the character, and I had the opportunity to work with people who listened to my cry to give dimension to these characters or convince them The Bela Lugosi way,” he says, grinning. Of course, he is convinced that now there are more opportunities: “Before, you almost had to fly to the moon to make a movie, now the mobile phone is enough.”

Regarding cinema in Puerto Rico, he considers it to have its ups and downs, but that “There are always things.” He concludes, “I think there’s tremendous talent out there. Puerto Rico has become the island of reggaeton, and they’ve taken music everywhere, and maybe at some point they’ll do the same thing with cinema.”