The compelling and diverse Benicio del Toro is a profoundly gifted performer who is both a highly-revered cinematic talent and visionary producer. The Puerto Rican actor began his Hollywood career back in the late 1980s, with small but notable roles in pictures like the underrated James Bond film License to Kill and Fearless. It was his off-the-wall portrayal of the outlandish, unintelligible crook Fred Fenster in 1995’s The Usual Suspects that served as his breakthrough performance, though, leading to a slew of fruitful leading roles.
Del Toro would go on to appear in both independent and major studio pictures, embracing thought-provoking and over-the-top characters such as Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, historical figures like Che Guevara in the biopic Che, and assassin Alejandro Gillick in Sicario. The actor has beautifully demonstrated his acting gifts and his devotion to the craft, serving up memorable and moving performances with every role.
Del Toro has worked with some of the greatest visionaries in the business, joining forces with respected directors like Bryan Singer, Guy Ritchie, his frequent work with Steven Soderbergh and Alejandro González Iñárritu for lucrative and lauded projects. The movie star has been the recipient of countless accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. The dynamite performer’s next roles will be in the upcoming Jamie Foxx-helmed sports dramedy All-Star Weekend and the crime thriller Reptile. These are the best Benicio del Toro performances, ranked.
9 The French Dispatch
The highly-renowned Wes Anderson enlisted some of cinema’s finest performers to appear in the 2021 anthology comedy The French Dispatch, set in the outpost of an American newspaper in the fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, that brings to life a collection of stories published in the titular paper. Featuring a large ensemble cast including Benicio del Toro, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Billy Murray, Frances McDormand and myriad others, the film follows three different storylines and stars del Toro as Moses Rosenthaler, a mentally disturbed artist serving a prison sentence for murder. The actor appeared alongside Swinton and Brody for the segment entitled “The Concrete Masterpiece.”
Anderson was inspired to create the picture because of his love for The New Yorker, and some events and characters in the comedy are based on real-life equivalents from the magazine. The French Dispatch debuted at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and garnered praise for its outstanding performances (especially del Toro's humorous but incredibly intimidating one), production design and score.
8 Basquiat
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Based on the life of American postmodernist/neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, the 1996 biographical drama Basquiat depicts the Brooklyn-born street artist as he struggles to deal with fame, his personal identity and drug addiction. Jeffrey Wright stars as Basquiat alongside Gary Oldman, David Bowie (who expertly plays Andy Warhol) and Benicio del Toro. The biopic showcases the creative mind’s relationship with his mentor Warhol, and focuses on the misconceptions of the gifted artists.
Director Julian Schnabel revealed, “In the film, I wanted to make a requiem for Jean and Andy [...] They were so attacked. Andy cared about Jean-Michel. He was really human. He wasn’t a vampire. His death broke Jean-Michel’s heart.” In the moving drama, del Toro plays Benny Dalmau, Basquiat’s straight-to-the-point roommate who often serves as his confidant. For his role as the candid and genuine Dalmau, del Toro won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.
7 Snatch
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Guy Ritchie’s 2000 ensemble crime comedy flick Snatch takes place in the London criminal underworld and details two intertwined plots: one following small-time boxing promoter Turkish, who finds himself under the thumb of a cold-blooded gangster who wants his men to carry out ruthless and violent acts, and the other involving the search for a priceless stolen diamond. The crime caper's ensemble cast includes Brad Pitt, Jason Statham and Stephen Graham, with Benicio del Toro memorably portraying Franky Four-Fingers, a gangster who has stolen an 86-carat diamond that other nefarious criminals wish to acquire.
The entertaining and action-packed film was both a critical and commercial success, with The New York Post writing, “Once again writer-director Ritchie demonstrates a deeply pleasurable combination of verbal flair and visual wit while conveying the genuine, intimidating hardness of the English working class and its love of language.” Snatch has since gone on to develop a cult following; it was also adapted into a television show in 2017 and lasted two seasons.
6 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Adapted from Hunter S. Thompson’s semi-autobiographical novel, 1998’s adventurous dark comedy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas features Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro as Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, and follows the duo’s journey through Las Vegas as they explore the city in a series of psychedelic escapades. Both talented actors underwent intense preparations for their respective roles: del Toro gained more than 45 pounds in 9 weeks by eating 16 donuts a day and extensively researched Oscar Acosta’s life (whom Dr. Gonzo is based on), while Depp lived on Thompson’s farm for four months and shadowed the author.
Director Terry Gilliam wanted to provoke strong reactions with the picture, having revealed in an interview, “I want it to be seen as one of the great movies of all time, and one of the most hated movies of all time.” The filmmaker seemingly succeeded, as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas polarized critics and garnered mixed responses; like the comedy, Depp and del Toro were both praised and condemned for their over-the-top and often grotesque portrayals. Nonetheless, the surrealistic movie has earned a cult following over the years and is probably the most entertaining drug film ever made.
5 Che
Steven Soderbergh’s two-part 2008 biopic Che stars Benicio del Toro as Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, and details the polarizing historical figure’s life and involvement in the Cuban Revolution and his attempts to bring a revolution to Bolivia. For his dramatic role, del Toro spent seven years obsessively researching Guevara’s life, looking through photographs and reading his personal writings; the actor felt like he “earned his stripes” in order to interpret the character.
The actor also personally met with Guevara’s widow, family members and childhood friends, and he even collaborated with three surviving guerillas from the revolutionary’s ill-fated Bolivian campaign. Of his profound portrayal, del Toro described Guevara as “a weird combination of an intellectual and action figure, Gregory Peck and Steven McQueen, wrapped in one.” Che debuted at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews, with del Toro winning the Best Actor Award.
4 Sicario
Denis Villenueve’s 2015 action thriller Sicario focuses on Emily Blunt's idealistic character, FBI Special Agent Kate Macer, who is recruited to join forces with a CIA Covert Operative Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) to aid the escalating war against drugs at the border. The pair is assisted by the secretive Alejandro Gillick, a former Mexican prosecutor turned assassin powerfully (literally) portrayed by Benicio del Toro. Sicario is an edgy, nerve-wracking thriller that serves as the first installment in screenwriter Taylor Sheridan’s neo-western trilogy exploring crime on “the modern-day American frontier.”
For his compelling role as the ruthless Gillick, del Toro garnered universal praise, with famed critic Richard Roeper saying, “...then there’s del Toro, who lurks about the fringes of the action for most of the story, and then springs into action in a handful of scenes in a variety of ways that will leave you shaken–and grateful to have seen such beautifully dark work.” A sequel, entitled Sicario: Day of the Soldado, was released in 2018, and the third film is coming.
3 21 Grams
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2003 psychological drama 21 Grams interweaves three stories that are all linked to a tragic automobile accident; the plot centers on a critically ill mathematician, a grief-stricken mother and a born-again ex-convict whose faith is tested in the aftermath of the incident. Del Toro appears as Jack Jordan, a former convict who is using his new-found religious faith to recover from drug addiction and alcoholism. Sean Penn portrays the terminally ill academic Paul Rivers and Naomi Watts the grieving Cristina Peck. Iñárritu and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto utilized different film stocks to obtain different grain structures, with Paul’s story pictured with cool colors, Jack’s warm and Cristina’s presented neutrally. 21 Grams was met with widespread critical acclaim, with positive responses for del Toro and Watts’ heartbreaking performances. The drama earned Watts and del Toro Academy Award nominations.
2 The Usual Suspects
Bryan Singer’s beloved 1995 neo-noir mystery thriller The Usual Suspects is undeniably one of Benicio del Toro’s most dynamic performances, and helped establish the gifted star as a character actor. The plot follows the interrogation of Roger “Verbal” Kint, a small-time con man who is only one of two survivors of a horrific gun massacre on a boat. Kint tells a tale of twisty events that ultimately culminated in the violent and deadly battle, doing so through flashback and narration. Kevin Spacey stars as Kint, and the film features the additional talent of performers like Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, and Kevin Pollack, with Benicio del Toro appearing as the wise-cracking, mumbling Fred Fenster.
The actor developed the character’s unique, garbled style of speech in an effort to make his role more memorable. The famous police lineup scene endured scheduling conflicts because the actors kept laughing during takes; Del Toro somehow managed to pass gas for 12 takes, according to Pollack, and their reactions were used in the finished product. The Usual Suspects won del Toro an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and led to a slew of roles in both independent and major studio films.
1 Traffic
Stephen Soderbergh’s groundbreaking 2000 crime drama Traffic explores the illegal drug trade from various perspectives, including enforcers, users, politicians and traffickers; the stories are depicted throughout the picture despite not all characters crossing each other’s paths. Traffic has an international ensemble cast with first-rate names like Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas. Del Toro dominated the picture, though as Javier Rodriguez, a Mexican border policeman who struggles to remain honest amidst the deception and corruption of illegal drug trafficking.
Entertainment Weekly heralded del Toro’s depiction, calling it “haunting in his understatement, it becomes the film’s quietly awakening moral center.” His poignant portrayal swept all the major critics’ awards in 2001, and won the star the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the third Puerto Rican actor to win an Oscar. Traffic garnered rave reviews, with Time Out proclaiming, “It’s wise about different kinds of addiction and concepts of family, about the folly, futility and hypocrisy of anti-drug 'wars’, and about the awful human cost of it all. And it grips like a vice from start to finish.” It's a masterpiece, and may be del Toro's most powerful performance.