Del Toro, Benicio (1967– )

US actor. Known for his intense, distinctive characterizations of dark, impassive, offbeat characters, he first became well known for his role in the crime drama The Usual Suspects (1995). He was propelled to international stardom for his much acclaimed role as a Mexican police officer in Stephen Soderbergh's drug crime film Traffic (2001; Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor).

Other films include Swimming with Sharks (1995), Basquiat (1996), The Funeral (1996), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Pledge (2001), and 21 Grams (2003). His directing debut was The Rum Diary (2005), which like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, was a collaboration with actor Johnny Depp and based on a novel by Hunter S Thompson.

He was born in Puerto Rico and, after his mother died, spent his adolescence on a farm in Mercersberg, Pennsylvania. He took acting classes at the University of California at San Diego, where he was studying business, and appeared in several student performances. He studied acting in New York City before moving to Los Angeles, California, where he studied further at the Actors Circle Theatre before achieving brief television roles. At 21, he became the youngest actor to play a James Bond villain in Licence to Kill (1989).