By Marianina Patsa

“I always felt that I could do anything. The main thing that controls people is their perception of themselves… If you are taught that you can’t do anything, you won’t do anything.”
Benicio del Toro has said this exactly like that. And that is exactly how he works –  with a confidence that doesn’t need noise.

Whether in action films, surreal comedies, or intense political dramas, del Toro is an actor who never forgets the inner life of the characters he portrays. From Sicario (2015) and its sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018), to his elegantly stylized appearance in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch (2021), and the ensemble-driven drama No Sudden Move (2021) by Steven Soderbergh, he chooses roles that highlight the complexity of character.

He rarely plays the “hero.” He prefers characters who operate on the margins – people with a past, with secrets, with quiet anger. He works intensely with expression and gaze, which makes him recognizable without ever repeating himself.

In his latest film, One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2025), del Toro portrays Sergio St. Carlos, a karate instructor and protector of the community, who helps displaced people through a secret network of shelters. At the same time, he is a complex figure with a revolutionary side and serves as a mentor to Leonardo DiCaprio’s character.

In The Phoenician Scheme (Wes Anderson, 2025), he plays Zsa Zsa Korda, an ultra-wealthy arms dealer whose presence dominates the story in an almost laconic way. And in real life, he is not very different. He is eccentric and restrained – far from the glitter and noise of Hollywood.

And so his journey is not simply a successful career, but a steady exercise in freedom: the freedom not to be confined by a role, but to always shape it yourself, wherever you may be.