Benicio del Toro reflects on family doubts after Oscar win, sharing how familial expectations persisted even after his biggest professional triumph. The renowned actor, originally from Puerto Rico, revealed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that his relatives continued to encourage a backup career, despite his Academy Award success.
Benicio del Toro’s Career and Oscar Achievement
With a nearly 40-year film career, Benicio del Toro has embodied a spectrum of memorable roles. He took on challenging dramatic parts in films such as Che, 21 Grams, The Usual Suspects, Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian, and notably, delivered his Oscar-winning performance in Traffic. Del Toro has also showcased his versatility in action films like Sicario and its sequel, and has embraced eccentric characters in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Inherent Vice. His latest role in Wes Anderson‘s comedy The Phoenician Scheme highlights a turn toward overt humor in his body of work.
Despite this wealth of talent and accolades, del Toro explained it is natural for families to harbor concerns about the uncertainty of an acting career. He described ongoing pressure from his relatives to consider a fallback plan, an expectation that remained even after reaching the pinnacle of success in Hollywood.
Persisting Family Expectations
Following his Best Supporting Actor Oscar win for Traffic in 2000, years after memorable appearances in Miami Vice and Licence to Kill, Benicio del Toro still faced family skepticism. He shared an anecdote from just days after receiving his Academy Award:
“After I won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, I remember my godmother, maybe three days later, was like, ‘You’d be a great lawyer. You could do law school at night. You could be a great lawyer,’”
—Benicio del Toro, Actor
Del Toro’s upbringing occurred in a family of professionals outside the performance world. Both parents practiced law, and his great-grandfather held a political career. The family’s unfamiliarity with the entertainment business fueled their apprehension about his chosen vocation.
“I don’t come from a family of theater people or movie people, so they were very nervous with me. I come from a family of professionals, not in the movie world or the theater world, so they were very concerned.”
—Benicio del Toro, Actor
A Father’s Changing Perspective
Now a parent himself, del Toro reflected on how his views have evolved. He spoke candidly about embracing his daughter‘s potential career decisions, drawing a contrast with the pressures he experienced.
“My daughter, if she wants to be a lawyer, great. [If] the next day she wants to be a designer, great. But I do know that if she wants to be an actress, you just have to let her be.”
—Benicio del Toro, Actor
Del Toro’s 14-year-old daughter, whose mother is Kimberly Stewart, is part of the Rod Stewart family, making her one of the iconic musician’s granddaughters. Despite the family’s show business background, del Toro supports the freedom to choose any path, including acting, emphasizing the evolving professional landscape of modern media.
New Opportunities for the Next Generation
Benicio del Toro expressed optimism about the opportunities in entertainment that the current generation can pursue. Drawing from his early experiences as a background performer in Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita” music video, he observed significant growth in the industry.
“I think there’s more opportunity now than when I was going out for auditions for an actor,”
—Benicio del Toro, Actor
“I think that now there’s more. There’s all these TV series, a lot of stories being told as we speak.”
—Benicio del Toro, Actor
He highlighted the expansion of television and streaming as platforms where diverse narratives and roles flourish, providing more options to aspiring actors than previous generations enjoyed.
Early Career Choices and Creative Risks
Del Toro recalled pivotal moments from the beginning of his career. For many filmgoers, his breakout came with The Usual Suspects, a thriller directed by Bryan Singer that garnered critical acclaim and launched several careers, including those of Christopher McQuarrie and Kevin Spacey. Del Toro took a creative gamble in his character’s portrayal, which resonated with the cast and crew.
“My character died on page 38 or 39. It was, like, I had five scenes. So they trusted me to create that character and give whatever to it,”
—Benicio del Toro, Actor
“The cast was very encouraging too, with what I was doing. I remember when I finished my last day of shooting, I felt like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know if this is gonna work,’ you know?”
—Benicio del Toro, Actor
The willingness of directors and fellow actors to support bold creative choices contributed significantly to Benicio del Toro’s development as a performer.
Legacy and Ongoing Impact
Benicio del Toro’s reflection on family doubts after his Oscar win reveals that even the most acclaimed accomplishments may not immediately dispel generational concerns or personal uncertainty. His experience demonstrates how tradition and ambition can coexist within families, and how perspectives may change over time, especially as new opportunities in entertainment emerge. With del Toro now supporting his own daughter‘s ambitions—whatever they may be—his story underscores the evolving nature of parental guidance and career expectations in creative fields.
