Guillermo Del Toro

Producer

Actor

Novelist

Trollhunters

**Guillermo del Toro Gómez** (Spanish: [ɡiˈʝeɾmo ðel ˈtoɾo]; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, actor, and former special effects makeup artist. He is best known for the Academy Award-winning fantasy films *Pan's Labyrinth* (2006) and *The Shape of Water* (2017), winning the Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for the latter.

Throughout his career, del Toro has shifted between personal, lower-budget Spanish language films, such as *Cronos* (1993) and *The Devil's Backbone* (2001), and Hollywood tentpoles, including *Mimic* (1997), *Blade II* (2002), *Hellboy* (2004) and its sequel *Hellboy II: The Golden Army* (2008), *Pacific Rim* (2013), and *Crimson Peak* (2015). As a producer, del Toro worked on the films *The Orphanage* (2007), *Don't Be Afraid of the Dark* (2010), *The Hobbit* film series (2012–14), *Mama* (2013), *The Book of Life* (2014), *Pacific Rim: Uprising* (2018), and *Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark* (2019).

With Chuck Hogan, he co-authored *The Strain* trilogy of novels (2009–2011), later adapted into a comic-book series (2011–15) and a live-action television series (2014–17). With DreamWorks Animation, he created the Netflix animated series *Trollhunters* (2016–18) and *3Below* (2018–19), the first two installments of the *Tales of Arcadia* trilogy, based on the 2015 novel he co-wrote with Daniel Kraus. Working with DreamWorks, he also executive produced *Puss in Boots* (2011), *Rise of the Guardians* (2012), and *Kung Fu Panda 3* (2016).

Del Toro's work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales and horror, with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty in the grotesque.[4] He has had a lifelong fascination with monsters, which he considers symbols of great power.[5] He is also known for his use of insectile and religious imagery, the themes of Catholicism and celebrating imperfection, underworld and clockwork motifs, practical special effects, dominant amber lighting and his frequent collaborations with actors Ron Perlman and Doug Jones.[6][7] He is good friends with fellow Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and they are collectively known as "The Three Amigos of Cinema"

## Early life

Del Toro promoting his first feature film, *Cronos*, which was released in 1993

Del Toro was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, the son of Guadalupe Gómez and Federico del Toro Torres, an automotive entrepreneur.[9] He was raised in a strict Catholic household.[10] Del Toro studied at the Centro de Investigación y Estudios Cinematográficos, at the University of Guadalajara.[11]

When del Toro was about eight years old, he began experimenting with his father's Super 8 camera, making short films with *Planet of the Apes* toys and other objects. One short focused on a "serial killer potato" with ambitions of world domination; it murdered del Toro's mother and brothers before stepping outside and being crushed by a car.[12] Del Toro made about 10 short films before his first feature, including one titled *Matilde*, but only the last two, *Doña Lupe* and *Geometria*, have been made available.[13] He wrote four episodes and directed five episodes of the cult series *La Hora Marcada*, along with other Mexican filmmakers such as Emmanuel Lubezki and Alfonso Cuarón.[14]

Del Toro studied special effects and make-up with special-effects artist Dick Smith.[15] He spent 10 years as a special-effects make-up designer and formed his own company, Necropia. He also co-founded the Guadalajara International Film Festival. Later in his directing career, he formed his own production company, the Tequila Gang.[16]

In 1997, at the age of 33, Guillermo was given a $30 million budget from Miramax Films to shoot another film, *Mimic*. He was ultimately unhappy with the way Miramax had treated him during production, which led to his friend James Cameron almost coming to blows with Miramax co-founder and owner Harvey Weinstein during the 70th Academy Awards.[17]

## Career

Del Toro has directed a wide variety of films, from comic book adaptations (*Blade II*, *Hellboy*) to historical fantasy and horror films, two of which are set in Spain in the context of the Spanish Civil War under the authoritarian rule of Francisco Franco. These two films, *The Devil's Backbone* and *Pan's Labyrinth*, are among his most critically acclaimed works. They share similar settings, protagonists and themes with the 1973 Spanish film *The Spirit of the Beehive*, widely considered to be the finest Spanish film of the 1970s.[18]

I cannot pontificate about it, but by the time I'm done, I will have done one movie, and it's all the movies I want.

People say, you know, "I like your Spanish movies more than I like your English-language movies because they are not as personal", and I go "Fuck, you're wrong!" *Hellboy* is as personal to me as *Pan's Labyrinth*. They're tonally different, and yes, of course you can like one more than the other – the other one may seem banal or whatever it is that you don't like. But it really is part of the same movie. You make one movie.
Hitchcock did one movie, all his life.
Del Toro views the horror genre as inherently political, explaining, "Much like fairy tales, there are two facets of horror. One is pro-institution, which is the most reprehensible type of fairy tale: Don't wander into the woods, and always obey your parents. The other type of fairy tale is completely anarchic and antiestablishment."[19]

He is close friends with two other prominent and critically praised Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu.[20] The three often influence each other's directorial decisions, and have been interviewed together by Charlie Rose. Cuarón was one of the producers of *Pan's Labyrinth*, while Iñárritu assisted in editing the film. The three filmmakers, referred to as the "Three Amigos" founded the production company Cha Cha Cha Films, whose first release was 2008's *Rudo y Cursi*.[21][22]

In April 2008, del Toro was hired by Peter Jackson to direct the live-action film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's *The Hobbit*. On May 30, 2010, del Toro left the project due to extended delays brought on by MGM's financial troubles. Although he did not direct the films, he is credited as co-writer in *An Unexpected Journey*, *The Desolation of Smaug* and *The Battle of the Five Armies*.[24]

On December 1, 2008, del Toro expressed interest in a stop-motion remake to Roald Dahl's novel *The Witches*, collaborating with Alfonso Cuarón.[25] On June 19, 2018 it was announced that Del Toro and Cuarón would instead be attached as Executive Producers on the remake with Robert Zemeckis helming the project as Director and Screenwriter.[26]

Ivana Baquero and Guillermo del Toro receive a standing ovation after the North American premiere of *Pan's Labyrinth* at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival

On June 2, 2009, del Toro's first novel, *The Strain*, was released. It is the first part of an apocalyptic vampire trilogy co-authored by del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The second volume, *The Fall*, was released on September 21, 2010. The final installment, *The Night Eternal*, followed in October 2011. Del Toro cites writings of Antoine Augustin Calmet, Montague Summers and Bernhardt J. Hurwood among his favourites in the non-literary form about vampires.[27]

On December 9, 2010, del Toro launched Mirada Studios with his long-time cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, director Mathew Cullen and executive producer Javier Jimenez. Mirada was formed in Los Angeles, California to be a collaborative space where they and other filmmakers can work with Mirada's artists to create and produce projects that span digital production and content for film, television, advertising, interactive and other media. Mirada launched as a sister company to production company Motion Theory.[28]

Del Toro directed *Pacific Rim*, a science fiction film based on a screenplay by del Toro and Travis Beacham. In the film, giant monsters rise from the Pacific Ocean and attack major cities, leading humans to retaliate with gigantic mecha suits called *Jaegers*. Del Toro commented, "This is my most un-modest film, this has everything. The scale is enormous and I'm just a big kid having fun."[29] The film was released on July 12, 2013 and grossed $411 million at the box office.

Del Toro directed "Night Zero", the pilot episode of *The Strain*, a vampire horror television series based on the novel trilogy of the same name by del Toro and Chuck Hogan. FX has commissioned the pilot episode, which del Toro scripted with Hogan and was filmed in Toronto in September 2013.[30][31] FX ordered a thirteen-episode first season for the series on November 19, 2013, and series premiered on July 13, 2014.[32]

After *The Strain*'s pilot episode, del Toro directed *Crimson Peak*, a gothic horror film he co-wrote with Matthew Robbins and Lucinda Cox. Del Toro has described the film as "a very set-oriented, classical but at the same time modern take on the ghost story", citing *The Omen*, *The Exorcist* and *The Shining* as influences. Del Toro also stated, "I think people are getting used to horror subjects done as found footage or B-value budgets. I wanted this to feel like a throwback." Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, and Charlie Hunnam starred in the film.[33][34] Production began February 2014 in Toronto, with an April 2015 release date initially planned. The studio later pushed the date back to October 2015, to coincide with the Halloween season.[35]

He was selected to be on the jury for the main competition section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[36][37]

Del Toro directed the Cold War drama film *The Shape of Water*, starring Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Shannon.[38]

Filming began on August 15, 2016 in Toronto,[39][40][41] and wrapped twelve weeks later.[42]

On August 31, 2017, the movie premiered in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Golden Lion for best film, making Del Toro the first Mexican director to win the award.[43][44] The film would go on to win multiple accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, with del Toro winning the Academy Award for Best Director.

Del Toro collaborated with Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima to produce *P.T.*, a video game intended to be a "playable trailer" for the ninth *Silent Hill* game, which was cancelled.[45] The demo was also removed from the PlayStation Network.

At the D23 Expo in 2009, his Double Dare You production company and Disney announced a production deal for a line of darker animated films. The label was announced with one original animated project, *Trollhunters*.[46][47] However, del Toro moved his deal to DreamWorks in late 2010.[48] From 2016 to 2018, *Trollhunters* was released to great acclaim on Netflix and "is tracking to be its most-watched kids original ever".[49]

In 2017, Del Toro had an exhibition of work at the Minneapolis Institute of Art titled *Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters*, featuring his collection of paintings, drawings, maquettes, artifacts, and concept film art.[50] The exhibition ran from March 5, 2017, to May 28, 2017.[*citation needed*]

In 2019, del Toro appeared in Hideo Kojima's video game *Death Stranding*, providing his likeness for the character Deadman.

### Upcoming projects

In 2008, del Toro announced *Pinocchio*, a dark stop-motion film based on the Italian novel *The Adventures of Pinocchio*, co-directed by Adam Parrish King, with The Jim Henson Company as production company, and music by Nick Cave.[51] The project had been in development for over a decade. The pre-production was begun by the studio ShadowMachine. In 2017, del Toro announced that Patrick McHale is co-writing the script of the movie.[52] In the same year, del Toro revealed at the 74th Venice International Film Festival that the film will be reimagined during the rise of Benito Mussolini, and that he would need $35 million to make it.[53] On November 2017, it was reported that del Toro had cancelled the project because no studios were willing to finance it.[54] In October 2018, it was announced that the film had been revived, with Netflix backing the project. Netflix had previously collaborated with del Toro on *Trollhunters*. Many of the same details of the project remain the same, but with Mark Gustafson now co-directing rather than Adam Parrish King.[55]

In December 2017, Fox Searchlight Pictures announced that del Toro would direct a new adaptation of the 1946 novel *Nightmare Alley* by William Lindsay Gresham, the screenplay of which he co-wrote with Kim Morgan.[56] In 2019, it was reported that Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette and Rooney Mara had closed deals to star in the film, which went into production in January 2020