Benicio del Toro receives career achievement award
Actor Benicio del Toro received the Platino de Honor Award in Madrid on Friday, April 21, endorsing the immense talent in Puerto Rico, which he hopes will be transferred from Puerto Rican reggaeton artists like Bad Bunny to the movies.
There is immense talent in Puerto Rico
«In Puerto Rico there is immense talent, it is the island of reggaeton and it is incredible what has been done there with music. Maybe at some point cinema will be able to do the same, but for the moment, it’s reggaeton that’s breaking it,» said the actor in a meeting with the press after receiving the award.
The actor and director recalled some moments of his career.
Del Toro reviewed some of the highlights of his career and highlighted the importance of the Latino community in Hollywood.
»Most stories are not designed for minorities.»
«I had the opportunity to work with people who listened to me to give dimension to my characters. So, being an actor and not a director or producer, I have sought that space (for Latino characters), in addition to my work with other Hispanic directors,» he recalled, after clarifying, however, that in Hollywood «most of the stories are not designed for minorities».
There is still a long way to go
«When I started my career, I was asked to change my name. I also had Latino friends who asked me if I didn’t mind being typecast in those roles. But there came a time in my career when, without planning to, I changed that,» he said. For the actor, there are now more opportunities to tell Latino authors’ own stories, thanks to new technologies, although there is still a long way to go.
We must keep trying
«In Hollywood there are stereotypes that exist because they don’t delve into the characters of minorities. Now that you can make movies even with the telephone, you have to keep trying,» said the Puerto Rican actor.
Major milestones in his career
The Oscar winner recalled some of the names of important directors in his career, such as Bigas Luna, with whom he filmed 30 years ago.
He has worked with numerous talents
He has also cited Oliver Stone, with whom he worked on »Savages» in 2012. «He is one of the immense talents, who has made many of us actors in Hollywood feel brave. He has made a very brave and political cinema and he is a director I admired and then I have worked with him,» he has summarized.
The Platinum Awards will be held on Saturday 22nd.
The Platinum Awards, promoted by the EGEDA and FIPCA associations, will be held this coming Saturday, April 22 at the Ifema Municipal Palace in Madrid and will have the film »Argentina, 1985» as the favorite with 14 nominations.
