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Benicio Del Toro – h Interview

Posted on 20. Dec, 2008 by Administrator in Film/TV, Profiles

words by Jason Dean, photo by Teresa Isasi

In Che, an epic two-part film to be released in January, Del Toro plays guerilla revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, traditionally identified by the West as Fidel Castro’s Communist bunkmate and all-around subversive scoundrel. It’s a simplistic characterization, aptly dispelled by this admirably agenda-free 258-minute behemoth of a film. That’s nearly four-and-a-half hours, or the amount of time it takes to microwave 65 bags of popcorn. 

The movie does not so much offer a unilateral defense of a controversial personality as it does reveal the humanness of an enigmatic figure identified by most via his iconic silk-screened image on a T-shirt. h caught up with Del Toro after an advance screening of the marathon film at the Mary Pickford Theatre in Hollywood. He was gracious and in good spirits despite the approaching midnight hour when he arrived. 

What would motivate Del Toro to take on such an exhaustive bio pic project? “The story is unique; it’s compelling history,” he says. “As a Latino, you don’t get many roles like this. I was kind of sucked into it. [Director Steven Soderbergh] was the driving force. I did a lot of research and talked to people who actually knew [Guevara]. It’s probably the most ambitious, complicated, and demanding role I’ve ever done. I got pretty freaked out over it. Steven said, ‘It’s impossible to do this—let’s try.’” 

 Che screened with an intermission—it’s actually two separate movies that can be viewed back-to-back or singularly. The first, The Argentine, focuses on the origins of Guevara’s political activism, his participation in the Cuban Revolution, and Castro’s rise to power. The second, Guerilla, spans his migration to Bolivia and his attempt to organize a revolt against the corrupt government there. 

“Steven wanted to spend time in the first movie to get to know Che,” explains Del Toro. “The second part is based on his personal diaries. He succeeded in Cuba, tried the same thing in Bolivia and failed. If you only saw the story about the last year of his life, you’d think he was demented. You’d say, ‘What did he expect?’ We chose two specific events. To make a movie about his whole life would be, like, 11 hours.” 

In addition to consuming enough celluloid to wallpaper the West Wing of Guantanamo, Che is subtitled in English, a caveat to those who reflexively expect cinema to treat world history as an American export. Oddly enough, Soderbergh does not speak Spanish, and Del Toro’s phraseology is, by his own admission, that of a 13-year-old Puerto Rican boy. 

“Che was a scholar,” says Del Toro. “His speech at the U.N. [in 1964 after the Cuban Revolution] is well-known and is quoted throughout South America. I’m not Cuban. I worked hard on the dialect.” 

Del Toro talked with three people who knew Guevara personally and got first-hand accounts that proved invaluable. “We felt a sense of responsibility. We were concerned that no one could say, ‘That didn’t happen.’ Everything in the movie pretty much did happen. People who knew Che all talked about him in a respectful way but not as if he was sacred. He made mistakes. He wasn’t perfect.”

As a freedom fighter waging armed resistance, Guevara’s Achilles’ heel was asthma. There are battle scenes during which his breathing difficulties are so severe, he seems close to death. “I had an asthma attack once. I hallucinated. It’s one of the scariest places to be. The problem with asthma is that your lungs are full of air and you can’t push it out. In order to act that, you have to almost suffocate yourself.” 

Soderbergh, who also directed Del Toro in Traffic, is known to do some of his own camera work. “Steven’s great,” enthuses Del Toro. “He’s like a method director. You experience everything right there. When he says ‘Got it,’ as an actor you feel comfortable. You know he’s in there with you.” 

Having played a collection of unsavory characters—thieves, drug fiends, assassins—Del Toro has learned something from his roles;
to leave each character in the trailer when he goes home. But the experience of making Che left a lasting impression on him. “I’m much more conscious of the history of the Caribbean, the 1960’s, and all the things he talked about and stood for that are still relevant today. I started to write a diary. It’s tough. He wrote every day. I write every month.” As if making a spontaneous effort to rectify the discrepancy, he adds,
“I’m gonna write tonight.” 

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Tags: Benicio Del Toro, Che