Hip-Hop's Latino Connection

ORIGINAL GANGSTA
Danny Trejo
Words: Navani Otero

Whoever said, “Crime doesn’t pay” must not know Danny Trejo. The 62-year-old Mexican-American actor has made a career out playing bad guys. A child drug addict and criminal, Trejo was in and out of jail for 11 years. While serving time in San Quentin for armed robbery and drug offenses, he won the lightweight and welterweight boxing titles and completed a 12-step rehabilitation program that changed his life. After proving himself a force to be reckoned with in jail, he took to the big screen.

With a résumé that spans more than 20 years, this actor has worked with some of Hollywood’s best, including Nicolas Cage, Antonio Banderas, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, and Eric Roberts.

How did you get into acting?

I was a drug counselor, and one of the kids I was working with called me up late at night and asked me to please come to his job and support him ’cause there were a lot of drugs on the set. This was in 1985, so there was a lot of coke around. I went down there just to hang out with him to help him stay clean, and one of the PAs asked me if I wanted to be in a movie as an extra. I said, “I can give it a shot.” That was on the set of Runaway Train.

How many tattoos do you have? And what are the meanings of them?

I got about nine of them. The big one on my chest I got in ’66. That was when chicanismo was coming into play, and it was kind of Chicano, the big Mexican lady with a hat on.

We know you spent some time in jail. Do you participate in any of those programs that they have to give back and help out inmates?

Yeah, I have to. I visit different institutions, probably two a month. I go to high schools; I go to juvenile halls a lot to speak to youth.

How does the character affect you in real life? Do people think you’re a bad guy?

Well, not too many people disrespect me. I get respect everywhere I go. But I think it’s more of the way I carry myself than anything to do with the movie roles.

In reality, are you really like the bad guy or are you the opposite?

I’m a tough, but my daughter turns me into butter. All of my kids keep me pretty grounded.

Why do you like playing the bad guy?

Well, the bad guy can do and say anything he wants; the good guy can’t say the bad words. There is a certain responsibility that goes with being the good guy; you are carrying the movie. So if the movie flops, it’s your fault.

What was your favorite role as a villain?

I would have to say Desperado, you know, I was just bad. It was a lot of fun working with Robert Rodriguez and Antonio Banderas. I was teasing Antonio the whole time, like “You know you wanna be Mexican, you’re from Spain [laughs].”

How was it working with Rodriguez and Tarantino?

If Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are having a conversation and you get near them, you probably get electrocuted. They have so much energy that you can even feel it around them when the idea sets in.

Are you interested in doing roles that show your diversity as an actor?

I did a movie called Sherrybaby with Maggie Gyllenhaal. I play the nice guy in it—but I like action movies. I don’t like to go to for a lot of literary values. I like to be entertained. So the more over-the-top they are, the better.

What other future projects are you working on?

I’m working on a movie called Machete with Robert Rodriguez. It’s about a federal agent that gets hunted by the mob and then he seeks revenge with machetes. Machete is the name of the movie and the name my character. I’m also trying to do a movie called My Father’s Flag, which is about a Chicano war veteran that comes back with post-traumatic stress disorder, and we see his life through the eyes of his kids.

What inspirational words do you have for upcoming actors?

I’d rather shoot for the moon and miss, than aim for the gutter and make it.