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Mr. Cranky Interviews
Guillermo Del Toro
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(Warning: This profile may contain
objective information.)
"Mimic" marks Del Toro's first foray into American feature films. The Mexican
writer/director sprang into prominence with "Cronos," a Mexica-American co-production,
which won first prize, International Critic's Week, at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.
In addition, the stylish and unconventional vampire film, shot in Mexico, won nine
Mexican Academy awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Director.
Phoenix Films has signed Del Toro to direct his next project, "Mephisto's Bridge," which
he adapted for screen from British author Christopher Fowler's novel, a contemporary
gothic horror tale about a young, extraordinarily gifted billboard designer.
Frustrated with his inability to get the girl of his dreams, he tempts fate by
striking a deal with an immortal being. Martin Scorsese is executive producing with
Barbara De Fina and Stuart Cornfeld producing.
In Mexico, Del Toro has both produced and directed for television. Early in his
career, he directed several episodes of the Mexican television series, "Hora Marcada."
In his early '20s, he produced the feature film "Dona Herlinda and Her Son" for director
Jaime Humberto Hermosillo.
Del Toro trained with Oscar-winning make-up and special effects artist Dick Smith and
later established his own special effects and make-up company in Guadalajara. He honed
his skills working in this capacity on a half-dozen feature films while directing
shorts. As Chief of Special Effects and Make-up, his credits include "Cabeza de Vaca,"
the official Mexican Foreign Film entry in the 1990 Academy Awards as well as the
Mexican feature films "Bandidos," "Marir en el Golfo," "Algunas Nubes" and "Goitia."
Born in 1964 in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he lives with his wife and daughter, Del Toro
taught film language and coordinated student film workshops between 1986 and 1992 at
the University of Guadalajara. He is the author of a critical study of films on Alfred
Hitchcock published by the University of Guadalajara Press (in Spanish). His
screenplay for "Cronos" has been published in Mexico by Miracle Press.
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Mr. Cranky:
If you were offered the opportunity to live your life as another film person (actor, director, etc.) who would it be and why?
- Guillermo Del Toro:
Cary Grant. Just to feel what kind of life a perfect human being leads.
What is the most bizarre experience you've had making a movie?
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A 12-foot fall backwards into a cellar with no staircase while backing up in search of a camera angle.
What do you wish you could change about yourself and why?
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I started doing films in large format (16-35 mm) -- three years too late according to my internal clock.
If you could work with any person in the film industry, past or present, actor, director or writer, who would it be and why?
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Luis Buñuel: Great guy, great filmmaker and brilliant mind.
You've been hired to remake "Casablanca." Who do you cast in the leads and why?
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Directed by David Lynch. Crispin Glover as Rick and Lili Tayor.
Describe something in your career that you regret.
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A waiting period of several years between first and second film.
What one person have you enjoyed working with the most?
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Guillermo Navarro, cinematographer for "Cronos."
Of all the movies you have seen, which one made you the crankiest?
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"Batman Forever." I felt it was the end of film as we know it.
What question do reporters and interviewers ask you that, when you come right down to it, is just really none of their goddamned business?
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None so far.
Suddenly the film industry vanishes. What are you doing to make ends meet and do you enjoy it?
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Radio dramatizations or theatre. They are other forms of storytelling.
What question are you just waiting to be asked or what other question would you like to see included on this sheet?
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"Tell us the foulest incident in you career."
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