Latin actor Benicio Del Toro is having a banner year. The 34-year-old Puerto Rican, who won an Academy Award for Traffic, has garnered two more gongs – he’ll be honoured at the Sundance Film Festival and has been named Hispanic Of The Year by an American magazine.
Benicio, who has starred in such films as The Usual Suspects and Snatch, will receive the Piper-Heidsieck Tribute To Independent Vision award on January 13 at the Sundance Film Festival. Previous recipients of the prize, given to artists who have made a significant and unique contribution to independent film, have included American Beauty star Kevin Spacey and Magnolia actress Julianne Moore.
While he looks forward to Sundance, the 6ft 4in hunk will round out 2001 as Hispanic magazine’s man of the year. The mag cites his talent, dedication and sense of style as reasons for his selection, along with the fact that, in addition to his Oscar nod, Benicio also won a Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild award this year – no small feat for any film star. “People ask me if it’s difficult being a Hispanic actor,” says Benicio. “They forget how difficult it is to be an actor, period.”
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
