Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his own short films. At the age of 21, del Toro executive produced his first feature, Dona Herlinda and Her Son (1985). Del Toro spent almost 10 years as a makeup supervisor, and formed his own company, Necropia in the early 1980s. He also produced and directed Mexican television programs at this time, and taught film.

Del Toro got his first big break when Cronos (1992) won nine Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars), then went on to win the International Critics Week Prize at Cannes. Following this success, del Toro made his first Hollywood film, Mimic (1997), starring Mira Sorvino.

Del Toro had some unfortunate experiences working with a demanding Hollywood studio on Mimic (1997), and returned to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang.

Next for del Toro, was The Devil's Backbone (2001), a Spanish Civil War ghost story. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike, and del Toro decided to give Hollywood another try. In 2002, he directed the Wesley Snipes vampire sequel, Blade II (2002).

On a roll, Del Toro followed up Blade II (2002) with another successful comic-book inspired film, Hellboy (2004), starring one of Del Toro's favorite actors, Ron Perlman.

Del Toro is divorced, has a daughter and a son and lives in Los Angeles and Toronto.

Guillermo del Toro at an event for Splice (2009)

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Guillermo del Toro in Dario Argento: Panico (2023)

Guillermo del Toro in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)

Neil Gaiman and Guillermo del Toro in Films of Hope (2020)

Guillermo del Toro and Meghan Trainor in The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015)

Michael Shannon and Guillermo del Toro in The Shape of Water (2017)

Octavia Spencer, Guillermo del Toro, and Sally Hawkins in IMDb Originals (2015)

Guillermo del Toro in The Shape of Water (2017)

David Hewlett, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Guillermo del Toro in The Shape of Water (2017)

John Hurt, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Ladislav Beran, Doug Jones, Karel Roden, Brian Steele, and Rupert Evans in Hellboy (2004)

Tilda Swinton and Gregory Mann in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

Doug Jones and Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water (2017)

Oscar Isaac Says Jacob Elordi is "Spellbinding" as Frankenstein's Monster

Is Pinocchio the Right Move for Guillermo del Toro?

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro

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