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[ldcommando]

"Benicio Monserrate Rafael Del Toro Sánchez, better known as Benicio del Toro, is a Puerto Rican actor." First thing that comes up when you google him.

Your google-fu is weak.

Puerto Rican = non-white?

 

[Not]

I forgot about Benicio. Dude was insane great in that movie.

 

[AuthenticM]

Puerto Rican = non-white?

dude

 

[MHWilliams]

Isn´t he white?

He's Latino and Hispanic. Del Toro is Puerto Rican. He speaks fluent Spanish and holds Spanish citizenry. His parents names are Gustavo Adolfo Del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera. He is White for the purposes of the census category of race (what most think of as "white" is actually "White, Not Hispanic or Latino"), but he's considered Latino.

 

[Doc Holliday]

dude

I laughed so hard at that. Sarcasm?

 

[ldcommando]

He's Latino and Hispanic. Del Toro is Puerto Rican. He speaks fluent Spanish and holds Spanish citizenry. His parents names are Gustavo Adolfo Del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera. He is White for the purposes of the census category of race, but he's considered Latino.

Thanks for the reply, that sounds more reasonable.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Oh, shit..we playing the race draft up in here?

 

[ldcommando]

Oh, shit..we playing the race draft up in here?

Not really. I was just clarifying something and mhwilliams already answered.

Edit: also the reply below

 

[harSon]

He's Latino and Hispanic. Del Toro is Puerto Rican. He speaks fluent Spanish and holds Spanish citizenry. His parents names are Gustavo Adolfo Del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera. He is White for the purposes of the census category of race, but he's considered Latino.

To be fair, Latino is a cultural heritage and not an ethnicity. He could be white, considering nearly 90% of Puerto Ricans self identify as White, and 'White Puerto Ricans' have predominantly European ancestry. Self-identification can be fickle though, for example... Dominicans. But given the complexity of the region in regards to ethnicity, self-identification is about the best you can do. He personally states that he has: " a Catalan paternal great-grandfather and a Basque maternal great-grandmother. And he stated in an interview that along with Spanish, he has Italian and Indigenous American ancestry as well."

 

[notaskwid]

Well, the most nominated movie is by a hispanic director...

 

[Magilla]

Probably been posted, but Danny DeVito, "We are a racist country."

 

[MHWilliams]

To be fair, Latino is a cultural heritage and not an ethnicity. He could be white, considering nearly 90% of Puerto Ricans self identify as White, and 'White Puerto Ricans' have predominantly European ancestry. Self-identification can be fickle though, for example... Dominicans. But given the complexity of the region in regards to ethnicity, self-identification is about the best you can do. He personally states that he has: " a Catalan paternal great-grandfather and a Basque maternal great-grandmother. And he stated in an interview that along with Spanish, he has Italian and Indigenous American ancestry as well."

Yeah, I included a parenthetical that goes into the census category a bit more.

For the purposes of our Hollywood discussion, Benecio del Toro is covered under Latino. As such:


Benicio Del Toro's long Latino battle

IN the early days of his acting career, like many Latino actors, most of the parts Benicio Del Toro was offered were for drug dealers, thugs and criminals.

His breakthrough film role was as the youngest ever Bond henchman, the vicious, knife-wielding, coke-peddling South American Dario, in the 1989 Timothy Dalton vehicle Licence To Kill.

Twenty-three years later, Del Toro is back in Oliver Stone's new film, Savages, playing Lado, an even more vicious, gun-wielding, dope-peddling Mexican villain.

In fact, Del Toro agrees they could just about be the same character a couple of decades apart.

But if life has changed dramatically for Del Toro, it seems that Hollywood has stayed about the same.

While he agrees there are now more opportunities for Latino actors than when he started out, he still has to battle against typecasting despite his glittering CV and accolades.

"I don't want to get bogged down on that because it's not black and white," Del Toro says of the tendency to relegate Latino actors to drug enforcers and gangsters.

"Movies borrow from real stories and there are a lot of real stories from this war on drugs and it so happens that the origins of a lot of those stories are in Latin American countries.

"Traffic is an example of looking at it from a different way, where there is a Latino cop trying to live by the rules within the war and the struggles of that. But Hollywood tends to look at it from the other side."

Benicio del Toro: As a Latino actor, I worked twice as hard

BHB: Has your ethnicity ever helped you get any specific role or impeded you from getting a role?

BDT: Well, first of all, being an actor, or an actress, is a very difficult job. So it’s difficult for everybody. Being Latino makes it a little bit more difficult. I’ll give you an example. When I started going on auditions they asked me to change my name. I’m sure if my name was John Smith they wouldn’t have asked me to change my name. It’s one more hurdle that you have to climb if you are ethnic. And part of it is because of the stories, movies are stories and there are not that many stories being written from the Latino experience.

“If my name was John Smith they wouldn’t have asked me to change my name.”
When I was in acting school, I had a Latino teacher who said, if you’re going to do this, you have to work twice as hard as John Smith. So I’ve always worked really hard, and it’s got me places. But I always kept that in mind, because you have to deal with the realistic aspect that there are not many roles written for Latinos. You just have to love what you do, because then working very hard is not going to really make a difference. But it is a little bit more complicated.

Benicio del Toro says Hollywood just doesn't understand Latinos

You get the idea. The whole "White" thing can get rather complex depending on what you're talking about.

 

[Antiwhippy]

While I agree that the industry has a lack of diverse roles and lots of whitewashing, I don't particularly agree with the uproar in regards to the Oscars. If the roles aren't there, then how do you expect there to be nominations?
.

And do you know why the roles aren't there?

It's quite a catch 22 situation isn't it?

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Probably been posted, but Danny DeVito, "We are a racist country."

Geezuz, Don! I couldn't breath just looking at that damn thing around his throat..

 

[NastyBook]

Once I saw the Michael Caine quote, I just scrolled down for this. Thanks. SMH, Michael.

 

[Coffee Dog]

I'm going to take a wild guess that they would like them if they weren't "black" movies. Kind of like they like all genres of music except rap, but then Macklemore is okay.

Exactly. "Stallone was transcendent, but B Jordan was nothing special" when they're in the same movie. Not hard to guess where that comes from.

 

[The Beard]

I forgot about Benicio. Dude was insane great in that movie.

You forgot about him because his performance wasn't memorable. I saw him on the screen and said, "Yep, that's Benicio alright, and he's giving a classic Benicio performance." Insane great? I thought it was a good performance, but I wouldn't consider it anywhere near great.

 

[theignoramus]

Also, just curious, which performance by a non-white actor is most worthy of being nominated? Michael B. Jordan did a great job, but I didn't see too many movies this past year. Was Will Smith good in Concussion?

Abraham Attah in Beasts of No Nation should have been nominated for Best Actor.

 

[Dram]

While I agree that the industry has a lack of diverse roles and lots of whitewashing, I don't particularly agree with the uproar in regards to the Oscars. If the roles aren't there, then how do you expect there to be nominations?

http://mashable.com/2016/01/20/oscars-diversity-2016/#JdniWhDg7aql

At the root of it all is the overall lack of diversity in the film industry. Studios have similar demographics to the Academy, according to a 2015 UCLA study. Film studio heads are 94% white and 100% male, while film studio senior management is 92% white and 83% male.

The Academy can't nominate roles than don't exist, to paraphrase Viola Davis' fantastic Emmys speech last year. How many films in 2015 starred people of color in a lead role? And if you reduce that to non-black people of color, what do you have left?

Even if you're an Oscar-nominated movie star, it's still a fight to get a role. Just last year, Salma Hayek discussed the challenges she faced as an actress, being told her Mexican accent "might remind people of their maids" according to the Hollywood Reporter.

She also told an anecdote about a lead astronaut role she almost had in a sci-fi film, but the director couldn't convince the studio to hire her.

"They said to him, ‘A Mexican in space?’” she recalls.

(We're not saying this movie is Gravity, but ... it sure sounds a lot like Gravity — a film that landed its lead actress, Sandra Bullock, a second Oscar nomination, and two statues for director Alfonso Cuaron, who is Mexican.)

In 2009, Stephen Gong, the executive director of the Center for Asian American Media, noted in an interview with Variety that modern Asian films "haven't had the breakthrough actors like Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman" when it comes to winning Oscars. This doesn't mean those films don't exist.

And it's been this way for a long time, as Academy CEO Dawn Hudson notes in a THR interview.

"The industry has been building up over a very long time, starting with white men running the studios who hire other people who look like them. It just hasn't changed that much, and it won't until there's a concerted effort on every single front: talent, the executives in the studios, the people we mentor. If you have a person of color directing a film, there'll be more people of color on the crew and in the movie. You have to overindex now on every hiring opportunity you have."

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

^^ White men: hire other white men until they dominate their industry, then say it's racist when people ask them to appropriately correct the numbers. Then they'll start an argument over merit, as if their exclusive hiring and promoting of white men was merit-based. The system works.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Abraham Attah in Beasts of No Nation should have been nominated for Best Actor.

 

[Angelus Errare]

^^ White men: hire other white men until they dominate their industry, then say it's racist when people ask them to appropriately correct the numbers. Then they'll start an argument over merit, as if their exclusive hiring and promoting of white men was merit-based. The system works.

Pretty much why "just get the most qualified" line that people love to say is stupid and means nothing.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

You forgot about him because his performance wasn't memorable. I saw him on the screen and said, "Yep, that's Benicio alright, and he's giving a classic Benicio performance." Insane great? I thought it was a good performance, but I wouldn't consider it anywhere near great.

And Matt Daemon or Tom Hardy's performances in their respective films were so much better? I don't really think so.

 

[Vicetrailia]

Pretty much why "just get the most qualified" line that people love to say is stupid and means nothing.

You see this first hand via generations of apprenticeships. Merit has nothing to do with it, but to break in you'll have to be way overqualified compared to others who just get HS diplomas and a handmedown hookup.

 

[Aaronology]

And Matt Daemon or Tom Hardy's performances in their respective films were so much better? I don't really think so.

Yo, don't knock Hardy's Oscar nomination. If you've seen The Revenant you know it's more than deserved.

I'll give you Damon.

 

[The Beard]

And Matt Daemon or Tom Hardy's performances in their respective films were so much better? I don't really think so.

Hell yes. Matt Damon had to display a range of emotions, not just stoic and a little sleepy like Benicio. Tom Hardy was one of the best parts of 'The Revenant' (my favorite movie from 2015). I love TH and he made me hate that character, in a good way.

 

[Josh5890]

Best Picture
Straight Outta Compton- Agreed
Sicario- Borderline for me.
Creed-Haven't seen it yet
Beasts of No Nation- I think it was a little overrated. It felt like another Blood Diamond.

Best Actor
Abraham Attah - Beast of No Nation- Performance was good but there was a lot of competition in the top-5 (outside of Damon)
Michael B Jordan - Creed- Haven't seen it.

Best Supporting
Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation- Agreed.
Benecio del Toro - Sicario- I didn't feel his performance was all that great. Decent but nothing memorable.
Sam Jackson - Hateful Eight- His performance felt like the same as other Tarentino films so it was nothing new.

My thoughts. I think Straight Out of Compton got the biggest shaft this year. Will Smith deserved a nod too.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

I would have settled for Oscar Isaac.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

Danny Devito da man.

 

[Smellycat]

And do you know why the roles aren't there?

It's quite a catch 22 situation isn't it?

http://mashable.com/2016/01/20/oscars-diversity-2016/#JdniWhDg7aql

This is nothing new to me. It is the same thing that I was talking about. The new Oscar rules will help wean out old grumpy voters. This is will probably result in having more accepting members --> more nominations for minorities (hopefully based on merit) --> more recognition --> more job opportunities at least theoretically

It is just unfortunate that a boycott was needed

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Yo, don't knock Hardy's Oscar nomination. If you've seen The Revenant you know it's more than deserved.

I'll give you Damon.

I've seen the Revenant. He was solid. He wasn't anything special.

Hell yes. Matt Damon had to display a range of emotions, not just stoic and a little sleepy like Benicio. Tom Hardy was one of the best parts of 'The Revenant' (my favorite movie from 2015). I love TH and he made me hate that character, in a good way.

Matt Damon was honestly pretty stoic in The Martian and for a guy that was stranded on an Alien planet he showed all of two sides. Neither of them was particularly convincing. Benicio minimally played the anti hero role well. He was am angry bastard and I believed it. The writing and acting in the martian made the movie feel like nothing was at stake. It was a good movie with decent acting but zero stamd outs.

 

[Christopher]

Creed is not Oscar worthy...

 

[A Link to the Past]

Creed is not Oscar worthy...

People aren't even talking about it for Best Picture, they're talking about Direction and Jordan's acting.

That said, I'm glad you came back. Can you explain whether you think that Juliette Binoche could have been nominated for two Oscars if she was black?

 

[Angelus Errare]

Sorry but Matt Damon in the martian was typical Matt Damon. Definitely not worth any damn nomination.

I'd like to think his nomination was given because some child from Make-A-Wish asked for it.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

People aren't even talking about it for Best Picture, they're talking about Direction and Jordan's acting.

That said, I'm glad you came back. Can you explain whether you think that Juliette Binoche could have been nominated for two Oscars if she was black?

Hehehe..

 

[A Link to the Past]

Sorry but Matt Damon in the martian was typical Matt Damon. Definitely not worth any damn nomination.

I'd like to think his nomination was given because some child from Make-A-Wish asked for it.

I mean he was okay, but pretty much yeah, it is a mind-boggling decision. Perhaps they appreciated him downplaying racism in casting and decided to reward him?

Hehehe..

 

[excelsiorlef]

Sorry but Matt Damon in the martian was typical Matt Damon. Definitely not worth any damn nomination.

I'd like to think his nomination was given because some child from Make-A-Wish asked for it.

 

[Doctor West]

The Martian as a whole was a boring, by the numbers and completely forgettable movie. The Damon nomination was a joke.

Coogler got fucked. Creed was amazing on so manly levels and he's a huge reason for that. How Sly is the only person to come out of that with a nomination is pretty gross.

 

[Sai-kun]

People aren't even talking about it for Best Picture, they're talking about Direction and Jordan's acting.

That said, I'm glad you came back. Can you explain whether you think that Juliette Binoche could have been nominated for two Oscars if she was black?

Christohper's answer:

 

[Bad_Boy]

Beast of no nation got robbed. And not just for Idris. Those kids man, those kids.

Thats all I got.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Coogler got fucked. Creed was amazing on so manly levels and he's a huge reason for that.

misspelling but still accurate.

 

[Doctor West]

misspelling but still accurate.

Freudian slip.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Christohper's answer:

"Just pull yourself up by your boot straps"

 

[BreezyLimbo]

Yeah, I included a parenthetical that goes into the census category a bit more.

For the purposes of our Hollywood discussion, Benecio del Toro is covered under Latino. As such:


Benicio Del Toro's long Latino battle

Benicio del Toro: As a Latino actor, I worked twice as hard

BHB: Has your ethnicity ever helped you get any specific role or impeded you from getting a role?




Benicio del Toro says Hollywood just doesn't understand Latinos

You get the idea. The whole "White" thing can get rather complex depending on what you're talking about.

It definitely gets extremely complicated when talking about Latino/Hispanics. I mentioned in another topic, but it's not as simple as skin color when it comes to people of Latino origins. Like, Del Toro, despite being able to pass for a white person, is 'cursed' by his name in Hollywood. And it's like....racism isn't as simple as the color of the skin. It's by name, it's by where you were born, despite that black people do get the brunt of it because in a twisted way, they're the 'easiest' to discriminate against.

Hollywood has huge problems. Something like a stereotype is king when it comes to casting-typecasting for instance, is basically a person becoming 'one' with a stereo type that it hurts their success for future roles. And it can get complicated, like you mentioned. After all, it was the Spanish that created a system to differentiate between your skin color, who you were born to, and it was creepy. And hollywood seems to have a lite version of that, when it comes to Latino roles.

Hollywood is a racial mess, to be blunt. I just wanted to uh, add to your point MH, not try to divert the discussion.

 

[Verelios]

"Don't worry Black People, you'll get your turn later"

Is basically all I'm freaking hearing.

 

[A Link to the Past]

"Don't worry Black People, you'll get your turn later"

Is basically all I'm freaking hearing.

The absolute best analogy is to say that black people are second-place in line, but the first person in line keeps giving backsies to their friends.

 

[MHWilliams]

It definitely gets extremely complicated when talking about Latino/Hispanics. I mentioned in another topic, but it's not as simple as skin color when it comes to people of Latino origins. Like, Del Toro, despite being able to pass for a white person, is 'cursed' by his name in Hollywood. And it's like....racism isn't as simple as the color of the skin. It's by name, it's by where you were born, despite that black people do get the brunt of it because in a twisted way, they're the 'easiest' to discriminate against.

Hollywood has huge problems. Something like a stereotype is king when it comes to casting-typecasting for instance, is basically a person becoming 'one' with a stereo type that it hurts their success for future roles. And it can get complicated, like you mentioned. After all, it was the Spanish that created a system to differentiate between your skin color, who you were born to, and it was creepy. And hollywood seems to have a lite version of that, when it comes to Latino roles.

Hollywood is a racial mess, to be blunt. I just wanted to uh, add to your point MH, not try to divert the discussion.

Oh, no. Understanding concepts and situations like this is important, and diversity is more than just black people. Black tends to come next in Hollywood's Hierarchy of Minorities, but other actors and actresses of color need help as well. The idea of being able to "pass" is just one facet of that. Not everyone can be like Alexis Biedel (Mexican and Argentinian).

I'm mentioned the larger number of actors of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent, who find themselves typecast in various roles. Or the fact that Asian actors have such a hard time getting leading roles, that it's better for them to go to Japan, Korea, or China and start a film career.

Them streets is hard.

 

[Slayven]

"Don't worry Black People, you'll get your turn later"

Is basically all I'm freaking hearing.

That and minorities are talentless

 

[Enzom21]

Creed is not Oscar worthy...

So you got those white privilege backfiring examples yet?

People aren't even talking about it for Best Picture, they're talking about Direction and Jordan's acting.

That said, I'm glad you came back. Can you explain whether you think that Juliette Binoche could have been nominated for two Oscars if she was black?

"Of course she would! There is no racism, all people are equal."
I gave one of his bullshit answers a shot since I doubt he'll actually respond to you.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

Those poor oppressed white people.
Must be tough.