Danny Trejo’s life isn’t really that different from his movies. Actually, he might be even tougher in real life. He tried drugs for the first time when he was eight and was raised into criminal activities by close family members. By the time he was in his twenties, he had developed an addiction to heroin and had already set foot in most of the prisons in the state of California. He’s as much of a survivor as the marks on his face show.
Even though the story of Trejo’s rise to fame is not as known as many of his movies, it sure makes the rough material for one of them. His path towards a brighter future started on May 5, 1968. After taking part in a mutiny in a prison riot in San Quentin, he was forced into a gas chamber. At that moment, he prayed to God, begging to die with dignity, and promised to do whatever he could to help “his fellow man”. Danny, however, did not face the gas chamber, bound himself to God, and became state champion in welterweight boxing.
It was his boxing skills that first took him to Hollywood in the shooting of Runaway Train (1985). For this movie, Trejo’s job was to teach actor Eric Roberts the basics of box for fight scenes. Trejo’s appearance and his flaring moves quickly got him a role as an extra in the movie.
His rugged looks, mysterious grin, and very distinguishable features soon helped him make his way to Hollywood. He was cast again and again for supporting roles in films during the nineties. From being a criminal in real life, he slowly turned into playing it for the sake of entertainment. Due to his rowdy appearance, he was first cast as a lawbreaker in films like Blood In, Blood Out (1993), Con Air (1997), and Heat (1995).
Even though Trejo is now 73 years old, he considers that the day he was born was on the day of the prison riot, when he made peace with God. The years after were much better for the actor, whose love for films only grew as he discovered a new way of living in them.
Afterwards, things only went up. By the year 2000, he had already established his own production company. Later on, his creative relationship with Robert Rodriguez took him to portraying the rogue Machete on Spy Kids (2oo1). Later on, this character would grab immense popularity after appearing on Rodriguez’s and Tarantino’s homage to exploitation films, Grindhouse (2007). This would lead the director to immortalize the character as a hero with a film of its own, the gritty Machete (2010). The results were so positive that only three years later, the movie would get the follow-up Machete Kills (2013), which was as well received as the first one.
Keeping up his contract with God, Trejo has used his celebrity to spread goodness by supporting teenagers at risk, giving funds to schools, and being a drug counsellor.
Films took him to sobriety and spreading charity around the world.
If you enjoyed reading about the heroic life of Trejo, you should also check out how some of our favorite heroes show us how beauty trumps kindness. You should also take a look at the Tarantino film that shows you how gory violence is all in your head.
References
Hollywood Reporter
