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It seems like every other week a new celebrity's shadowy past of crime and degeneracy is being exposed to the masses. However, for Danny Trejo, he was open and honest about his crimes from the very beginning. You see, for the past
Danny Trejo's journey from a violent past and prison to Hollywood success and redemption.
Key Takeaways
- Honesty about one's past can be a powerful foundation for redemption.
- Transformation is possible even from the darkest circumstances.
- Real-life experiences can enrich artistic careers and authenticity in roles.
- Support and mentorship can open unexpected doors to new opportunities.
- Resilience and survival in harsh environments build strength for future success.
What the video covers
- Danny Trejo was involved in crime and drug addiction from a young age, influenced by his family environment.
- He spent much of his youth and early adulthood in juvenile detention and federal prison.
- Trejo developed a reputation as a tough and feared individual in prison.
- Despite his criminal past, Trejo turned his life around after prison, achieving success in Hollywood.
- His acting roles often reflect his real-life experiences as a gangster and prisoner.
- Trejo's survival and redemption story is considered miraculous given his harsh beginnings.
- He was introduced to heroin at age 12 and was deeply involved in drug dealing and robberies.
- Trejo's boxing skills helped him navigate the dangerous prison environment.
- His Hollywood career began unexpectedly through mentoring and connections made while sober.
- Trejo is now dedicated to helping others and is grateful for his second chance at life.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Danny Trejo's past and honesty about crime
- 01:53Early life influences and family environment
- 03:43Gang culture and criminal activities in Los Angeles
- 05:45Sponsor message: Fume product promotion
- 07:28Prison experiences and reputation building
- 09:18Mental survival tactics in solitary confinement
- 14:47Turning point: Sobriety and Hollywood career beginnings
- 16:30Acting roles and legacy in Hollywood
- 23:59Gratitude and reflection on life transformation
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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40 years, Danny has been typecast as a gangster, a prisoner, or an overall violent Chicano criminal, but he was not playing a character. This is actually who Danny was for the first 27 years of Trejo's life. If you looked at him the
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wrong way, you might end up in a body bag, which led to him spending most of his days in federal prison. What separates Danny from all the Hollywood criminals who tried to mask their crimes with movies and money is because of what he
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did after he got out of prison. When you hear Danny's story, you will be shocked. He made it out alive, let alone this successful and beloved Hollywood. Could not poison Trejo because he had already been to the lowest point any human could
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go, and the way he survived this darkness is nothing short of a miracle. Danny Trejo was introduced to heroin at just 12 years old by his uncle Gilbert, who was only 6 years older than Danny. I caught
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him shooting heroin. I threatened to tell on him if he didn't give me some. My grandfather was a tyrant, and I remember one time I was like, oh, I was just around about 12, and me and my uncle were
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standing there, and my grandfather was screaming at us, and I'm like, 'Cause I know he's going to hit me, and I just, I'm almost ready to crap my pants, you know? I'm like squeezing so I won't because I know
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he's going to hit me, and I happen to glance over at my uncle, and my uncle is looking at death, death in the face, and he's nodding off. He's nodding, yeah, and I'm like, oh my God, it's, you know, I'm
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thinking this is the baddest dude in the world. My grandfather got so mad at my uncle going down like this that he walked into his room, slammed the door, and I'm looking at Gilbert, and Gilbert, and then Gilbert
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was like, 'Hey, did he hit us?' You know, oh, I wanted to be just like that. Yeah, it's interesting that a 12-year-old's brain associates nodding off as this way to become a fearless badass. The reason Danny lived with his grandparents in the
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first place was because his father obtained full custody of him, then stabbed a man and went to prison, effectively making him an only child to be raised by his gangster grandfather and his drug-addicted delinquent uncle. Things escalated from there with Trejo
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developing a drug and alcohol dependency and joining Gilbert in robberies and drug deals, which resulted in a childhood where Danny was in and out of juvenile detention centers for time. I went to juvenile halls at 12, 13 years old, and it
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was just petty stuff back then, or is it? Everything was petty. I mean, just anything you did, you know, I, I, you fight, fighting and assault, strong-arm robbery. Like if you take money from a paperboy, it's strong-arm robbery. Give
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me it, I'll beat you up, that's strong-arm robbery, you know? So you just, you just get in trouble, and that was just the way of life. We just got in trouble. You know, I got thrown out of
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middle school, P junior middle school, about 11 times from being intoxicated or loaded or fighting, or 'cause you had a middle school with four different neighborhoods in it, so, and then the gangs were, you, you were
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you said in a gang, weren't you? Well, well, P I was from POA. I was from this neighborhood, so basically that's the gang. Although today we associate Southern Los Angeles with having a heavily organized gang culture, back in
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the '50s, it wasn't as organized and official. Regardless, Los Angeles was still riddled with very dangerous men who sold drugs, robbed, and assaulted people as a means to obtain power and control of the neighborhoods they resided in. From robbing liquor stores
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with live grenades, drive-by shootings to violent assaults, Danny Trejo just thought this was a normal way to live. Two sailors, they got with the girl I was with, and so I started fighting, and a fight to me is to win, so I grabbed a
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bottle, and I stabbed them. They were hurt, and I left, and then the cops came, picked me up, and I remember I had on a yellow shirt and a pair of khaki pants, and I put them down and went
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to bed. They were like just covered in blood, you know? So I remember said the cop should wear that, you know, put me back in the, I went to get some different clothes, and then we went back to jail.
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Danny would be arrested and incarcerated multiple times throughout his youth, and in that time he developed a reputation as someone you did not want to mess with. So I started building a reputation of being somebody you don't mess with way
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just scan the QR code on screen to grab yours now and make someone's holiday unforgettable. To add to the craziness of Danny's life story, during a brief stint in the county in 1961, Trejo even crossed paths with the notorious cult leader
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Charles Manson, describing him as a dirty, greasy, scrawny white boy. However, once Trejo reached adulthood, the consequences of his actions would be more severe, and in 1965, when Trejo was just 19 years old, he finally met his fate. While he
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maintains that it was nothing but sugar to this day, Danny was arrested for selling heroin to federal agents working undercover, which earned him a 10-year prison sentence. But Danny did not fear prison. He had already spent most of his
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days behind bars, and this is where he expected his life to lead to. When you got to prison, though, what did, was that a fearful thing for you? No, 'cause if, what was that like the first time you
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actually went to the, if you grow up in the system, okay, it's like you, like you, okay, you played Pop, I don't know if you played Pop Warner, played Pop Warner, then you played high school, then you
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played college, then you went to the NFL. So now when you got, you weren't afraid, you were like, oh, anxious, 'cause you knew most of the guys there, you know? You knew some of the guys on that
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team, and that's the same thing with, I was in juvenile hall, I was in camp, I was in youth authority. When I got to the B, what's up, home dog? Really, so it's the same kind of just kind of a
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alternate universe. As a fresh face, Trejo used his boxing training from his childhood to his advantage. His teenage scraps were now saving his life as his prowess in San Quentin was on full display for any challenger in the yard
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to test. Being a good boxer got me through the penitentiary. I was the lightweight and welterweight champion at every penitentiary I was in. Now, being a boxing champion in prison sou...
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Upon a Time in America prisons actually put somewhat of an effort to reform inmates which included money and resources for them to participate in organized Sports we have like fights with the the the the Army and the Navy
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would come in sometimes do they would be exhibitions you know but the only problem is that damn Mexicans don't understand the exhibition you know they'll come we got money on your homes no wait it's an exhibition no they don't
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T we got money homes and so you either had to tell the guy that you were fighting look Holmes go for what you know you know or surprise him you know what I mean if he looked up surprise him and uh but we had
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some great fights we had some great fights up there they took all the all the Athletics out of prison by you know they don't have no more now it's now it's just a a warehouse for Insanity you know tro managed to figure out and
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survive in the complicated politics of prison life because he knew any day in there could be his last if people know you really believe that the bottom line to an argument is a murder well then they don't want to
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argue with you and if you believe that in your heart then it's like you don't argue it's like you teachers there is no such thing as I'm getting mad now there is happy sad and rage that's it and you
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can go from happy to Rage or sad to rage because there's no I'm going to get mad because if I'm going to get mad at you that probably means you're going to sneak up behind me and stab me in the
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back so let's get this over with right away you got to understand prison is the most right now place there is there's no future there's no past it's like right now you can die because somebody you didn't know didn't get a letter or got a
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letter he can just be running down the tear see you and stab you it's like that quick unfortunately he realized that life Behind Bars was turning him into a monster he did not even recognize himself if you're going to be a predator
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then then you become somewhat of a sociopath somewhat of a unfeeling screw them they had you we got I remember I remember an incident where we were playing dominoes right there was we're playing domino before the big game
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because it a lot of money on it and I got a run of fives and anybody that knows dominoes I got four fives in my hand and I'm like look at and right here this guy watch this guy that was
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watching had snitched on some and so boom boom boom boom boom they hit him about six times in the back with a knife bang bang bang and he falls on the domino table right and I got this run of
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fives and I remember go oh my God wait no wait I'm trying to push this guy when somebody gets stabbed rob you you know you have to get away from there cuz if you're near there you did it right do
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you so I'm like no no wait wait I'm and everybody's come on and we got away I got back to my cell with this damn run of fives everybody had thrown their dominoes away they I got into my cell I
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still got this damn run of and I was laying there myself and it hit me what am I becoming despite Danny knowing how to navigate the system make the right connections and physically defend himself he would land himself in
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some trouble that nearly got him the death penalty at solidad State Prison in 1968 the prison baseball team was able to organize an exhibition game against an outside baseball team composed of free citizens it was CCO Deo which meant
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that all of the Mexicans in the prison were drinking partying and doing drugs we were like on the third base bleachers here Third Base was just right there and we're looking at him and he's chewing gum we're not allowed gum in the
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penitentiary Ray had come down from Tuscadero he had a double murdered he came down and he was like looking at this guy chew gum and he was like almost like a little kid Danny I want some gum hey B give me some gum you this guy
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turn I can't they told us not to give you guy and that's as far as he got poow Ray socked it when something happens in the pin it just blows up after his fellow inmate punched the third baseman all
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hell broke loose hundreds of inmates everywhere began fighting which looked like a riot and during the chaos it was alleged that Danny tro hit a guard with a rock and a fence that got him sent to solitary confinement aka the whole the
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environment of solitary confinement is hauntingly oppressive a space designed to strip away every sense of normaly and human connection tro kept himself occupied by revisiting his favorite films in his head occasionally acting out scenes from The Wizard of Oz to keep
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his mind busy on the brink of insanity it was at this moment that Dany realized his life was over he had officially reached Rock Bottom he sat in a Cell where God sucks had been written in feces on the wall but reaching out to
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God seemed like the only plausible action to take and I remember just asking God let me die with dignity Lord just let me I got a reputation let me die with dignity I will say your name every day and I will do whatever I can
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for my fellow man that was my my spot and his prayers were answered in a much better way than he anticipated none of the 3,000 inmates came forward to corroborate the claim made against him that he threw a rock at the guard's head
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during a riot thus all charges against him were dropped tro was released for parole in August of 19 69 the 25-year-old had no plan and no real prospects for the future but he was determined to leave 10 years of crime
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behind him and prove he was worthy of a second chance he returned to pacoma where his uncle Gilbert tried to lure him back into the game as a drug dealer tro refused he was focused on trying to become a better person and assimilate
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back into society he began working odd jobs in junkyards and even started a gardening business however he was able to develop a stable income becoming a drug counselor for recover ing atcts at Western Pacific Med Corp a place where
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he still works to this day his life was not sexy it was not exciting but it was humble safe and much better than being behind bars for 16 years straight after being released from prison tro stayed committed to his promise he remained
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sober and dedicated his life to helping others and it was actually because of one of his Noble Deeds that he accidentally got a Hollywood career in exchange Danny mentored a young actor that he met at a CO Cocaine Anonymous
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meeting which if you don't know are meetings that recovering addicts attend to surround themselves with others who can relate to and provide comfort with their struggles well one day in 1984 this young actor who was being mentored by tryo called him and asked him to come
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to the movie Set because a lot of people were doing cocaine and he was struggling with temptation Danny went down to watch over the young man and make sure he didn't relapse little did Danny know he was about to get himself his first
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acting gig at the age of 41 walked on this set and this guy hey do you want to be in this movie I what do I got to do he say do you want to be an extra I extra what he says can you act
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like a convict so I'll give it a shot you know it's kind of funny he's almost like you know this is your life and took off my shirt I got that big tattoo on my chest I'll never forget that guy goes like
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this goes wait a minute he goes I'm thinking what kind of stupid gang sign is that you I mean I'm think I I give him a pee [ __ ] you I'm F the film was called Runaway Train an action
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thriller centered around two escaped convicts on the set there was a man named Eddie bunker that recognized Danny from his boxing days at San Quinton Eddie asked Danny if he could train the star of the movie Eric Roberts had a box
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for the film and offered him more money in one day training this guy than Danny would typically make in a week after seeing how well Danny trained Eric and since Danny looked exactly like an actual Criminal the director realized it
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made more sense for him to be Eric's opponent in the film runaway train opened the door for Danny to get more acting roles I played like inmate number one or bad guy number one or or killer number one or tattooed guy you I always
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had these but but the director would see me and I was sag so he would say say a line you know so that's where I got my training really the first 5 years of my career I'd say like or I kill that son
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of a b and that's wow that was perfect you he loved the way I said it I've said it before ironically tro was getting paid to pretend to be the person he had been for years which is what made his
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roles in films like heat Conair and Blood In Blood Out so believable you have to keep in mind that tro was not enamored by the glitzing Glam of Hollywood sure he liked acting but by no means was he like the theater kids who
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grew up since 12 years old dreaming to one day Bey on a movie set he looked at this like an easy job that paid better than anything he could land with his criminal background it was the other people around him directors and
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producers that saw much more potential than him just being tough prisoner number one the first movie where he actually had a name was Death Wish 4 as art sella on this set he made friends with Charles Bronson who invited him to
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do another movie called forbidden subjects making friends and getting referrals was the way tro got more work he basically said yes to every job leading him to a different movie Set every other month every everything good that has happened to me has happened as
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a direct result of helping someone else this was his way of life for about 10 years until he finally got a more substantial role that actually gave him a name in Hollywood and the crazy part is he didn't even speak Desperado is a
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1995 film directed by Robert Rodriguez which follows El Mariachi a guitar toing Gunslinger seeking revenge against a drug lord along his journey he meets karolina played by salmahayek who becomes his love interest and Ally tro was given the role of navajas a fearsome
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assassin hired by the drug lord bcho to eliminate El miachi navajas wields throwing knives with deadly Precision he tracks down miachi and nearly kills him but miachi narrowly escapes after a brutal fight that became one of the most
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iconic and memorable scenes in the film Desperado gross $58 million worldwide on a $7 million budget treo's role as Navajo gave him Global recognition without having a single word of dialogue Rodriguez gave me a compliment one time and he say you can say more with your
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face than most actors can say with a page of dialogue that's a hell of a compliment you know and it's funny but that takes practice cuz like in San Quinton sometimes I think you got to be able to say hey I'll kill you without
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saying a word also on the set of Desperado was when Dany met Salma hyek the woman who had a near onetoone resemblance of the woman he had tattooed on his chest when when I soing for the first time he saw me and he ran towards
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me and ripped his shirt off I knew you before I knew you I dranked you before I knew you and there was a a picture of a woman that looks exactly like me the body was a little bit better but
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let's pretend exactly like me in his chest and he said I just got out of jail and I'm happy but for you I would Rob another band the tattoo on Danny's chest has become an iconic piece of His Image the
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artist named Harry was an inmate Danny met at San Quenton who asked Danny if he could do his very first tattoo on him with a guitar string and I was doing forever so Harry says let me do this
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tattoo D so we did the outline and then when he does the outline I get caught up in some sh in prison and Quinton and they send me to fome so he says don't let anybody touch it I I'll be in fome
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I'll be in fome I okay so so I got to fome I was there and then about 6 months later he showed up how did he get into falam he just kicked out San Quinton how do you get kicked out of San Quinton
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prison it's funny when he got the F hey it's t here it's t here so so he did the rest of it some of it in in in folsome and then the there's a big riot in in in
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a race riot in fome and they sent me to solidad and he said Danny please man this my first tattoo let me finish it let me so you went to three prisons to get that tattoo Danny didn't realize it
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yet but after 10 to 12 years in Hollywood he was officially being typ cast Charles Ramirez Berg a film professor at the University of Texas at Austin outlined six stereotypes that have divined the representation of Latinos in film over the past Century in
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his book Latino images and films there's the Bandido the Harlot the buffoon or clown the Latin lover and the dark lady historically these archetypes have functioned as a way of putting Latino characters in a box these archetypes often mocked them or confined them to
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roles in which they're the foil or sidekick to a white lead for most of his career Danny tro played the part of the Bandido someone whose scars and brown complexion were enough to suggest that he was a bad man with little to know
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backstory or dialogue about his life or motivation however tro does not resent being typ cast the first time I was ever really interviewed she says Danny don't you think you're being typ cast oh what do you mean that's what well you're
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always playing the mean chano dude with tattoos and I thought about it and I said well I am the mean Cho dude with tattoos go with what you got you know I mean I wouldn't make a good car salesman
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buy this I'll kill you in fact throughout his career Dany has purposely gone out of his way to take the role of the bad guy with the stipulation that they have to die or go to prison to illustrate to the audience
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the potential consequences of living a drug and crime ridden life which is quite literally the exact opposite of the contracts that The Rock and Vin Diesel have where they can never lose a fight and they can also never die tro
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officially holds the record of the most onscreen deaths of any actor surpassing Christopher Lee's record with 65 deaths to his name however Robert Rodriguez felt it was finally time to show the world the honest humble and inspiring man tro could be and that character was
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portrayed in possibly his most iconic role of his entire career Spy Kids is a family action Adventure film that follows Carmen and juny Cortez two kids who discover their parents are retired spies and must save them when they're
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kidnapped by a Madman named floop the film Blends comedy high-tech gadgets and thrilling action in a kid-friendly format Danny treo's character machete is Carman and jun's inventive Uncle machete became a fan favorite for his resourcefulness and tough Persona thank
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you for letting us stay here while we Ponder our parents terrible fate if you want a Cortez I wouldn't be doing this much so family does mean more to you than money no that misses you too financially Spy Kids was a major
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success grossing over $147 million on a $35 million budget leading to a very successful franchise with several sequels culturally it was praised for representing a Latino family in a positive empowering Way kids all around the world were now fans of tryo and as
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you know once you sort of become like a childhood hero or at least a part of somebody's childhood you basically have fans for life there were an overwhelming amount of youngsters going up to tryo in public calling him Uncle machete and
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asking for autographs and it was because of his role as Uncle machete which led to tro getting his biggest leading man role of his entire career in 2007 Robert Rodriguez and Quinton Tarantino's double feature Grindhouse featured a fake
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trailer for a film called machete Rodriguez created the over-the-top gritty trailer as a tongue-and-cheek homage to 1970s exploitation films featuring tro as machete a badass knife wielding ex-federal agent the trailer was such a hit with audiences that fans
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demanded a full length movie Danny and I couldn't go down the street without people asking for the movie people needed it they wanted a Latino character because they'd never seen it before and it was like yeah why doesn't that exist
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and so they got to work maete later premier in 2010 tro is the action star who seeks revenge against corrupt politicians and criminals who have wronged him the film boldly tackled controversial issues like immigration racism and the exploitation of
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undocumented workers for the first time Danny tro was the hero his character is the Romantic lead the one that everyone in the audience is rooting for without having to be the Latin lover type as far as Hollywood Fame and success Dany was
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officially at the peak of his career now most people in tro position would probably expect to just become this massive action star or at the very least getting offers for more leading man roles but that wasn't the case tryo
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continued to accept tertiary roles and onliners and everything from small indie films to Blockbuster smashes Danny could not care less about being the main character on screen or being typ cast or living up to some Superfluous status that celebrities try so hard to maintain
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he was simply grateful to be a part of any project that was offered to him considering his life was destined for failure from the start living a drug addicted crimer riddled existence in prison made him appreciate his second
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chance in an entirely different way and he was going to make the most of it Danny started a chain of restaurants called treos tacos the first restaurant opened in Los Angeles in 2016 and since then his culinary venture has expanded
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to include other locations as well as treos Cantina a cookbook and treos coffee and donuts at those establishments customers can find his own line of hot sauces While most celebrity side Ventures turn into seemingly Quick Cash grabs Danny's
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passion and genuine love for food has led to his products and restaurants being extremely highly rated tro also ventured into the beer industry with his own brand of craft beer called tro seresa he even launched a record label
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called treo's music but make no mistake despite Dany indulging in the fruits of his labor he has remained humble just a few years ago he saved a baby from an overturned vehicle he was nearby when a car got into an accident and the
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75-year-old ran over to help the victims he P them out the only thing that saved that little kid car SE a villain in the movies but a hero in real life Hollywood and social status mean nothing to Danny tro even though he
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enjoys acting he feels it's just a job that allows him to provide a decent life for his three kids today at 880 years old he is grateful to be safe and 51 years sober not to mention he still
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remains a drug counselor for others struggling with addiction to this day that genuine authenticity is what makes people want to work with him more it also makes him stand out from the phonies he is surrounded by tro continues to have conversations with God
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I talked to God a couple of days ago and I said how am I doing and he said you're almost out of hell keep it up you're doing great
Topics:Danny TrejoHollywoodredemption storyprison lifedrug addictioncrimeboxingacting careerLos Angeles gangspersonal transformation
