Danny Trejo can't stand method actors
Danny Trejo can't stand method actors.
The 80-year-old actor - who was released from prison in 1969 after stints for crimes including armed robbery and drug dealing - is known for playing tough guys on screen and insisted he doesn't have to go method because he has lived that life before.
In an exclusive interview with BANG Showbiz, Danny was asked how he gets into the "tough guy mindset" and replied: "I show up. People that stay in character annoy me, I can't be around them at lunch and someone is [still in tough guy mode]. I'm like, 'C'mon man, you went to Juilliard'. But I was that guy."
Speaking about one violent scene in a movie, where he had to attack and shoot various people, Danny said: "[I did that] and then I went and played with my kids. And the director said to me, 'How do you do that?' and I said 'I was that guy. I don't wanna be that guy any more'. That guy goes to prison and almost dies so I don't like going there. I'll do it because they pay me good money for it.
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"There are some people that can't [turn it off and on] so they go off by themselves because they don't want to offend anybody. And then there are some d****, and I'm just like 'Hey you're not tough, I'll kill you'."
After finding God and sobriety in 1968, Trejo - who launched the first outpost of his LA taco restaurant Trejo's Tacos in London earlier this year - became an advocate for recovery and redemption and now spends his time sponsoring addicts and giving talks in schools and prisons.
Danny - who was photographed by Naf Castanas @adashandasplash in London - said: "I sponsor quite a few people in Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous and still speak at high schools and junior highs and prisons and if I'm not doing this [publicity for his projects], that's what I'm doing.
"I think one of the gifts that the good lord has given us is that the fact that I've done all that stuff and now I'm doing all these movies and stuff, it gives me an unbelievable platform. The minute I walk on campus, I have everybody's attention. Not Danny Trejo but the guy from 'Heat', 'Desperado', 'Con Air', any movie you see, they're like 'Oh it's that guy'. And I've been that guy for a long time so it gives me that platform. Teachers have told me that 'all the kids that don't come to these things are here right now and that's because of the films."
For more information, go to trejostacos.co.uk and for reservations, visit www.sevenrooms.com/reservations/trejostacos.