In Wes Anderson’s new movie The Phoenician Scheme, Benicio del Toro stars as a protagonist constantly escaping death. Industrialist Anatole “Zsa-Zsa” Korda is an ambitious billionaire who has made many enemies, and said enemies are constantly trying to assassinate him. It makes for a terrific bit in the film – and it’s made a little extra fun when you realize the impressive number of times that del Toro’s characters have died in movies over the course of his long career.
But does he have a favorite on-screen death? I sought an answer to that question last week when I had the pleasure of participating in the virtual press day for The Phoenician Scheme and interviewed the actor alongside co-stars Michael Cera and Mia Threapleton. There are many that he could have chosen from – including being turned into a “human Pez dispenser” in Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's Sin City or being stabbed to death by Robert de Niro in The Fan – but he went with his first:
You're usually kind like connected to your first, there's always your first. And I was in a James Bond movie. I got chopped up in a grinder.
As captured in the video above, it was a response that Michael Cera absolutely loved (“Oh my God! That’s fantastic!”), and it’s certainly an awesome and gnarly choice.
For those of you who don’t quite know the full breadth of the James Bond franchise, Benicio del Toro had a supporting role in License To Kill – the last of the 007 films starring Timothy Dalton. It was just the second film of his career (after he had previously played Duke, The Dog-Faced Boy in Big Top Pee-wee), and he played Dario, one of the henchmen loyal to drug lord antagonist Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi).
In the scene in discussion, James Bond has been captured by Sanchez, and he is placed on a conveyer belt that carries bricks of cocaine to an industrial grinder. Dario tries to facilitate the death of the MI6 superspy when the ties around the hero’s wrists let him cling to the edge of the belt, but just as 007 is about to fall, Bond girl Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell) shows up and shoots Dario. The del Toro character then gets pulled down into the grinder and has a slow death within a cloud of bloody cocaine particles.
You can check out the scene for yourself below, and once you do, I think you’ll be able to better appreciate Benicio del Toro’s affection.
Thirty-six years later, Benicio del Toro has gone from villainous Bond henchman to leading man, and he is surrounded by an outstanding ensemble cast in The Phoenician Scheme that includes the aforementioned Michael Cera and Mia Threapleton in addition to Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Fiend, Hope Davis, and Scarlett Johansson. The film is now playing in limited release but will be expanding into theaters nationwide this Friday, June 6.
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