Name
Guillermo del Toro
Known For
Directing
Birthday
1964-10-09 (62 years old)
Place of Birth
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Biography
Guillermo del Toro Gómez (Spanish: [ɡiˈʝeɾmo ðelˈtoɾo]; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, gothicism, and horror, often blending the genres to infuse visual or poetic beauty into the grotesque. He has had a lifelong fascination with monsters, which he considers symbols of great power. He is known for pioneering dark fantasy in the film industry and using insectile and religious imagery, his themes of Catholicism, and celebrating imperfection, underworld motifs, practical special effects, and dominant amber lighting.
Throughout his career, del Toro has shifted between Spanish-language films—such as Cronos (1993), The Devil's Backbone (2001), and Pan's Labyrinth (2006)—and English-language films, including Mimic (1997), Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army(2008), Pacific Rim (2013), Crimson Peak (2015), The Shape of Water (2017), Nightmare Alley (2021), and Pinocchio (2022).
As a producer or writer, he worked on the films The Orphanage (2007), Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010), The Hobbit film series (2012–2014), Mama (2013), The Book of Life (2014), Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019), and The Witches (2020). In 2022, he created the Netflix anthology horror series Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, featuring a collection of classical horror stories.
With Chuck Hogan, he co-authored The Strain trilogy of novels (2009–2011), which was later adapted into a comic book series (2011–15) and a live-action television series (2014–17). With DreamWorks Animation and Netflix, he created the animated franchise Tales of Arcadia, which includes the series Trollhunters (2016–18), 3Below (2018–19), and Wizards (2020) and the sequel film Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021).
Del Toro is close friends with fellow Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, collectively known as "The Three Amigos of Mexican Cinema". He has received several awards, including three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Daytime Emmy Award, and a Golden Lion. He was included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018, and he received a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.
Known For
7.381
Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit enjoying his quiet life, is swept into an epic quest by Gandalf th...
7.3
Following Smaug's attack on Laketown, Bilbo and the dwarves try to defend Erebor's mountai...
7.6
Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist, brings a creature to life ...
7.768
In post–civil war Spain, 10-year-old Ofelia moves with her pregnant mother to live under...
7.6
The Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf have successfully escaped the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo ha...
6.946
Using massive piloted robots to combat the alien threat, Earth's survivors take the fight ...
- 2007 07 Spaceys
- 2007 Nexus Generation: Fans & Filmmakers as Self
- 2007 Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard as Self
- 2008 The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't as Self
- 2020 I'm No Longer Here: A Discussion with Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón as Self
- 2005 Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
- 2008 Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown as Self
- 2007 Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner as Self
- 2008 Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock as Self
- 2023 Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds as Self
- 2008 El último truco as Self
- 2012 Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan as Self
- 2012 Men in Suits as Self
- 2024 Dario Argento: Panico as Self
- 2012 El Santos vs la Tetona Mendoza as Gamborimbo Ponx (voice)
- 2013 Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics
- 2023 George Pal: Un Marciano De Hollywood En Argentina
- 2008 Edith Head: Dressing the Master's Movies as Self
- 2023 Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre as Self
- 2011 Zombie Lover as Interviewee
- 2009 Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock as Self
- 2013 Drew: The Man Behind the Poster as Self
- 2018 Light in the Darkness: The Impact of Night of The Living Dead as Self
- 2015 Metal Gear Solid: Legacy as Self
- 2000 Bullfighter as Bullboy #2
- 2008 Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro as Self
- 2012 Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss as Self
- 2008 Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound as Self
- 2015 Extraordinary Tales as Narrator (voice) (segment 'The Pit and the Pendulum')
- 2022 Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story as Self
- 2016 The Giant's Dream: The Making of the Iron Giant as Self
- 2022 Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema as Self
- 2018 Guillermo del Toro: Un director y su Oscar as Guillermo del Toro
- 2015 Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex as Self
- 2014 Lennon or McCartney as Self
- 2011 Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope as Self
- 2011 Puss in Boots as Comandante / Hombre del bigote (voice)
- 2015 The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet as Self
- 2009 The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style as Self
- 2009 North by Northwest: One for the Ages as Self
- 2017 78/52 as Self
- 2020 Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business as Self
- 2008 Hellboy: In Service of the Demon as Self
- 2004 Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation as Self
- 2008 Saul Bass: Title Champ as Self
- 2017 Five Came Back as Self
- 2008 In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy as Self
- 2014 The Book of Life as Land of the Remembered Captain's Wife (voice)
- 2004 Que es un Fantasma?: The Making of 'The Devil's Backbone' as Self
- 2025 Surrealistic Nightmares: An In-Depth Look at Walloon Horror Cinema as Self
- 2013 Spanish Gothic as Self
- 2007 The Power of Myth as Self
- 2007 Pan and the Fairies as Self
- 2007 The Melody Echoes the Fairy Tale as Self
- 2007 The Color and the Shape as Self
- 2014 Guillermo del Toro Interviews Paul Williams as Self
- 2002 Masters of Horror as Self
- 2013 The Digital Artistry of Pacific Rim as Self
- 2019 The House Is Alive: Constructing 'Crimson Peak' as Self
- 2016 I Remember Crimson Peak as Himself
- 2016 The Light and Dark of Crimson Peak as Self
- 2016 A Living Thing
- 2016 Hand Tailored Gothic as Self
- 2016 Crimson Phantoms
- 2007 Diary of the Dead as Newsreader (voice) (uncredited)
- 2018 Bloody And Groovy Baby! A Tribute to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2 as Self
- 2019 Love, Antosha as Self
- 2010 Don't Be Afraid of the Dark as Creature (Voice)
- 2019 Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film as Self
- 2008 Drew Struzan: An Appreciation of An Artist as Self
- 2008 Hellboy II: The Golden Army as Creature Vocals (voice) (uncredited)
- 2004 Hellboy as Guy Dressed as Dragon (uncredited)
- 1993 Cronos as Man Walking Dog (uncredited)
- 2013 The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy as Self
- 2008 Quantum of Solace as Additional Voices (voice)
- 2022 Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters as Self
- 2017 When Romero Met Del Toro
- 2021 Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster as Self
- 2025 Mollusk
- 2011 Reclaiming 'Mimic' as Self
- 2011 A Leap in Evolution: The Creatures of 'Mimic' as Self
- 2011 Back Into the Tunnels: The Making of 'Mimic' as Self
- 2002 The Blood Pact: The Making of 'Blade II' as Self
- 2008 Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators as Self
- 2025 Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story as Self
- 2025 Netflix Tudum 2025 as Self
- 2003 Noin as Guillermo del Toro
- 2026 The Thing Expanded as Self
- 2025 Sangre del Toro as Self
- 2025 It’s a Mad Max World as Self
- 2025 The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
- 2025 Frankenstein: The Anatomy Lesson as Self - Writer / Director
- 2026 THE ORIGIN OF ULTRAMAN as Self
- 2001 The Devil's Backbone: Behind the Scenes
- 2004 Que es un fantasma?
- Soon The Fall: Part I as Self
- Soon The Fall: Part II as Self
- 2011 Bob Burns' Hollywood Haloween as Self
- 2026 The Anatomy Lesson: Director’s Cut as Self
- 2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live! ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 2002 HypaSpace ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2014 The Director's Chair ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2018 Barry ( 1 episode ) as El Toro
- 2017 Five Came Back ( 3 episodes ) as Self
- 2015 The Late Late Show with James Corden ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 2014 The Game Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2019 Elvis Goes There ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2022 Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities ( 8 episodes ) as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 2018 James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1989 The Simpsons ( 1 episode ) as Guillermo del Toro (voice)
- 2015 Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1953 The Oscars ( 3 episodes ) as Self
- 2005 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ( 3 episodes ) as Pappy McPoyle
- 2024 Leonardo da Vinci ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 2021 Directors on Directors ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1944 Golden Globe Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self - Nominee
- 1999 Futurama ( 1 episode ) as Guillermo del Toro's Head (voice)
- 2015 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live! ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Guest
- 2015 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 2018 Konbini Vidéo Club ( 1 episode )
- 2016 Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia ( 5 episodes ) as Señor Muelas (voice)
