Danny Trejo. He’s a total badass. You’ll know that if you’ve seen any of the countless movies that he’s in. If there’s a flick with a crazy tough Mexican in a leather waistcoast in it – that’s Danny Trejo. He’s in Heat, Desperado, From Dusk Til Dawn, Breaking Bad, all sorts. He’s the star of the Machete movies and even lends his voice to a few GTA games.
But he’s no mollycoddled actor. He looks tough because he IS tough. His story is quite an amazing one. There’s no stage school or Nickelodeon show for Danny…
Born into a criminal family, he took his first hit of heroin when he was 13 (given to him by his uncle). He was in and out of prisons for various armed robbery offences and spent most of the 1960s in jail. At one point he even faced THREE separate death row offences.
He learned to box inside and became prison lightweight and welterweight boxing champion. After somehow getting parole, he cleaned up. He quit booze and drugs and began counselling people. He ended up working on the set on 1985’s Money Train and it all started from there…
“Man, look where I could have been. I could still be in prison. Hell, for all I did, I could be headed to the gas chamber. This is all icing.” He says.
Danny’s reflective over how his life turned out. He recognizes that he’s been very lucky in many ways…
“I’m glad I took the road I took to get here. I think it makes me grateful. Every day, I remember I could just as soon be in a jail cell.”
His truly is an incredible story. Find out more about the great man right here:
Fancy a more in-depth interview with the man? Then check this out…
