Benicio Del Toro Briefly Talks About his Role in Star Wars: Episode VIII

Benicio-Del-Toro-as-the-Collector-in-Guardians-of-the-Galaxy

While chatting with the Puerto Rican star about his upcoming Kosovo War drama A Perfect Day, HitFix managed to briefly talk with the actor about his upcoming role in Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII.

 

Benicio Del Toro on when he will begin shooting:

“I’m traveling to England to shoot sometime in the spring.”

We already know from Kathleen Kennedy that filming for Episode VIII starts in late January. Obviously Del Toro will join the cast later this year, probably in March (that’s what he said in a previous interview from last year HERE). This suggests that he won’t have a major role in the movie, which was quite expected.

 

Rian Johnson

BDT on director Rian Johnson:

“I’m looking forward to working with Rian Johnson too, who was the one that reached out to me and had the idea of me playing the character that I’m gonna play. So that’s kinda nice.”

BDT on The Force Awakens success:

“It’s more surreal now, I’ll tell you that. I mean, after the success…not only at the box office, but the success of the quality of [Episode VII]. I really enjoyed the film…so it’s kind of nerve-wracking now, but I’m really happy to be part of it.”

BDT on if he’s playing a villain:

“You know, I’m not supposed to say, but that’s what’s out there, so I’m not gonna try and fight it.”

Again in the interview from last year Del Toro revealed that he is playing a villain in the movie. Then later he started denying that in what looked like damage control. Now it appears that he gave up and he won’t fight it. It would be interesting to see if indeed his character is just a villain or there is something more than meets the eye with him…

 

Source: HitFix (via Le Jedi Lorrain):

 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

81 thoughts on “Benicio Del Toro Briefly Talks About his Role in Star Wars: Episode VIII

  • January 12, 2016 at 11:32 pm
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    And anyone who has not seen Guardians of the Galaxy is freaking out over the title image in this article. 🙂

    • January 12, 2016 at 11:36 pm
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      ROFL.

    • January 13, 2016 at 12:25 am
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      Anyone reading this who has not seen GotG has missed the best SW movie of the past decade.

  • January 12, 2016 at 11:45 pm
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    I know this is speculation but, yeah, I’m gonna put my money on him playing a certain villain.

    • January 12, 2016 at 11:56 pm
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      Why did you paint John Travolta blue?

      • January 13, 2016 at 8:28 am
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        My die are loaded. Through a trusted friend, he’s a board game designer himself professionally, works on mechanics specifically for several popular games over the last 5 years. One of his best friends, also in the industry, is working on an upcoming board game for this Star Wars trilogy (one of those games where card expansions are released as the movie is, and you add those to your initial cards that came with the game). As part of that, they needed to know the story moving forward.

        The only piece of info my friend would tell me, because I begged for three weeks, was to confirm who Mr. Toro is playing. And sorry, but no comeback role for Travolta this time.

        Take that with a grain of salt, believe what you want folks.

    • January 13, 2016 at 9:15 am
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      Not a snowballs chance in hell lol

  • January 12, 2016 at 11:46 pm
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    He’s an amazing actor. I know someone that knows him. Close enough to hang out with him at his house. He’s crazy. He’s crazy about movies. He’ll binge watch movies for days in his underwear all while yelling at the screen, critiquing them.

    • January 13, 2016 at 1:22 am
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      Yeah, sure you do. I’ll be back in a few hour; I’ve got dinner tonight with the Obamas and Leonardo DiCaprio

      • January 13, 2016 at 1:30 am
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        You’re lying. I’m friends with both Leonardo DiCaprio AND the Obamas, and I know they don’t get on well, so they wouldn’t be having dinner together 🙂

      • January 13, 2016 at 1:40 am
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        Ha! Yeah well I didn’t say I knew him. Just some girl I know who “dated” him. Not that hard to believe is it?

        • January 13, 2016 at 3:14 am
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          Was he in his underwear when he “dated” her? Critiquing her for days…

  • January 12, 2016 at 11:56 pm
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    Let’s see…a friend of the Resistance which betrays them under duress, and then in a moral crisis comes back to save them at the end, but only after leaving one of our heroes in dire staits until E9 – DUH-DUH DUHHHHHHHHHH…..

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:09 am
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      How do you know that? Have you read the script? Do you know these things about the character? No? Then shut up for once.

      • January 13, 2016 at 2:10 am
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        Um, he is referring to Lando….

        • January 13, 2016 at 2:11 am
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          No, he’s saying that the character will be just like Lando. He’s trying to say that VIII will be like V, but he doesn’t know anything about Benicio’s character yet.

      • January 14, 2016 at 4:46 am
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        Tell me something – when you created your account, were you trying to spell ‘turd’, but just don’t have the attention span to follow through?

        • January 14, 2016 at 10:29 am
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          Be respectful to other members or you will be banned.

  • January 12, 2016 at 11:59 pm
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    Hmmmm… that’s weird. We’ll have 5 villains in VII: Snoke, Kylo, Phasma, Hux and Ben

      • January 13, 2016 at 12:54 am
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        Err… yes?

      • January 13, 2016 at 12:54 am
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        @Aras Volodka:disqus I think you meant to say “Kylo & Ben are 2 different villains?” instead of “Snoke & Ben are 2 different villains?” and I think @Paulo meant “Ben” as in Benicio.

        • January 13, 2016 at 1:46 am
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          I was just making a funny. So it’s Snoke, Benicio, Kylo, Phasma, & Hux. Though I think Phasma will switch sides… so it might only be 4 villains.

          • January 13, 2016 at 3:18 am
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            It would suck if Star Wars’ first female villain dropped the shields in TFA before switching sides in VIII.

          • January 13, 2016 at 9:19 am
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            Captain Phasma is not the first female villain in the Star Wars movies, that would be Zam Wesell the female bounty hunter in Episode 2 also had more screen time.

          • January 13, 2016 at 3:04 pm
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            But fewer lines.

          • January 13, 2016 at 3:24 pm
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            And she’d have had more…if wasn’t for that meddling Jango and his special dart from those “Clonerrrrrs” (as Dex would say)….

          • January 13, 2016 at 8:05 pm
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            Oh. You count her?

    • January 13, 2016 at 12:51 am
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      Kylo and Ben are same character.

      • January 13, 2016 at 12:53 am
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        Doesn’t he mean Benicio?

    • January 13, 2016 at 1:29 am
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      exactly my thoughts, I mean it haven’t been THAT crowded in SW ever.. I suppose Hux will take a backseat and support Ben’s character, Snoke will remain in the shadows until the full reveal in IX and Kylo will be mostly passive until the final act of VIII as he’ll be training/recuperating throughout the movie. the only thing is Phasma, the most overhyped and underdeveloped villain of VII, wouldn’t be surprised if she gets even less attention in VIII

      • January 13, 2016 at 1:32 am
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        btw I just realized that they had completely cut her out of Maz Castle assault which is compelling since her first official photo was from that set

      • January 13, 2016 at 2:07 am
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        She’ll probably get more attention just to appeasing the unsatisfied fans. She’ll be like Boba in V.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:08 am
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      Yeah, but not on the same level. Snoke will still be in the background, Kylo will be featured throughout, Phasma will take a Boba Fett (minor) role, Hux will purely be seen at First Order rallies and on the Finalizer, and I have no idea what Benicio will be up to, but it seems to be minor as well.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:50 am
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      Yeah, thats a bit crowded on the villians side, who were already underdeveloped in TFA. I think Hux has to get the ax in this next movie as he either goes down with the FInalizer or is treasonously killed by Kylo in a fit of rage. He is the only expendable villan ATM. Snoke is the Big bad so hes safe, Kylo is the most interesting character and won’t die, and phasma is so inconcequential that killing her would have no impact. Hux is in that General Veers sweet-spot that we get him as a villian but hes not so critical that he can die.

      • January 13, 2016 at 4:18 am
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        Underdeveloped? Oh please. Kylo is a much more developed character than Vader was in A New Hope. Hux has been developed just as much, if not more than Tarkin, and will be be able to be developed further, as he will actually be in the next movie. Phasma has just as much character development as Boba Fett, but has appeared one movie earlier, so she’ll get an entire extra movie to become more developed.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:55 am
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      Well, in the OT we had the emperor instead of Snoke, Vader instead of Kylo, Boba Fett instead of Phasma, Tarkin and Piet instead of Hux, and Jabba instead of who I presume to be Ben’s character.

  • January 13, 2016 at 12:49 am
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    If he is playing a villain, or at least an antagonist, I hope he’s not part of the First Order or another Dark Sider. I wouldn’t mind him playing a gangster of some kind, perhaps the new Jabba the Hutt or something closer to Prince Xizor from “Shadows of the Empire”.

    • January 13, 2016 at 10:22 am
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      Yeah that’s what I imagine him as — an original character not tied to either side in the war directly or with the Force.

      For example, I could see him as the head of the company that makes starship fighters and weapons. He plays both sides behind the scenes, making things worse, so that the New Republic agrees to fund the military expansion of the Resistance, and, thus, de Toro’s company wins this valuable contract. He could be like the amoral version of Lando.

    • January 14, 2016 at 11:45 am
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      Sort of like the Collector ?

  • January 13, 2016 at 1:34 am
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    I wouldn’t be opposed if BDT were to play Snoke “behind holographic the veil” as it were.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:06 am
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      I would eat that right up.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:13 pm
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      Like the Wizard of Oz? Hmmmm… Interesting idea.

  • January 13, 2016 at 1:47 am
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    one step closer to…thrawn.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:46 am
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      I’m trying not to get my hopes up but I want that so badly!

  • January 13, 2016 at 1:54 am
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    He’s just engaging to watch, whatever he does.

  • January 13, 2016 at 2:07 am
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    In TFA, Kylo Ren was defeated by Rey. So episode 8 needs formidable enemy.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:10 am
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      How about KYLO?

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:45 am
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      I’m calling it now. An unwounded, better-trained kylo is going to totally decimate Rey in the rematch for episode 8

      • January 13, 2016 at 2:49 am
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        Oh yeah. I want him to have that cyborg eye like in that TFA concept art.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:56 am
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      FTFY: Chewie and Rey.

    • January 13, 2016 at 8:25 am
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      In Kylo’s defense, his defeat came after he had been shot in the side by Chewbacca and had been dealing with the trauma coming as a result of killing his father. Rather than bring him the freedom from pain or the peace of mind he had thought it would, it weakened him and made him feel worse. Factor in also that Snoke had told Kylo to bring Rey to him.

      So Kylo wasn’t even trying to kill or even to hurt Rey. Even with all that, and with his injuries, Kylo was winning the fight with Rey. He kept advancing and swatting her attacks away while she was constantly backing up and even running away from him . All the while he got weaker from his wounds, but his big mistake was talking to Rey about the Force instead of using the Force to take her out of the fight and bring her to Snoke like he was told to do.

      Yes, Rey won this time but I put it down more to Kylo’s own fault and circumstance. He triggered the Force in Rey by offering to teach her. If he had been trying to hurt or even kill her as he was no-nonsense with Finn at the end ,he could have won and brought her to Snoke. Neither of them, neither Rey nor Kylo has completed their training. If they fight again in Episode VIII, the result may be different.

  • January 13, 2016 at 2:12 am
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    Whatever character he plays, I just hope they put him in a mask or enough make up that we can’t recognize him. Seeing his face in a SW movie would totally take me out of the moment.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:39 am
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      Speak for yourself, I want him all over that star Wars.

    • January 13, 2016 at 7:47 am
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      Yeah, it’d be like if distinctive faces like Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee suddenly appeared in SW. Ruined!

    • January 13, 2016 at 12:33 pm
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      Not for me.

  • January 13, 2016 at 2:19 am
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    This guy and Forrest Whittaker are two of the very best actors, and we’re getting them both in upcoming Star Wars movies!

  • January 13, 2016 at 3:24 am
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    Well of course Benicio is a villain, just LOOK at him, the dude is creepy.

  • January 13, 2016 at 5:10 am
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    His name is KHAN!

  • January 13, 2016 at 5:16 am
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    Lor San Tekka Jr, killed off in the first 10 minutes 😛

  • January 13, 2016 at 5:54 am
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    I’m hoping he plays some kind of underworld character who chases down Finn to try to get him to pay off Han’s debt. Maybe King Prana or Ducain? Really, I just want Finn’s half of the movie to be a bunch of people chasing him all over the place. Phasma, del Toro, I don’t care. I just want Finn to take on Han’s role here.

    • January 13, 2016 at 6:53 am
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      But that might be a bit too Empire-esque, and we don’t want want any “remake” complaints.

    • January 13, 2016 at 2:27 pm
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      Why would Finn have to pay Han’s debt ? He didn’t even inherit the Falcon, which is with Rey now.

  • January 13, 2016 at 6:08 am
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    Trying desperately to get Rian/Kathy to shoot on 65/70. Fingers crossed.

  • January 13, 2016 at 6:29 am
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    Poe’s daddy.

  • January 13, 2016 at 6:35 am
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    Maybe one of the Knights of ren. Thrawn would be awesome tho or a old boba fett!! Yes

  • January 13, 2016 at 10:51 am
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    HYPE!!! After the wonder of Ep7, it’s nice to know how damned close this one is. Having Del Toro added to the already stellar cast makes this even more exciting.

    • January 14, 2016 at 2:35 am
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      Luckily, the wait for VIII won’t be 2 years, but only 1.5, as it is coming out May of 2017. However.. the wait for IX will be a full 2 years after VIII…..

  • January 13, 2016 at 11:22 am
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    Snoke, Kylo and Hux already are an amazing team! With Del Toro joining them, there will be no stopping them! <3

  • January 13, 2016 at 12:44 pm
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    REMINDER: Adam Driver will be hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend, on January 16, 2016. Hopefully he will do a TFA sketch.

  • January 13, 2016 at 6:09 pm
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    My way out there wacky prediction. Benicio Del Toro is playing King Prana.

    • January 13, 2016 at 7:36 pm
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      That seems likely. I don’t think he will play a sith or something like that, I rather see him as a mob boss type character

      • January 14, 2016 at 1:57 am
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        And just have said it first..Paul Dano will get a role in episode 8. Wait and see

        • January 14, 2016 at 11:43 am
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          Then I predict Jake Johnson in Colin Trevorrow’s Episode IX..

  • January 13, 2016 at 6:21 pm
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    He was awesome in Sicario. I still hope he gets back into real fighting shape like Hamill though if he’s going to be going up against someone half his age like Ridley for it to look convincing.

  • January 13, 2016 at 6:43 pm
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    This guy is an amazing actor! Hope has more than a cameo. Rian is the perfect writer director for Benicio. I have high hopes!~

    • January 28, 2016 at 2:23 am
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      I think so too! Since King Prana is said to be a collector of exotic creatures like the Collector in GOTG which was also played by BDT

  • January 28, 2016 at 2:27 am
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    I think he is playing King Prana

  • January 30, 2016 at 12:38 am
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    There is another possibility. He could be playing Grand Admiral Thrawn. Rumor is that Thrawn will be feature in an upcoming episode of Rebels. Bringing him into the Disney canon.

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