Guillermo del Toro
- Directing
- October 9, 1964 · 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
Filmography
- The Anatomy Lesson: Director’s Cut · Self
- Digger · Thanks
- THE ORIGIN OF ULTRAMAN · Self
- I Love Boosters · Thanks
- The Thing Expanded · Self
- Avatar: A New Era - Special Edition of 20/20 · Self
- Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery · Thanks
- In Your Dreams · Thanks
- Frankenstein: The Anatomy Lesson · Self
- Mollusk
- The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
- Frankenstein · Director, Producer
- Sangre del Toro · Self
- It’s a Mad Max World · Self
- Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story · Self
- Netflix Tudum 2025 · Self
- Surrealistic Nightmares: An In-Depth Look at Walloon Horror Cinema · Self
- The Monkey · Thanks
- Leonardo da Vinci · Self
- Dario Argento: Panico · Self
- Disclaimer · Thanks
- The Apprentice · Thanks
- Megalopolis · Thanks
- Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre · Self
- The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial · Thanks
- The Last Voyage of the Demeter · Thanks
- Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds · Self
- George Pal: Un Marciano De Hollywood En Argentina
- Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema · Self, Executive producer
- Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio · Screenstory, Screenplay
- Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities · Self, Executive producer
- Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story · Self
- Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters · Self
- Nightmare Alley · Director, Screenplay
- Antlers · Producer
- Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster · Self
- Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans · Screenplay, Producer
- Directors on Directors · Self
- I'm No Longer Here: A Discussion with Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón · Self
- Roald Dahl's The Witches · Producer, Screenplay
- Wizards: Tales of Arcadia · Writer, Teleplay
- Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business · Self
- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark · Screenstory, Producer
- Love, Antosha · Self
- Elvis Goes There · Self
- Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film · Self
- The House Is Alive: Constructing 'Crimson Peak' · Self
- 3Below: Tales of Arcadia · Executive producer, Director
- Guillermo del Toro: Un director y su Oscar · Guillermo del Toro
- Bloody And Groovy Baby! A Tribute to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2 · Self
- James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction · Self
- Barry · El Toro
- Pacific Rim: Uprising · Producer
- Ayotzinapa: The Turtle's Pace · Producer
- Light in the Darkness: The Impact of Night of The Living Dead · Self, Thanks
- The Shape of Water · Producer, Story
- When Romero Met Del Toro
- 78/52 · Self
- Five Came Back · Self
- Five Came Back · Self
- Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia · Señor Muelas (Voice), Executive producer
- The Giant's Dream: The Making of the Iron Giant · Self
- The Light and Dark of Crimson Peak · Self
- A Living Thing
- Hand Tailored Gothic · Self
- I Remember Crimson Peak · Self
- Crimson Phantoms
- Kung Fu Panda 3 · Executive producer
- Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex · Self
- The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet · Self
- Crimson Peak · Director, Writer
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert · Self
- Metal Gear Solid: Legacy · Self
- Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter · Self
- Extraordinary Tales · Narrator (voice) (segment 'The Pit and the Pendulum')
- The Late Late Show with James Corden · Self
- The Thin Yellow Line · Producer
- Lennon or McCartney · Self
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies · Screenplay
- The Game Awards · Self