Guillermo Del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, Del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from Dick Smith (The Exorcist) and worked on making his own short films. At the age of 21, Del Toro executive produced his first feature, Dona Herlinda and Her Son (1986). Del Toro spent almost 10 years as a makeup supervisor, and formed his own company, Necropia in the early 1980s. He also produced and directed Mexican television programs at this time, and taught film.

Del Toro got his first big break when Cronos (1992) won nine academy awards in Mexico, then went on to win the International Critics Week prize at Cannes. Following this success, Del Toro made his first Hollywood film, Mimic (1997), starring Mira Sorvino.

Del Toro had some unfortunate experiences working with a demanding Hollywood studio on Mimic, and returned to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang.

Next for Del Toro, was The Devil's Backbone (2001), a Spanish Civil War ghost story. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike, and Del Toro decided to give Hollywood another try. In 2002, he directed the Wesley Snipes vampire sequel, Blade II.

On a roll, Del Toro followed up Blade II with another successful comic-book inspired film, Hellboy, starring one of Del Toro's favorite actors, Ron Perlman.

Married with children, Guillermo Del Toro currently lives in Los Angeles.
Frequently works with cinematographer Guillermo Navarro. Became a vegetarian after seeing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre but only for four years. Currently, he's no longer a vegetarian. Turned down a chance to direct Blade: Trinity and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to work on his dream project: Hellboy. Fought the film studios for almost seven years to get Ron Perlman for the title role in Hellboy. The studio wanted a bigger name to insure the success of the movie, but del Toro thought that Perlman was the perfect choice and wouldn't make the movie if he wasn't cast. He is friends with director Alfonso Cuarón. Has a photographic memory. 1997: His father was kidnapped in Mexico and held for seventy-two days until his ransom was paid.