Benicio del Toro still looks around Hollywood and sees the same missing piece: A collective, undeniable wave of storytelling that treats Latino life in the U.S. as something bigger than a side plot. In a new interview with Variety, del Toro puts it plainly, then challenges himself and the next generation to finish what the industry keeps postponing.

Benicio del Toro is still waiting for the “movement”

Del Toro knows what it means to break through. He remains “one of only a handful of Latino actors to win an Academy Award,” as Variety notes, and he carries that perspective without sugarcoating the gap. “I still haven’t seen a Latino movement,” he told Variety. “There was an African American movement with Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, and Don Cheadle. There are a lot of filmmakers, and it’s amazing. The Italian American story has been told. Latino is somewhat different.”

The real issue is stories, not visibility

Yes, the industry looks louder and more diverse than it did when he started. Del Toro acknowledges that shift directly. “I think there’s more opportunity now for Latino actors because there’s more opportunity for actors in general, so much content, so many platforms,” he told Variety. Then he draws the line between casting and culture. “But when it comes to stories, I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Benicio del Toro wants the full map of Latino America on screen

When del Toro says “Latino,” he is not talking about a single community, a single accent, or a single city. He names the story’s scale: Hollywood keeps shrinking. “I don’t think we’re there when it comes to stories of the Hispanic story in the United States, and that includes Puerto Rico, every different Latino that lives, whether it’s in Florida, Chicago, California, New York, Texas, New Mexico,” he told Variety. “There are a lot of Latinos in this country.”

Latino representation in Hollywood still trails the numbers

Del Toro’s frustration lands in a moment when the data keeps echoing the same point. In a Los Angeles Times interview, Eva Longoria said, “We’re severely underrepresented in TV and film, and it’s getting worse.” She added, “Five years ago, we made up, like, 7% of TV and film, and now we’re 4%. It’s actually going in the wrong direction.” And the numbers back it up: UCLA’s 2025 Hollywood Diversity Report found “1% of Latino performers were leading roles in top theatrical films,” with “4.3% of Latino directors” and “2.1% of Latino writers” involved in last year’s top films.

Benicio del Toro thinks the camera might need to turn toward him

Del Toro does not frame himself as a savior. He frames directing as a responsibility and a possibility. “I like to get behind the camera and tell a story about that,” he told Variety. “That’s something I would like to do. I’m not saying that I’m that voice. That voice is right now probably in high school, or they’re in college right now, and are about to break out. It’s going to happen.”

He returns to that idea again, with more specificity about what he wants to say. “I’ve had an incredible education on cinema,” he said, referring to the filmmakers and projects that shaped him. “I want to maybe get behind and tell a story that comes from me, being American, being Latino, and the experience of being a Latino in this time and world that we’re in.”

The industry argument keeps writing itself in dollars

The representation gap also carries a financial contradiction Hollywood rarely addresses out loud. McKinsey research covering releases from 2013 to 2022 reported that Latinos held “4 percent of lead roles in theatrical films and television shows, and 7 percent on streaming series,” despite comprising “19 percent of the US population.” Mother Jones notes the “crowning irony” that Latinos show up heavily as audiences, citing McKinsey findings that Latinos had the highest per capita spending at cinemas and that movies with Latino talent in key roles “made 58 percent more money at the global box office.” It also cites an estimate that the industry could add “$12 billion to $18 billion” annually by improving Latino representation.

Benicio del Toro is talking about craft, discipline, and who gets to last

Part of what makes del Toro’s take hit harder is that he pairs the big structural critique with a working actor’s mindset. While discussing Paul Thomas Anderson’s direction, he describes a mantra that doubles as survival advice. “Get back on defense,” Anderson told him, del Toro recalled to Variety. “Don’t get bogged down on things. Just keep looking, being. Think about the next play.”

Then, when the conversation turns to endurance and hope, del Toro makes it even simpler. “The worst thing would be to quit,” he told Variety. “You can’t quit.”

The next Latino wave might already be loading

Del Toro’s most telling note is not despair. It is expectation. He does not ask whether Latino storytelling will arrive. He talks like it is already on its way, just not fully funded, fully trusted, or fully let in the room yet. “I’m always hoping that there’s more opportunity and there’s more stories,” he told Variety. Then he points toward the people who will force the industry to catch up. “That voice is right now probably in high school, or they’re in college right now, and are about to break out.”

If Hollywood wants the next era to feel real, it has to stop treating Latino life like a niche genre and start treating it like the country. Del Toro has done his part on screen. Now he is asking the machine to meet the audience where it already is.

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