Guillermo del Toro
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.
20 directing credits · 115 acting credits
Directing · 20
The Strain
2014
Frankenstein
2025
Pacific Rim
2013
Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia
2016
Pan's Labyrinth
2006
Blade II
2002
3Below: Tales of Arcadia
2018
Hellboy
2004
The Shape of Water
2017
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
2008
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
2022
Crimson Peak
2015
Nightmare Alley
2021
Mimic
1997
The Marked Hour
1988
Cronos
1993
The Devil's Backbone
2001
Fury
—
Geometry
1987
Mrs. Lupe
1986
Acting · 115
The Simpsons
1989
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Golden Globe Awards
1944
The Late Late Show with James Corden
2015
Futurama
1999
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
2005
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015
Barry
2018
The Oscars
1953
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities
2022
Puss in Boots
2011
Quantum of Solace
2008
Hellboy
2004
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
2008
Directors on Directors
2021
James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction
2018
The Book of Life
2014
HypaSpace
2002
The Game Awards
2014
The Director's Chair
2014
Leonardo da Vinci
2024
Five Came Back
2017
Diary of the Dead
2007
Cronos
1993
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
2010
Lennon or McCartney
2014
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
2025
The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy
2013
Torrente 3: The Protector
2005
The Thing Expanded
2026
Netflix Tudum 2025
2025
Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics
2013
Love, Antosha
2019
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema
2022
Elvis Goes There
2019
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan
2012
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't
2008
Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner
2007
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope
2011
The Giant's Dream: The Making of the Iron Giant
2016
Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex
2015
Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds
2023
It’s a Mad Max World
2025
Extraordinary Tales
2015
The Blood Pact: The Making of 'Blade II'
2002
Five Came Back
2017
Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation
2004
Surrealistic Nightmares: An In-Depth Look at Walloon Horror Cinema
2025
78/52
2017
Metal Gear Solid: Legacy
2015
Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound
2008
Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business
2020
Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film
2019
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
2008
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
2022
Hellboy: In Service of the Demon
2008
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
2009
Dario Argento: Panico
2024
Frankenstein: The Anatomy Lesson
2025
Men in Suits
2012
Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard
2007
Back Into the Tunnels: The Making of 'Mimic'
2011
Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss
2012
Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
2013
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
2008
Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters
2022
Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
2005
El último truco
2008
Sangre del Toro
2025
The House Is Alive: Constructing 'Crimson Peak'
2019
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators
2008
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
2021
Pan and the Fairies
2007
Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown
2008
Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre
2023
The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet
2015
Bullfighter
2000
Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro
2008
North by Northwest: One for the Ages
2009
I Remember Crimson Peak
2016
El Santos vs la Tetona Mendoza
2012
Masters of Horror
2002
The Light and Dark of Crimson Peak
2016
Hand Tailored Gothic
2016
Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock
2009
Que es un Fantasma?: The Making of 'The Devil's Backbone'
2004
Drew Struzan: An Appreciation of An Artist
2008
I'm No Longer Here: A Discussion with Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón
2020
Guillermo del Toro: Un director y su Oscar
2018
07 Spaceys
2007
Bloody And Groovy Baby! A Tribute to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2
2018
Nexus Generation: Fans & Filmmakers
2007
The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
2025
Que es un fantasma?
2004
THE ORIGIN OF ULTRAMAN
2026
Edith Head: Dressing the Master's Movies
2008
George Pal: Un Marciano De Hollywood En Argentina
2023
Light in the Darkness: The Impact of Night of The Living Dead
2018
Mollusk
2025
When Romero Met Del Toro
2017
Guillermo del Toro Interviews Paul Williams
2014
A Living Thing
2016
Noin
2003
Saul Bass: Title Champ
2008
The Digital Artistry of Pacific Rim
2013
The Melody Echoes the Fairy Tale
2007
Spanish Gothic
2013
Reclaiming 'Mimic'
2011
The Devil's Backbone: Behind the Scenes
2001
Zombie Lover
2011
A Leap in Evolution: The Creatures of 'Mimic'
2011
The Color and the Shape
2007
The Power of Myth
2007
Crimson Phantoms
2016