Benicio del Toro attends Focus Features' "The Phoenician Scheme" New York Premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 28, 2025 in New York City

Family Stories

Benicio del Toro’s Oscar win didn’t impress his Godmother: She still wanted him to be a lawyer

Even after his Academy Award triumph for Traffic, Benicio del Toro’s family remained skeptical of his Hollywood dreams

JUNE 4, 2025 7:51 AM EDTJUN 4, 2025, 7:51 AM EDT

Benicio del Toro may have earned an Oscar for his gripping role in Traffic, but his family wasn’t ready to roll out the red carpet just yet. In a surprising twist, the 58-year-old actor revealed that his own godmother encouraged him to pursue a career in law just three days after he took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Despite his rising star in Hollywood, del Toro admits his family was “very concerned” about him becoming an actor, and the Oscar win did little to calm their doubts.

Benicio Del Toro is currently promoting his new role in the Wes Anderson film: The Phoenician Scheme

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When asked when his family stopped “worrying” about him, he said on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast: “Even after I won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, I remember my godmother, maybe three days later, was like, ‘You’d be a great lawyer. You can take some classes at night at law. You can do law school at night. You could be a great lawyer.’ “

Benicio Del Toro during The 73rd Annual Academy Awards

While del Toro didn’t embark on a law career, he “understands” his family’s worries and believes one of the reasons for their concerns is because they are not “theater or movie people”.

He added: “I don’t come from a family of theater people or movie people. So they were very nervous with me.”

“I come from a family of professionals, but not in the movie world or the theater world. So they were very concerned. And I understand. I’m a father now.”

Benicio Del Toro across bar from Chris Penn in a scene from the film 'The Funeral', 1996.

The ‘Usual Suspects’ actor, who is a dad of three, is keen to let his 13-year-old daughter Delilah - who he shares with American socialite Kimberly Stewart - decide what she wants to be when she is older.

He said: “I just let my daughter...one day she wants to be a lawyer. I say, ‘Great.’ The next day, she wants to be a designer. Great. But I do know that if she wants to be an actress, you just have to let her be.”

Benicio Del Toro with Kimberly Stewart and his daughter Delilah in California

If Delilah does embark on an acting career, her father believes there is more “opportunity” now, compared to his younger years, thanks to the growth of TV series. He said: “I think there’s more opportunity now than when I was going out for auditions for an actor.”

Now there’s all these TV series, and there’s a lot of stories being told as we speak. But still, it’s...the odds aren’t always in your favor. But I do understand, and I did then, their concern.”