How to Be So Focused It Feels ILLEGAL (No Motivation Needed) | Benicio del Toro

I rubbed some people the wrong way.

By trying to break out?

By trying to do what I learned and what I considered the best I could do. I think fear is a motivator. You have to know that you will never be perfect, but you can't believe it.

What's up, Believe Nation? It's Evan. My one word is believe, and I believe in you. I believe in your potential, and I want to see that thing that you've got inside you explode out into the world to have a big impact for you, your family, family, and the world. So to help you on your journey today, we're going to learn from Academy Award-winning actor Benicio Del Toro and my take on his top 10 rules for success. Rule number 1 is my personal favorite, and I'd love to know which one you guys like the best. And as always, guys, as you're watching, if you hear something that really, really resonates with you, please leave it down in the comments below and put quotes around it so other people can be inspired. And when you write it down, it's much more likely to stick for yourself as well. Enjoy!

I was just interested in being really, you know, almost like a guest at someone's house. I don't want to, like, you know, I don't want to move the table. I behave really well when it comes to the approach to my character. It wasn't until a little bit later that I realized that everything that I've learned, and I put all this time in class, that I needed to let that out. I needed to grow. So, it wasn't until a movie I did called— I think it's called Fearless, it's a Peter Weir film, that I really went, I'm gonna bring in everything that I've learned and try to make it play. She'll be right out. Did you do this? Mm-hmm. The carving? Yeah, the whole bit, just playing, you know. And by that, I mean I'm gonna be from the superficial, from the wardrobe, to the character and make an interpretation. I'm gonna make an interpretation about this guy. I'm gonna look at the guy and I'm gonna say— I'm gonna make an interpretation, and then I'm gonna try to have moments where I can show things that together makes an interpretation. I rubbed some people the wrong way.

By trying to break out?

By trying to do what I had learned and what I considered the best I could do.

And that rubbed them the wrong way?

I rubbed some people, yes, the wrong way.

But he was taking chances, and it was paying off. In 1995, he was cast as Fenster in a movie called The Usual Suspects. He had an idea. Del Toro thought the character would be better if he essentially mumbled through the movie.

Oh, is that the one about the hooker with the dysentery?

It was risky, but it worked, and it became Benicio del Toro's breakout role.

I went out on a limb playing a character that was on the borderline of showboating or being really like over the top. And the fact that the movie worked, I get— people consider it a breakthrough in my career, and I recognize that as well. It was the moment because the The movie was on point. It became what it had to become. I remember the day I finished shooting that film, I was so depressed. I felt I overacted. I felt I— it was the end of my career. You know, I felt, okay, you know, I dared and I tried to do this character, but there was this feeling of like, What a big mistake. I should have played it in a different way. All the other actors were so themselves, and here I am, you know, "Hrrr." So I was really— It wasn't like, "Oh yeah, I did the great part, and here we go, and my career is just gonna take off." It's not like that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Compass, compass. Suelta la pistola! Do you get intimidated by roles? Do you ever think, "I'm not sure I can do it," or is that a turn-on? I think fear is a motivator. I think, yeah, I think I'm a— even, you know, even— it doesn't matter what role, just getting in front of that camera is a little bit intimidating. And there's always that— I feed— From those butterflies, you know, first day in school or, you know, right before tip-off, being on stage, giving a speech to an audience or whatever. Those butterflies, I need them. I need to, and it doesn't matter what role it is, there's always this sense of, and fear might not be the right word, but there is an element of fear. That motivates. As your attorney, I advise you to rent a very fast car with no top. And you'll need the cocaine. Have you ever struggled to find a character? Have you ever gotten closer and closer to set and hadn't had it yet? You know, I don't think I ever find them. You know, it just keeps evolving. You know, I always feel like I always, you know, to be honest with you, I always feel like I I get the closest I can get to the character on the last day of shooting, on the last take. It's like, let's start the movie now. I will get it. But, you know, one thing is like that you— that I'm kind of like— that I wish I could learn earlier, 'cause I used to beat myself for that. Nothing is perfect. No, absolutely. Nothing is perfect. So, you know, so, yeah, so, you know, I struggle with that. I— what I try to do, and maybe the only, um, the only maybe medicine for that might be, you know, put as much time as you can before you do it. Right, yeah. Or work as hard as you can while you're doing it and stay focused no matter if you have good days or bad days, you know.

How much—

Maybe that's the medicine I try to— Yeah, to just—

Go ahead.

Stay— keep my hands on it. Stay on it. Even if I— If this is a disaster, and I feel it's a disaster, just don't let go. If you cross this line, you better be ready to kill me. I think trust is very, very important between actors. I think that's something that helps you or encourages you to feel free, to dare, to and also, I would say to impress. You know, I think that there's something about— and I think every actor feels like that. I can't be the only one. But I've never really mentioned it before. But there's something that I feel like I want to have— let's say I want to have Tim Robbins go, "That was really good." Oh, he's good. Oh, yeah. That was really good. There's something about the actor and the— that you also want to impress that other actor that you admire. And even if it's an actor you haven't worked with before, there's— then the approach might be different, you know? It depends, you know, if it's an actor that has worked before and you don't know their work, but— so then there's more of like a friendship, you know, starting that friendship. Even if your character hates that character, the character that the other actor is playing. So it's important to have that fraternity and inevitably as an actor and knowing how difficult it is to get in front of that thing, it's— you can't help it but feel for some kind of friendship or, you know, with the other actor. Actor, you can't help it, you know, like, like we're both in this confusing thing and we can only figure it out, this confusing thing, if we work together. If we don't, we'll never figure it out. So, so, so you have to work together. Yeah, I don't know if you know this, but, uh, me and Benicio started acting school together. No! And I, and I watched him and I, and I saw him and I, I, yeah, you could see which— Stella Adler. Here in Los Angeles. Yes. And I could see the talent flying off of him. And I said to myself, I'll never do— I'll never be able to do that. I'll never be able to do what that guy could do. You're doing pretty damn good, brother. Let me tell you one thing. One thing I remember about him is that I was— I came from San Diego, quit college and got this— to go to Still Adler. Me too, by the way. And one day— I asked him, what are you doing tonight? And he goes, I gotta go home. And I said, oh, why don't you come out? He goes, well, I gotta like, I gotta go to San Diego. And I go like, but you said you gotta go home. And he was traveling 2 hours every day back and forth to go to school. And I knew, I knew right away, I went like, this kid is strong, you know? And I always knew you were like, you were like really, someone that I just looked up to. You will not survive here. You're not a wolf, and this is the land of wolves now. So you an actor whose philosophy is to work or to wait? Are you more of a like, I'm not gonna do anything until I find the right thing, or you're just like, I should be working? And I'm a little bit of a workaholic, but I But I can't, but I need to, I feel like I like to take my time. I wanna be able to select what I should do. I like to try to explore different things, different types of experiences. But movies select you, and by that I mean, A director and a script, they are the ones that are gonna throw the party. And you wanna be, you wanna go to the best party. You know, we use the metaphor of a party for a movie. So a good director and an interesting story will always, dominate the choices that I make or control the choices that I make because if right now a great director with an interesting script comes to me and wants me to do a character that might not be a huge stretch, but to be involved with a team, movies are not made alone, team is teamwork, that always will be like, exciting and might take first place. A good team might take first place, but I like to take my time, but I like to work too. So, you know, it's just a good balance, you know, just keep a good balance. I don't think waiting too— sometimes it's good to wait because you get exhausted after doing movies, you know, you're kind of like, you know, you I give it a lot of energy, so I'm kind of exhausted, but, you know, balance. I might wait for a little bit and then do 1, 2 movies almost back to back. You need me now more than ever. Stop begging. You sound like a woman.

You did Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, made after Hunter Thompson's book. And that movie didn't do so well. Didn't do all that well critically, didn't do all that well at the box office.

Well, that's another one of those glorified failures. First of all, I got a chance to spend time with Hunter S. Thompson and admire his work. I admired that book. I read that book maybe 4 times back and forth just to understand it. I learned so much about literature reading that book because it was the first time that I started seeing writing as just like acting. You're building, right? And, uh, and you have a point of view. And I felt I needed to give my all to this movie, and so did Johnny Depp. And we worked really hard. And, um, I gained weight too and did it by myself, like 40 pounds. If you can see how I change when you watch, uh, License to Kill, which was maybe 5, 6 years before, and then that movie Fear and Loathing. But I did it by myself. I had no trainer. I just, I had 8 weeks to do it. All I ate was, I found out eating donuts, eating 16 donuts a day, you gain 3 to 4 pounds every day. And that's all I did. I would go in, eat, open the book, read the book, call Hunter, what is this? Tell me about Oscar Acosta, the guy who's Dr. Gonzo, you know, who died before we even did this movie. So I went—

You're getting Hunter Thompson on the phone and eating donuts at the same time.

Yes.

When it came time to lose a lot of weight so you could play the character Che Guevara, how did you do that? I mean, a lot of people would be interested in how you lose weight.

Yeah, there's no cutting corners in losing weight. You gotta stop the eating.

Forget the donuts.

Forget the donuts. And don't eat pizza, and you have to get up and work out. We were doing 2, maybe 3 workouts a day. Do you think you have to be a perfectionist to be a good actor? Yeah, I think you have to try to be. You have to be, yeah, you have to, you gotta try to be perfect, but you have to know that you will never be perfect. But you can't believe it. And it's a circle in a way, but you can't like, you can't just, because if you, you can't lie to yourself, but you have to lie to yourself. That makes no sense. And you have to try to do the best you can, you know, you have to try, you have to. I mean, and you know, I always wish I had more time, you know, like, give me another week and I'll figure this one out. Something happens in that room, it's easier to say you didn't see anything. My dad, like, I remember going to the movies with my dad and watching some Clint Eastwood movies and John Wayne movies, and that was, they were all fun. And I liked the movies like The Kid Next Door, you know. But I was more like a basketball— that was my sport. And then I grew up with posters of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton on my wall, Dr. J. But I was not like, oh, I gotta go to movies. And in high school, I wasn't in the theater program or anything like that. I, in high school, I kind of like turned into rock and roll. That was like my thing, you know. I took my, really, my first acting class was because I wanted to make my schedule in college easy. It's like I took an acting class and I said, you know, how difficult can that be? Acting 101. I just moved to San Diego, to UCSD, you know, with the beautiful beach there. It's like, I don't want to go and study Acting 101. Okay, plus, you know, all the hot chicks are gonna be there. So, I mean, all the hot girls are gonna be there. So I— that— so that was really out of being a wise guy in a way, or trying to be like, you know, cut some corners. I took an acting class and then the teacher said something that I kind of like stuck with me. He said, you know, you guys are 18 or 19 years old and this is the right age to study acting, to start studying acting. And that really, I kind of went like, oh, you mean that We can take this serious and I'm on time, you know? And that was— and then I started like— and then I really enjoyed it. And I go like, well, maybe I should do something that I really enjoy with my life. I should really have fun while I'm working. By the time I'm doing— I started going on auditions, I was really like— I figured out there was a logic, a acting, there's, there's a science to it. And, and I had studied with, like, I was in a study with Stella Adler, so it was serious. And if you were in that conservatory studying with Stella Adler, that was really serious stuff, you know. You couldn't be late, you know. Then it was, it was really— I got a scholarship in the school, so I had to— I was doing everything, every class movement, voice, and all this stuff. So I was really into it. Where's my wife? Don't worry, we gave her a nice honeymoon. Why Sicario and why The Perfect Day? Um, usually, first of all, I love what I do, and you have to love what you do, otherwise do something else. Usually, as the, the story and then the character. Like in A Perfect Day, the character is a little bit different. It's very different from the Sicario character. So we as actors, we always look to be challenged, to try something different, to try different characters. And so those two are different. And you know, it's— It wasn't the money. I wish I could say it was the money, but it wasn't the money.

What class are you in?

Class? What the fuck do you mean? Heineken has served in 192 countries. It's world famous. Like me. Come here. Look. It happens all the time.

Antonio Banderas!

It's Antonio Banderas from the movies!

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Rob Goose asked me to. If there's someone you'd like me to cover in a future top 10, check out the link in the description and go and cast your vote. I'd also love to know what did you learn from this video? What lesson really hit home the hardest? What are you going to immediately apply somehow to your life or to your business? Leave it down in the comments below. I'm really curious to find out. I also want to give a quick shout out to Sam Barry. Sam, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, and posting it to your Instagram account. I really appreciate the support, man. We share the same one word of believe. I love it, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed the book. Thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is.

Much love. I'll see you soon. I enjoy doing little movies and if I have the possibility to do big movies, but doing a big movie can be fun and doing— But I think that I started doing independent movies, and it's like you can't forget where you come from. So I will do independent movies. It's sometimes it's easier, not easier, but it creatively is, it's you can get to the boss in a straight line. When you do a studio movie, There are many bosses. There are a few hurdles. And yeah, there's a lot of turns. It starts to look like London and you get lost. Who were you, when you got started, who were you modeling yourself after? Who were the people that you were like, "All right, I want that." There's like 3 stages of it. There's like, before I was an actor. When I started going to movies, there were 3. It was— I liked movies of Robert De Niro, movies of Eddie Murphy, and movies of Richard Gere. Wow. So those were like the movies that I— the guys that I kind of like looked, you know, before I started acting, and I was already going to the movies on my own and not paying anything. And then after, when I started acting, then it was like, you know, then it was Pacino, You know, Marlon Brando. And then I started discovering Humphrey Bogart. And a lot of actors, you know, Anthony Quinn. A lot of actors that are not around anymore. They still move me, you know? I can watch, you know, a good Anthony Quinn movie or a Brando movie, you know? It's just like, I just can't watch it now. And black and white doesn't bug me. And then there were other young actors that were doing stuff that really kind of like were a bit more contemporary, like Sean Penn, Gary Oldman. They were doing this, like they were going out there and taking chances. And that's when I started acting. That's where like, oh, those were like actors that I kind of like, oh, I want to mold it. Yeah, yeah. You know? You know, like that, or like their pattern. I sometimes feel like I get distracted really quick. Like— But then sometimes I embrace the distraction because the distraction might take me somewhere that I never thought I would go for that. But let's say I'm supposed to be here working on this scene or whatever, and then something pops up on TV and that takes me away and it takes me somewhere else and then I'm out the window. And then I'm looking at something outside the window that can bring me back to the script. Like going like, "Oh, there's someone walking out of a car with an umbrella." And you go, "I should have an umbrella in that scene 'cause it's raining." And the distraction took me there. So let me give you the one word secret to happiness. One word. This is all you need to be happy. The most important word ever. If you had to think of one word that's most important to you or that sums you up or that would be kind of like a little beacon.

Hey, Believe Nation, if you want to know what the most important one word is for Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Oprah Winfrey, Will.i.am, and Howard Schultz, I have a very special secret video for you. Check the description for details.