TeamDeakins, the podcast run by acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins and James Deakins, his collaborator, a script supervisor, and his wife, is consistently entertaining and listenable. On a recent episode, the Deakins duo had actor Benicio del Toro on the podcast to discuss their work together on “Sicario”—Roger was the DP, del Toro co-starred— and much of the Latin American actor’s impressive career.
Ironically, Roger Deakins admitted that he was scared to talk to Del Toro on the set of “Sicario” and that, in fact, they had barely spoken to each other before, despite having worked together on that film. This podcast was one of their first and certainly longest conversations (“I didn’t feel like I was in the right space to talk to you on set very much; I didn’t think you wanted that,” Deakins revealed, about respecting the acting process).
In the conversation, del Toro (and Deakins) lamented a scene they had shot for the movie that didn’t make it that both he and director of cinematography both loved.
It was Roger who laid out the scene, though it’s still a bit nebulous about what it was about. [“Remember that scene] in ‘Sicario,’ there was that wonderful scene we shot on down on a beach in Mexico with you in the water with this general, and it was really beautiful, and then it wasn’t in the film,” the DP explained.
“Yeah, I remember swallowing very hard when the film first started, and thinking, ‘Maybe [‘Sicario’ director Denis Villeneuve] is going to use it in a dream,’” del Toro explained about his fear that the scene wouldn’t make the cut. “But halfway through the film, I didn’t care about it and kudos to Denis and the editor because [cutting it], I [eventually] thought it helped the movie so much because it helped kept my character [shrouded] in mystery; we [just] don’t know him.”
READ MORE: Benicio del Toro Talks ‘Sicario,’ Shooting An Alternate Dinner Table Scene, And Much More
Del Toro said while he loved the scene, “it’s a good example of making a film stronger, by showing or telling less, I understood it,” he said of the choice. And the more-is-less approach is something he carried with him throughout the rest of the film, even if he didn’t know that scene would ultimately be nixed.
Before that, del Toro said he asked “Sicario” director Denis Villeneuve to dial back and even drop scenes where his enigmatic character opened up too much to Emily Blunt’s character about his dead family. His reasoning, people with an immense loss like that do not suddenly open up to strangers about life-altering tragedies like that. “I was going like, ‘That’s not my experience,’ and I did talk to Denis [about that], and he understood [my concerns] completely, immediately, so we started shedding some of that [script] weight.”
The TeamDeakins team said they thought del Toro would make a great director and the actor admitted, the idea of directing a film has been heavily on his mind.
“Yeah, I would like to direct, I just gotta make sure—it’s like when you think, a project comes in, and you go, ‘oh, that’s a good part,’ and you go, ‘Oh I’ve always wanted to work with that director, and that’s a different role, but yeah, I would like to direct. I’ve got ideas and I think I would need a really good director of photography because that’s my weakness [laughs]; I’m auditioning now, “he said with a wink to Deakins. “It’s all about a great team.”
Del Toro noted that he had an “incredible schooling on film” and shouted out some of his favorite collaborations with filmmakers like Julian Schnabel, Denis Villeneuve, Oliver Stone, Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, and many others.
He also noted that “Traffic” director Steven Soderbergh was one of his influences and great teachers.
“Looking back, [‘Traffic’] was a huge moment and also where it led, it led to the Oscars and all that good stuff,” he said. “When I was doing it, when I had suggestions, [Soderbergh] would really consider them. He didn’t always say yes, but many of them were included, and that might’ve been the first movie where I was meeting with the director every Sunday and that after that I’ve done it or tried to do it ever since—meeting with the director every Sunday on a day off or 45 minutes to really talk about what we did, even when things are going great.”
He also noted that Soderbergh was quiet on set, didn’t say much, but when he made a decision based on one of Del Toro’s suggestions, it was generally quick, final and implemented immediately.
It’s a fascinating conversation covering many elements of Del Toro’s career. Take a listen to the entire conversation below.
