Benicio Del Toro is a Puerto Rican-born American actor and film producer who captured the hearts of his fans with his portrayal of Mexican cop Javier Rodríguez in Traffic, a role that won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Before entering mainstream cinema, he was a television actor, often playing small-time villains in TV series. As a teenager, he was influenced by his lawyer father to study business at the University of California, San Diego. However, he once took an acting class by chance and became hooked. Without telling his father, he dropped out of his business course and began studying acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the Circle in the Square Professional Theatre School in New York. He began working as a TV actor, gradually moving into films. At 21 years old, he played one of the henchmen in the James Bond movie Licence to Kill, becoming the youngest actor ever cast as a Bond henchman. His breakthrough came with The Usual Suspects, where his portrayal of the wisecracking Fred Fenster cemented his reputation as a character actor. His role as the former convict, Jack Jordan, in the drama film 21 Grams was highly praised by fans and critics alike, earning him numerous awards and nominations.