Age: 62
male
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.
Guillermo del Toro
Director
for Director in The Phantom of the Opera
Suggested by nickienicks
Set in 1881 beneath the lavish Opéra Populaire in Paris, the story follows Christine Daaé, a young chorus dancer who has been secretly trained by a mysterious tutor she believes is the "Angel of Music." This tutor is actually the Phantom, a brilliant but severely disfigured musical genius who haunts the opera house and manipulates its management through terror. When the Phantom forces the resident prima donna to quit, Christine steps into the spotlight and becomes an overnight sensation. However, her sudden success catches the attention of her wealthy childhood sweetheart, Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, sparking a passionate romance that drives the Phantom into a mad, obsessive jealousy.As the Phantom's demands on the opera management turn deadly, he abducts Christine to his subterranean lair amidst a labyrinth of flooded catacombs. He forces her to choose between a life of captivity with him to save Raoul’s life, or freedom at the cost of her lover's execution. In a climactic confrontation, Christine shows the Phantom profound empathy by kissing his scarred face, an act of pure compassion that shatters his vengeful heart. Moved by her grace, the Phantom releases the young lovers and vanishes into the shadows, leaving behind only his iconic white mask as the authorities close in
