Danny Trejo’s journey to superstardom wasn’t without loss, grief, and a host of hardships. Now he’s sharing his inspiring story of childhood addiction and criminality in Los Angeles to fame in a new memoir, Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood. After spending 11 years in and out of jail, Trejo turned his life around and became a leading actor with a career spanning over three decades. The Spy Kids star revealed in a recent interview that he wants longtime collaborator and director Robert Rodriguez to helm a biopic based on his book.
The 2019 documentary Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo offers fans a candid look into his past struggles with addiction and prison stint. Trejo’s memoir further unpacks his transformation from a troubled past to starring in cinematic blockbusters and paying it forward by helping other addicts. In a recent interview with ComicBook, he named Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn, Desperado) as the perfect choice to direct a biopic based on his rags-to-riches tale, saying:
“I think he understands more growing up Latino than anybody I’ve worked with, as great directors, but it’s just, there’s just something.”
Trejo has starred in several of Rodriguez’s hit films, including the popular Machete franchise, which sees the actor as the titular ex-federal turned hitman who goes on a bloody rampage of revenge against his former boss after being betrayed. Trejo said he’s ready to reprise the character for a third film, which was teased in a fake trailer at the end of the Machete Kills sequel as Machete Kills Again…in Space. In a new interview with Moviefone, Trejo said, “I want you to post, “Robert Rodriguez, let’s do ‘Machete Kills in Space’. The whole country’s waiting for it.”
The future of the Machete Franchise is in Limbo
Machete expands on a spoof trailer of the same name that was created to promote Rodriguez’s and Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 Grindhouse double-feature. The movie grossed over $45 million worldwide after its 2010 release. However, the 2013 sequel underperformed, and despite teasing a third installment, the franchise appears to be paused due to its box office failure — further complicated by the 2018 bankruptcy filing of distributor Open Road Films. As ComicBook reports, Rodriguez previously acknowledged the buzz for another movie and noted that they “have to do” Machete 3 to satisfy the fandom.
Trejo said in 2015 that the third film was going into production that year, but clearly, that didn’t happen. When asked recently if he’s ready for Machete to make a comeback after over a decade, he told ComicBook: “Oh, yeah. You kidding? I love that movie. I’m still in great shape. I still lift weights. I don’t jog as much, but I do a lot of walking.”
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Trejo and Rodriguez have the perfect chemistry to bring Trejo’s life to the screen, as their creative love language would bring authenticity to the story. Rodriguez shared his thoughts on Trejo’s memoir, writing, “Danny’s incredible life story shows that even though we may fall down at some point in our lives, it’s what we do when we stand back up that really counts.”
You can currently catch Trejo in the horror-comedy Seven Cemeteries, which finds him teaming with supernatural forces to take down a vicious criminal. He stars in the John Gulager-directed feature as a parolee who “gets a Mexican witch to resurrect his old posse so that they can help him save a woman’s ranch from a ruthless drug lord,” per the official synopsis via IMDB.com. The movie is now playing in theaters and available digitally and on demand.