Did Benicio del Toro lose the hotness?

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Back in the day, Benicio del Toro used to be one of my imaginary boyfriends. It started for me with The Usual Suspects and ended shortly after his Oscar win for Traffic and subsequent multi-year disappearance from Hollywood. It wasn’t that he started looking bad (okay, he wasn’t as hot as before), but it was more like I kind of forgot about him.

Benicio is trying to re-enter Hollywood with a big-budget, effects-driven film called Wolfman, also starring Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins. These photos are from the German photocall, as the promotional tour for this film is just gearing up (the American release is February 12). Now… I don’t remember Benicio looking like this. Yes, sure he had his not-so-hot moments in the past… but he just looks rough here. Like he’s been out of the game for too long, I guess. Who am I kidding? I’d probably still hit it.

Meanwhile, a lot of people are starting to wonder if Wolfman is going to bomb. It’s a film remake about a dude who gets bitten by a wolf in the 1820s, et cetera. You know the drill. Man becomes wolf, grows hair in special places, blah, blah. It was supposed to be released last fall, but it needed reshoots or more effects or something. So, will it bomb? And will Benicio’s lack of old-school hotness be a factor?

Here’s the second HD trailer. I swear to God, I thought I saw Gollum in a fast cut:

Benicio del Toro and Emily Blunt at a photocall in Germany for ‘Wolfman’ on January 25, 2010. Credit: WENN.

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37 Responses to “Did Benicio del Toro lose the hotness?”

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  1. bite me says:

    damn, damn, damn

  2. mila says:

    His name’s BENICIO (unless Benecio is some kind of a nickname you gave him?)

  3. Lady Nightshade says:

    Bomb!

  4. gee_gee says:

    Benecio was never traditonally “hot”. I crushed on him too. Still love him, but wish he would take better care of himself. He looks tore down.

  5. Black Cat says:

    Nope, wouldn’t hit it before and wouldn’t hit it now that it’s sliding southward.

  6. Jillian says:

    Oh, Benecio, I will always think you are hot. I have his movie, Che, on my Netflix. Can’t wait to get it.

  7. shorty30 says:

    Nope, not doing anything for me.

  8. gloaming says:

    I still would, even though I always thought he seemed to be a bit of a slob.

    He kind of seemed to lose it when Chiara Mastroianni chucked him.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/24977800@N06/3223277523/

  9. Dorothy says:

    Yes, yes he did.

  10. lucy2 says:

    I never found him attractive.

  11. Annabelle says:

    Yeah, he was never hot

  12. bo says:

    I thought he always looked like this but I still thought it was sexy. You know who looks like a cleaned up Benicio? Josh Hartnett. He’s got the same intense stare. I like to think he’s intensely staring going, “My God. Where is bo. I need her now.” But I mean that’s just a guess.

  13. Tess says:

    Well, he’s no Gary Coleman.

  14. Kevin says:

    Tess,,,bwahahahah

  15. nikki says:

    for me, he always has the “thing” in a movie! after,i don’t care

  16. cara says:

    Yeah….he’s still got it! He’s a MAN! He’s no Frusciante, but damn close.

  17. cara says:

    @ TESS – HA touche’

  18. TG says:

    I must be in the minority because I have been waiting for the release of “Wolfman” since long before Halloween. I get chills just watching the preview. I hope it is as good as I expect. And Benicio is very hot to me, although that’s not why I want to see the movie.

  19. ien says:

    he never had “the hotness” imo.

  20. Trillion says:

    Whatever hotness Benicio has lost will be made up for by the elegant and gorgeous Emily Blunt. I cannot wait for this movie.

  21. Huh? says:

    Meh, he looks just as sickly and creepy-skeevy as he always did, just a bit older.

  22. princess pea says:

    I think your eyesight just improved Kaiser. Because he looks the same as ever, really.

  23. truthSF says:

    He never was a pretty boy, but man did he have sex appeal. But looking at him now, it’s just a sad result of toooooo much smoking.

    You see kids, this is what smoking does to your skin in the long run, it will catch up to you eventually.

    You hear that Jen A. and the many other Hollywood stars who’s always trying to keep their bodies looking good, yet still smokes.

  24. Kathie says:

    Bo that is so funny!!! I love the man and maybe this is just a bridge time to a later more widely appreciated hotness but till then he suits me fine!

  25. DK says:

    Please, when was he hot? With his oddly female-shaped lips and bug eyes? He’s always seemed a bit pudgy too. Never got his appeal.

  26. EMV says:

    hot no, good actor yes. a little wacked out yes, especially while playing Che, but still a good actor.

  27. Maritza says:

    No, he was never hot but still a great actor.

  28. ChickenTetrazzini says:

    Ew, he’s never been hot IMO. I like his weird eyes but everything else is utterly unattractive, especially his mouth. I always wonder who makes these people into heartthrobs, because so few of them are actually good-looking, at least to me.

  29. Lauren says:

    BDT hotness is still simmering, and his intelligence is burning hot. He is not a typical pretty boy, but they are a turnoff to me. I hate when guys wear makeup. It looks like he has gained weight, but his sexy soul is still there. Sorry, I still love him!

  30. Seer says:

    @ Chicken Tetra:

    ” I always wonder who makes these people into heartthrobs, because so few of them are actually good-looking, at least to me.”

    I agree with you. If they put out all that PR work behind a movie, can imagine their actors? How many of them can you really say are actually beautiful and handsome to the extent that THEY CLAIM they are? It reminds me of those bogus movie reviews (especially from the 1950s): “Outstanding!”, “Fantastic!”, “A must see!”…
    Only they do it with these actors: “Beautiful/Handsome, extra talented, saintly, sexy, hot, sizzling …” They sell them like brands of cereal or face cream. Well, they certainly get something from it: a false sense of grandiosity and LOADS of money in the bank! Not bad for a product.

  31. Solveig says:

    I’ve always thought that he is and improved version of Brad Pitt (whom I don’t find attractive at all), a smart looking version of Brad Pitt, actually. I found him sexy in Fear and loathing in Las Vegas too, so all that I can say is that he isn’t loosing the hotness. And also that probably I have a weird taste in men.

  32. Cheyenne says:

    I never thought DelToro was hot to begin with, although I thought he was great in Traffic. I can’t remember any other movie I’ve seen him in.

  33. buckley says:

    21 Grams, he was good in that.
    Always been a fan of his acting, and do think he is uniquely handsome.

  34. ViktoryGin says:

    @ mila…yes, his name’s Benicio. I know it’s hard with Spanish being so difficult and foreign and everything.

    The first time I saw Benicio was in Excess Baggage with Alicia Silverstone in the mid-nineties. Remember that cinemetic gem? I thought Benicio was the most god-awful assualt on the eyes. As I got older and he started taking on better roles, however, I found myself attracted to his talent and seeming intelligence. He’s what I call “ugly hot”: conventionally not handsome, but possesses a certain magnetism that has you thinking that perhaps you’ll forgo that paper bag if you let him hit it.

  35. Peanut says:

    No, do not find him hot now and didn’t before. I remember hearing gossip about a hookup between him and a young starlet in an elevator or something back in the day? He just seems so sleazy to me. Blech.

  36. crazydaisy says:

    what hotness?

  37. Jazz says:

    Put a knit cap and a billy goat beard on him and he’ll look like Billy Goat Brad.