When you have the great Guillermo del Toro sitting next to you for half an hour, you know you are going to be talking movies — yes, his movies. of course, but so many others. It is like taking one of those master classes he does on the side, and I am so glad he got to join me on this week’s edition of my Deadline video series Behind The Lens to offer what turned out to be a version of one of those.
We start with Frankenstein, his latest monster hit– literally — which has been a passion of his since age 7. “I wanted to make it even before I had a camera, ” he tells me, but he explains this is not your father’s Frankenstein but rather one emphasizing a key theme of fathers and sons and what it means to be truly human. He is an expert on Mary Shelley’s novel and reveals he has written prologues to five reissues of her book over the years. “Monsters are my religion,” he says. He also makes comparisons to his previous film, the Oscar-winning stop-motion-animated Pinocchio, saying both are “prodigal father movies.”
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We also talk about so many of his films, and he names for me the six of his that “express” himself the best — and you might be surprised what one of them, is considering what some critics think. One, of course, is his Best Picture Oscar-winning The Shape of Water which was in many ways his homage to The Creature from the Black Lagoon without being that movie. He also points out the one Oscar nomination it ironically could have gotten (but didn’t) that would have tied it with the all-time record of 14.
We talk movies, movies and more movies including much on Hitchcock, Fellini and a legendary critically reviled movie (at the time) he says is a flat-out masterpiece. And he reveals the next three movies he plans to make.
To watch our conversation and to go “behind the lens” with this master of the movies, just click on the link above.
Join me every Monday this Oscar season for another edition of Behind the Lens and every Wednesday for a new episode of The Actor’s Side.