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.
Known For
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
Self
2025
Surrealistic Nightmares: An In-Depth Look at Walloon Horror Cinema
Self
2025
Leonardo da Vinci
Self · (2 episodes)
2024
Dario Argento: Panico
Self
2024
Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre
Self
2023
Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds
Self
2023
George Pal: Un Marciano De Hollywood En Argentina
2023
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema
Self
2022
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities
Self - Host (uncredited) · (8 episodes)
2022
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
Self
2022
Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters
Self
2022
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
Self
2021
Variety Studio: Directors on Directors
Self · (1 episode)
2021
I'm No Longer Here: A Discussion with Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón
Self
2020
Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business
Self
2020
Love, Antosha
Self
2019
Elvis Goes There
Self · (1 episode)
2019
Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film
Self
2019
The House Is Alive: Constructing 'Crimson Peak'
Self
2019
Bloody And Groovy Baby! A Tribute to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2
2018
Guillermo del Toro: Un director y su Oscar
Guillermo del Toro
2018
James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction
Self · (2 episodes)
2018
Barry
El Toro · (1 episode)
2018
Light in the Darkness: The Impact of Night of The Living Dead
Self
2018
When Romero Met Del Toro
2017
78/52
Self
2017
Five Came Back
Self
2017
Five Came Back
Self · (3 episodes)
2017
The Giant's Dream: The Making of the Iron Giant
Self
2016
I Remember Crimson Peak
Himself
2016
The Light and Dark of Crimson Peak
Self
2016
A Living Thing
2016
Hand Tailored Gothic
Self
2016
Crimson Phantoms
2016
Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex
Self
2015
The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet
Self
2015
Metal Gear Solid: Legacy
Self
2015
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self · (1 episode)
2015
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2015
Lennon or McCartney
Self
2014
The Game Awards
Self · (1 episode)
2014
The Book of Life
Land of the Remembered Captain's Wife (voice)
2014
The Director's Chair
Self · (1 episode)
2014
Guillermo del Toro Interviews Paul Williams
Self
2014
Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics
Self
2013
The Digital Artistry of Pacific Rim
Self
2013
The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy
Self
2013
Spanish Gothic
Self
2013
Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
Self
2013
Extraordinary Tales
Narrator (voice) (segment 'The Pit and the Pendulum')
2013
El Santos vs la Tetona Mendoza
Gamborimbo Ponx (voice)
2012
Men in Suits
Self
2012
Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss
Self
2012
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan
Self
2012
Puss in Boots
Comandante / Hombre del bigote (voice)
2011
Zombie Lover
Interviewee
2011
Reclaiming 'Mimic'
Self
2011
A Leap in Evolution: The Creatures of 'Mimic'
Self
2011
Back Into the Tunnels: The Making of 'Mimic'
Self
2011
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope
Self
2011
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Creature (Voice)
2010
Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock
Self
2009
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
Self
2009
North by Northwest: One for the Ages
Self
2009
El último truco
Self
2008
Hellboy: In Service of the Demon
Self
2008
Quantum of Solace
Additional Voices (voice)
2008
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
Self
2008
Edith Head: Dressing the Master's Movies
Self
2008
Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro
Self
2008
Saul Bass: Title Champ
Self
2008
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
Self
2008
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators
Self
2008
Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown
Self
2008
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Creature Vocals (voice) (uncredited)
2008
Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound
Self
2008
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't
Self
2008
Drew Struzan: An Appreciation of An Artist
Self
2008
The Power of Myth
Self
2007
Pan and the Fairies
Self
2007
The Melody Echoes the Fairy Tale
Self
2007
The Color and the Shape
Self
2007
Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner
Self
2007
Nexus Generation: Fans & Filmmakers
Self
2007
Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard
Self
2007
Diary of the Dead
Newsreader (voice) (uncredited)
2007
07 Spaceys
2007
Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
2005
Torrente 3: The Protector
Contacto Giannina (scenes deleted)
2005
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Pappy McPoyle · (2 episodes)
2005
Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation
Self
2004
Hellboy
Guy Dressed as Dragon (uncredited)
2004
Que es un Fantasma?: The Making of 'The Devil's Backbone'
Self
2004
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self · (2 episodes)
2003
Masters of Horror
Self
2002
The Blood Pact: The Making of 'Blade II'
Self
2002
HypaSpace
Self · (1 episode)
2002
Bullfighter
Bullboy #2
2000
Cronos
Man Walking Dog (uncredited)
1993
Mollusk
The Simpsons
Guillermo del Toro (voice) · (1 episode)
1989
The Oscars
Self · (3 episodes)
1953
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Winner · (1 episode)
1944