How Prison Changed Danny Trejo's Life | 2 Bears, 1 Cave
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How did Danny Trejo get started in Hollywood?
Coming into Hollywood, when you got into Hollywood, because you came in like legit, like your first movie was... Runaway Train. Runaway Train. And one of the reasons that you popped so hard was you were the authentic version of what they were trying to make a movie about. Like you were the real deal.
That's kind of what the director said. I remember when they had picked somebody else and then they wanted me after I showed up. And Andre Kozlowski, the director, was trying to tell people, no, look. This is Eric Roberts. He goes to Eric's face like this. He goes, look, face.
Ah.
Look. And this other guy who was kind of Spanish goes, ah. Look. Hey. I was like, is this guy clowning me or what? How did he say? He says, ah, ah. Adversary. It was adversary or against each other. We looked like enemies. These other guys looked like lovers. So I ended up boxing Eric Roberts.
What was Danny Trejo's prison experience like?
I just watched that this morning. Because I've heard so much about the lore of that story. I'm obsessed with the little things in life that change your life forever. The one choice you make that all of a sudden, and for you, It was you got a call from someone saying there's coke on set, right?
No. Well, yeah. This guy was staying clean, you know, and he called me and said, hey, there's so much blow down here, man. I got 108 days clean, please. So I just went down to hang out with him. unbeknownst to me that i was supposed to go down there the next day anyway as an extra so i walked on the set and uh that night and to hang out with this kid and and uh i run into a a friend of mine that i was in prison with a guy named eddie bunker eddie bunker is fascinating eddie bunker hold on remember please tell me stories about eddie bunker oh he's okay keep going i apologize but but but uh He's looking at me and says, hey, you're Danny Trejo. Yeah. He says, what are you doing here? I said, they're going to give me 50 bucks for acting like a convict. And we laugh because we've been doing that for free for all our lives. So he says, hey, you know what? We need somebody to train one of the actors on a box. I'm like, what's it pay? And he said, $3.20 a day.
How did Danny Trejo become a successful actor?
And I said, how bad do you want this guy beat up? I thought... That's a hit. I wasn't making that a week, homie. A day, I wouldn't take two minutes to beat him up. And he said, no, no, no. You got to be real careful. This kid's high strung, man. He might sock you. I said, Eddie, for $320, give him a stick. Are you crazy? I'd be beat up for free, homie.
What role did Uncle Gilbert play in Danny's life?
I started training Eric Roberts how to box for a movie called Runaway Train. And Eric, you know... Well-deserved. It was a movie star. So movie stars have their own way of acting on the set, and sometimes it doesn't agree with the director. I want to rest now and go to Australia. And everything stopped. So Eric respected me. So when they wanted him, they would tell me, go get Eric. Go get Eric. Come on, Eric, let's do this, and then we'll train, because he wanted to train him. Please be Eric Roberts. I'm sorry. I thought I shut that off.
How does Danny Trejo view addiction and recovery?
That's okay. That's okay.
That's how real this show is. And so I had, I had, I go get Eric and Andre comes in because I was just training him. He comes in. I'll never forget. He comes in and goes, Russian, first American movie was Runaway Train. He goes, you be in movie. You fight Eric in movie. And you be my friend. Well, if you have a prison background, you be my friend has like a little, wait a minute, hold on, hold on. We're not shouting together, punk. You know what I mean? It's like, I mean, and then he leans over and kisses me on both cheeks and walks away. And I'll never forget, I looked at Eddie. I said, Eddie, I'm going to train the kid for 320, but if I'm going to be kissing that old man, I want more money. And he said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's European. Yeah.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Danny Trejo get started in Hollywood?
0:26–1:35
2
What was Danny Trejo's prison experience like?
1:35–3:05
3
How did Danny Trejo become a successful actor?
3:05–3:32
4
What role did Uncle Gilbert play in Danny's life?
3:32–4:20
5
How does Danny Trejo view addiction and recovery?
4:20–5:30
6
What insights does Danny have about prison culture?
5:30–5:37
7
What lessons did Danny learn from his time in prison?
5:37–6:29
8
What are the challenges of reintegration after prison?
6:29–1:11:02