Guillermo del Toro Gómez (Spanish:
[ɡiˈʝeɾmo ðel ˈtoɾo]; 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, with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty in the grotesque.<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_del_Toro#cite_note-Twitch-1"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a> He has had a lifelong fascination with
monsters, which he considers symbols of great power.<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_del_Toro#cite_note-2"><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a> He is known for pioneering
dark fantasy in the film industry and for his use of insectile and religious imagery, his themes of
Catholicism, celebrating imperfection, underworld motifs,
practical special effects, and dominant amber lighting.<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_del_Toro#cite_note-3"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a><a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_del_Toro#cite_note-4"><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></a><a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_del_Toro#cite_note-5"><span>[</span>5<span>]</span></a>
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),
Pinocchio (2022), and
Frankenstein (2025).
As a producer or writer, he has 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), 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, and they are collectively known as "The Three Amigos of Mexican Cinema."<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_del_Toro#cite_note-6"><span>[</span>6<span>]</span></a> 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,<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_del_Toro#cite_note-7"><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></a> and he received a
motion picture star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_del_Toro#cite_note-8"><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></a>