I've had my own depressions, where you just don't want to get up from bed 
Having won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Traffic, Benicio Del Toro received another nomination thanks to his powerful work opposite Sean Penn and Naomi Watts in 21 Grams. There was a time, though, following the disastrous performance of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, when the actor found himself shunned in certain quarters in Hollywood. How things change...
People have compared 21 Grams to Traffic. Are there similarities between their directors, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Steven Soderbergh?
Well, one is Mexican. But I would say what I see more are the similarities, the way they collaborate and their focus on the piece, how they listen to you and the encouragement they give. They both love actors, which is great. The difference is Soderbergh has done I don't know how many films, and Alejandro, this is his second film. Second films are difficult for directors, I think, and this one is fantastic.
Your character is a religious fanatic. How did you get inside his mind-set?
I just see someone who's going into a depression. Simple as that. He's gotten straight because of religion, and if that's how you get straight, good for you. When he goes into a depression, he starts rejecting religion. What I tried to do is someone going into survival guilt. That's a real psychiatric phenomenon. So I read a little bit about that and I talked to some people. I also used my own experience. I've had my own depressions, where you just don't want to get up from bed.
Have you changed since winning an Oscar for Traffic?
I'm the same person. It changes the fact that people might be able to bank on you a little bit more. And when you're doing a film, they might be able to listen to you a little bit more. But every movie you start from zero. Just because I won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, it doesn't mean everything I touch will turn to gold, you know?
Your transformation in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas was so dramatic that some people thought you'd actually gone off the rails. How badly did that perception affect your career?
I think that some people in Hollywood wouldn't even consider me for a project because they thought I had become an alcoholic, or something like that. So it's a good reminder. If you always win and you're always successful, you don't understand what success is. I kind of trust people that have lost. I think that experience made me a little bit more stronger or more grounded in some ways, so that when Traffic happened, I didn't just float it. I said, "That's great but I've been in the doghouse and I might end up in the doghouse pretty soon again."
