Benicio Del Toro has made a career out of staying calm while everything falls apart. From Sicario to Guardians of the Galaxy, here’s a look at his best “chill guy in chaos” performances – ranked with love and admiration.
Typecasting isn’t always a bad thing. Johnny Depp has Tim Burton’s gothic playground, Christina Ricci has her eerie, deadpan charm – and Benicio Del Toro? He’s the unbothered man in absolute chaos. No matter the genre, he somehow ends up in the middle of moral disasters, gunfights, or cosmic weirdness, managing to look like he just rolled out of bed and couldn’t care less.
What makes it work is that Del Toro doesn’t just play calm – he owns it. He brings a steady, slow-burn intensity that turns every pause into a power move. Across decades of films, he’s perfected the role of the guy who’s seen it all, done it all, and refuses to explain himself. So let’s celebrate the many times Benicio Del Toro stayed chill while the cinematic world fell apart around him.
One Battle After Another (2025)
What stands out in this film is how Benicio Del Toro moves through a chaotic landscape with the kind of calm that makes others look frantic by comparison. One Battle After Another casts him as Sergio St. Carlos, a mentor-figure sidelined from active revolution but pulled back in when chaos erupts. His subtle restraint gives the film emotional weight – he isn’t shouting, he’s observing, intervening sparingly, but when he acts, it matters. This role showcases how Del Toro thrives when the world around him is unraveling and he remains the eye of the storm. If being the “chill guy in a messed-up situation” were currency, he’d be rich.
The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
There’s a delightful dissonance in watching Del Toro in The Phoenician Scheme walk elegantly through espionage and black-comedy territory while barely breaking a sweat. Director Wes Anderson positions him as Zsa-Zsa Korda, a part oligarch, part father, part mischief-maker, and Del Toro handles each layer with precision and cool. Amid the whimsical absurdity typical of Anderson’s style, he becomes the anchor that makes everything else spin. It’s less about being loud and more about being composed when the world is absurd – exactly Del Toro’s specialty.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
When you see the name Benicio Del Toro in a galaxy far, far away, you expect spectacle – what you get is something subtler, utterly his. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, his character DJ is enigmatic, rogue-ish and morally ambiguous, navigating galactic upheaval with a shrug and a smirk. Far from the usual hero’s journey, he’s the guy who reminds us the universe is messy and someone’s always cashing in. That relaxed posture in a story of rebellion and war? Classic Del Toro: calm in the maelstrom, observing more than acting, and immeasurably cool.
Sicario (2015)
Chaos is everyday reality in Sicario – and Del Toro plays a man calibrated to deal with that sort of world. Alejandro, his character, is silent, haunted, professional; while bullets fly and moral lines blur, he remains composed, turning vengeance into precision. There’s no bravado, just quiet resolve. His performance doesn’t scream for attention – it demands it, by virtue of how leveled his gaze is while others melt. If your role is to be the chill guy amid border-war inferno, you might as well be Del Toro in this one.
Inherent Vice (2014)
Smoke-clouded ‘70s Los Angeles, paranoia, weird cultish land deals – and somewhere in the haze, Del Toro as Sauncho Smilax is the most grounded guy in the room. In Inherent Vice, while the plot spirals stylishly into weirdness, he carries a calm certainty: he knows the score, while you’re still figuring where the mystery begins. The film’s chaos might be on display, but he’s the under-the-radar constant amidst the swirling absurdity. It’s a masterclass in understated cool when all around you is loopy.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Watching Benicio Del Toro in Guardians of the Galaxy is like spotting a cool breeze in a thunderstorm of aliens and explosions. His role as The Collector may be brief, but he brings an effortless calm to a scene that could’ve easily gone full chaos-mode. While the universe is literally at war and spaceships are blowing up, Del Toro leans back, sips his cognac, and makes it look like he was born for this. It’s less about saving the galaxy and more about surviving it with style – and Del Toro nails it.
Traffic (2000)
In Traffic, Del Toro plays a Mexican cop caught in the brutal web of the war on drugs – and yet the way he carries himself makes the chaos around him feel oddly manageable. There’s no swagger, no bravado; instead there’s precision, purpose, and a kind of weary calm that pulls the film’s moral weight together. While others spiral, Del Toro holds the line, making his performance stand out in a film built on shattered illusions and moral compromises. It’s the kind of “cool in crisis” role he owns.
Snatch (2000)
The crazy-fast pacing of Snatch could’ve swallowed any actor whole, but Del Toro gives his character, Franky Four Fingers, the laid-back confidence of a man who knows the risks and isn’t showing fear. Amid the screwball gangster antics, he remains the one who seems to get it – the chaos, the gamble, the diamond. His cool-headedness becomes the anchor, making him the guy you keep your eye on even if you’re laughing at the rest of the lunacy. It’s a performance that blends humor and menace with that signature Del Toro stillness.
Way of the Gun (2000)
Way of the Gun finds Del Toro in a violent, stylish neo-western where bullets fly and alliances shift like quicksand – yet he never looks out of place. His cold, measured portrayal of Longbaugh gives the film its moral center, or perhaps its moral emptiness, whichever you prefer. While Ryan Phillippe’s character panics, Del Toro’s doesn’t even blink. That kind of composure in a film soaked in desperation and greed is what makes him more fascinating than the shoot-outs. He doesn’t just exist in the mess – he defines it.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
It’s rare that an actor steals scenes when there are so many power players on screen, but Del Toro did it in The Usual Suspects with his unique blend of humor and menace as Fred Fenster. He didn’t need to dominate the frame; his unpredictability did. While the plot leaves your head spinning, his presence keeps things grounded – like the calm center of a storm you know is about to hit. The film gave him early recognition, and he proved then what he still proves now: chaos happens, but he’ll be the guy leaning against the wall watching it.