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.

Filmography

• 2026Digger — Thanks
• 2026I Love Boosters — Thanks
• 2025Frankenstein — Director, Producer, Writer
• 2025In Your Dreams — Thanks
• 2025Mollusk
• 2025The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
• 2025The Monkey — Thanks
• 2025Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery — Thanks
• Disclaimer — Thanks
• 2024Megalopolis — Thanks
• 2024The Apprentice — Thanks
• 2023George Pal: Un Marciano De Hollywood En Argentina
• 2023The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial — Thanks
• 2023The Last Voyage of the Demeter — Thanks
• Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities — Self - Host (uncredited), Executive Producer, Short Story, Teleplay, Creator
• 2022Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio — Screenstory, Screenplay, Director, Producer, Lyricist
• 2022Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema — Self, Executive Producer
• 2021Antlers — Producer
• 2021Nightmare Alley — Director, Screenplay, Producer
• 2021Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans — Screenplay, Producer, Creator, Book
• 2020Roald Dahl's The Witches — Producer, Screenplay
• Wizards: Tales of Arcadia — Writer, Teleplay, Executive Producer, Creator
• 2019Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark — Screenstory, Producer
• 3Below: Tales of Arcadia — Executive Producer, Director, Creator
• 2018Ayotzinapa: The Turtle's Pace — Producer
• Barry — El Toro
• 2018Guillermo del Toro: Un director y su Oscar — Guillermo del Toro
• 2018Light in the Darkness: The Impact of Night of The Living Dead — Self, Thanks
• 2018Pacific Rim: Uprising — Producer
• 2017The Shape of Water — Producer, Story, Screenplay, Director
• 2017When Romero Met Del Toro
• 2016A Living Thing
• 2016Crimson Phantoms
• 2016Kung Fu Panda 3 — Executive Producer
• Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia — Señor Muelas (voice), Executive Producer, Director, Story, Teleplay, Creator
• 2015Crimson Peak — Director, Writer, Producer
• 2015Extraordinary Tales — Narrator (voice) (segment 'The Pit and the Pendulum')
• 2015The Thin Yellow Line — Producer
• 2014Guillermo del Toro Interviews Paul Williams — Self, Thanks
• 2014How to Train Your Dragon 2 — Thanks
• 2014The Book of Life — Land of Remembered Captain's Wife (voice), Producer
• 2014The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies — Screenplay
• The Strain — Writer, Director, Creator
• 2013Gravity — Thanks
• 2013Mama — Executive Producer
• 2013Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics
• 2013Pacific Rim — Screenplay, Director, Producer
• 2013The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug — Screenplay
• 2012El Santos vs la Tetona Mendoza — Gamborimbo Ponx (voice)
• 2012Rise of the Guardians — Executive Producer
• 2012The Captured Bird — Executive Producer
• 2012The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — Screenplay
• 2011A Leap in Evolution: The Creatures of 'Mimic' — Self, Conceptual Illustrator
• 2011Back Into the Tunnels: The Making of 'Mimic' — Self, Thanks
• 2011Kung Fu Panda 2 — Creative Consultant
• 2011Puss in Boots — Moustache Man / Comandante (voice), Executive Producer
• 2011Reclaiming 'Mimic' — Self, Conceptual Illustrator
• 2011Zombie Lover — Interviewee
• 2010Biutiful — Associate Producer
• BlackBoxTV Presents — Producer
• 2010Don't Be Afraid of the Dark — Creature (Voice), Screenplay, Producer
• 2010Julia's Eyes — Producer
• 2010Megamind — Creative Consultant
• 2010Scott Pilgrim vs. the World — Thanks
• 2010Splice — Executive Producer
• 2009District 9 — Thanks
• 2009Rage — Producer
• 2008Drew Struzan: An Appreciation of An Artist — Self, Thanks
• 2008Hellboy II: The Golden Army — Creature Vocals (voice) (uncredited), Director, Screenplay, Story
• 2008Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Prologue — Screenplay
• 2008Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Zinco Epilogue — Screenplay
• 2008Insignificant Things — Producer
• 2008Quantum of Solace — Additional Voices (voice)
• 2008Rudo & Cursi — Producer
• 2008While She Was Out — Executive Producer
• 200707 Spaceys
• 2007Diary of the Dead — Newsreader (voice) (uncredited), Thanks
• 2007Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron — Creative Producer
• 2007Red Princess Blues Animated: The Book of Violence — Thanks
• 2007The Orphanage — Executive Producer
• 2007Year of the Nail — Thanks
• 2006Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms — Creative Producer
• 2006Pan's Labyrinth — Director, Producer, Writer
• 2005Home Delivery — Presenter, Executive Producer
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia — Pappy McPoyle
• 2005Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
• 2004Crónicas — Producer
• 2004Hellboy — Guy Dressed as Dragon (uncredited), Director, Screenplay, Fight Choreographer
• 2004Que es un fantasma?
• 2003Noin — Guillermo del Toro
• 2002Blade II — Director
• 2002I Murder Seriously — Executive Producer
• 2001Mimic 2 — Characters
• 2001The Devil's Backbone — Screenplay, Director
• 2001The Devil's Backbone: Behind the Scenes
• 2001Torrente 2: Mission in Marbella — Thanks
• 2001Y Tu Mamá También — Thanks
• 2000Amores Perros — Editorial Coordinator
• 2000Bullfighter — Bullboy #2
• Futurama — Guillermo del Toro's Head (voice)
• 1999Under a Spell — Producer
• 1998Torrente: The Dumb Arm of the Law — Thanks
• 1997Mimic — Director, Screenplay, Screenstory
• 1995Algunas nubes — Makeup Effects
• 1993Cronos — Man Walking Dog (uncredited), Screenplay, Director
• 1992Sólo con tu pareja — Thanks
• 1991Cabeza de Vaca — Makeup Effects Designer
• 1990Dying in the Gulf — Makeup Effects, Storyboard
• 1989Goitia: A God for Himself — Special Effects Makeup Artist
• 1989Love Lies — Makeup Effects, Special Effects Makeup Artist
• The Simpsons — Guillermo del Toro (voice)
• The Marked Hour — Writer, Director
• 1987Geometry — Director, Writer, Producer
• 1986Mrs. Lupe — Director, Screenplay, Assistant Editor, Executive Producer, Casting
• 1986Obdulia — First Assistant Director
• 1985Doña Herlinda and Her Son — Executive Producer
• Fury — Director, Writer, Producer
• Sira and the Secret of the Park — Executive Producer
• The Bloody Benders — Producer
• The Boy in the Iron Box — Screenplay, Producer, Novel

Appearances as themselves (82)

• 2026THE ORIGIN OF ULTRAMAN — Self
• 2026The Anatomy Lesson: Director’s Cut — Self
• 2026The Thing Expanded — Self
• 2025Avatar: A New Era - Special Edition of 20/20 — Self
• 2025Frankenstein: The Anatomy Lesson — Self - Writer / Director
• 2025It’s a Mad Max World — Self
• 2025Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story — Self
• 2025Netflix Tudum 2025 — Self
• 2025Sangre del Toro — Self
• 2025Surrealistic Nightmares: An In-Depth Look at Walloon Horror Cinema — Self
• 2024Dario Argento: Panico — Self
• Leonardo da Vinci — Self
• 2023Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds — Self
• 2023Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre — Self
• 2022Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story — Self
• 2022Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters — Self
• 2021Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster — Self
• Directors on Directors — Self
• 2020Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business — Self
• 2020I'm No Longer Here: A Discussion with Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón — Self
• Elvis Goes There — Self
• 2019Love, Antosha — Self
• 2019Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film — Self
• 2019The House Is Alive: Constructing 'Crimson Peak' — Self
• 2018Bloody And Groovy Baby! A Tribute to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2 — Self
• James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction — Self
• 201778/52 — Self
• 2017Five Came Back — Self
• Five Came Back — Self
• 2016Hand Tailored Gothic — Self
• 2016I Remember Crimson Peak — Himself
• 2016The Giant's Dream: The Making of the Iron Giant — Self
• 2016The Light and Dark of Crimson Peak — Self
• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• 2015Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex — Self
• 2015Metal Gear Solid: Legacy — Self
• 2015The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet — Self
• The Late Late Show with James Corden — Self - Guest
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self, Self - Guest
• 2014Lennon or McCartney — Self
• The Director's Chair — Self
• The Game Awards — Self
• 2013Drew: The Man Behind the Poster — Self
• 2013Spanish Gothic — Self
• 2013The Digital Artistry of Pacific Rim — Self
• 2013The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy — Self
• 2012Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss — Self
• 2012Men in Suits — Self
• 2012Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan — Self
• 2011Bob Burns' Hollywood Haloween — Self
• 2011Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope — Self
• 2009Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock — Self
• 2009North by Northwest: One for the Ages — Self
• 2009The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style — Self
• 2008Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro — Self
• 2008Edith Head: Dressing the Master's Movies — Self
• 2008El último truco — Self
• 2008Hellboy: In Service of the Demon — Self
• 2008In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy — Self
• 2008Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown — Self
• 2008Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators — Self
• 2008Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock — Self
• 2008Saul Bass: Title Champ — Self
• 2008Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound — Self
• 2008The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't — Self
• 2007Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner — Self
• 2007Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard — Self
• 2007Nexus Generation: Fans & Filmmakers — Self
• 2007Pan and the Fairies — Self
• 2007The Color and the Shape — Self
• 2007The Melody Echoes the Fairy Tale — Self
• 2007The Power of Myth — Self
• 2004Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation — Self
• 2004Que es un Fantasma?: The Making of 'The Devil's Backbone' — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self, Self - Guest
• HypaSpace — Self
• 2002Masters of Horror — Self
• 2002The Blood Pact: The Making of 'Blade II' — Self
• The Oscars — Self
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee
• The Fall: Part I — Self
• The Fall: Part II — Self