Trejo's authenticity as a former convict made him the perfect fit for the role, standing out against actors who were merely portraying convicts.
He was initially called to the set to hang out with a friend who was staying clean, but ended up being offered a job training Eric Roberts for a boxing scene.
Meeting Eddie Bunker, a former prison acquaintance, on the set of 'Runaway Train' led to Trejo being offered a role in the movie, which kickstarted his acting career.
Directors often cast him in prison-related roles due to his authentic background, and he frequently had to improvise 'prison-y' lines for his characters.
Prisons removed most of the weights to prevent inmates from building excessive muscle, which was seen as a potential threat to public safety upon release.
Gilbert was always available for Trejo, teaching him how to fight and survive, which proved invaluable in his later life, including his time in prison.
The movie faced backlash for inaccuracies about the Mexican mafia, leading to a ban on Sureños working on prison-related films, which affected Trejo's involvement in 'Blood In, Blood Out'.
He accidentally attended an AA meeting while crashing a party in his neighborhood, where he was warned that leaving the meeting could lead to death, insanity, or jail.
Bunker convinced Trejo to attend an AA meeting in prison, promising cigarettes and coffee, which led to Trejo meeting his sponsor and starting his journey in recovery.
Trejo no longer craves drugs or alcohol, recognizing that they are no longer a part of his life and that he prefers being in control.
The tattoo became highly recognizable and often typecast him in prison roles, but it also became a signature look that audiences associated with him.
Trejo grew up around car culture, which became a passion and a significant part of his identity, leading him to own multiple lowriders and classic cars.
The song was a frequent part of his drug-fueled past, often playing on repeat during his heroin use, creating a strong association with that period of his life.
By helping others, Trejo found that he was also helped in return, leading to positive outcomes like saving his son's life and gaining support from others.
He would choose 'Spy Kids,' 'Heat,' and 'Machete' as the three movies to be played at his funeral, reflecting his successful and varied acting career.
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Ladies and gentlemen, new episode of Two Bears, One Cave. And finally, my partner is actually Latino. My best friend claims Latino when it seems convenient, Danny. Absolutely. He speaks Spanish.
His mom's from Peru, but his dad was white. And when he speaks Spanish, it catches everyone off guard. 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 Kaczlowski, 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's kind of Spanish goes, ah, look, ah.
And so, I go, is this guy clowning me or what? How did he say? He says, adversary. It was adversary or, you know, like against each other. We look like enemies. You know what I mean? So these other guys look like lovers, you know, so.
So I ended up boxing Eric Roberts for that part. 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? Yeah.
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. And unbeknownst to me that I was supposed to go down there the next day anyway as an extra. So I walked on the set that night to hang out with this kid. And 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 a story. He's about Eddie Bunker. Oh, he's awesome. Keep going. I apologize. But, but, but, uh, he's looking at me. He says, Hey, you're Danny Trejo. Yeah. He says, uh, what are you doing here? I said, uh, they're going to give me 50 bucks for acting like a convict, you know, cause, and we laugh cause we've been doing that for free for all our lives. Yeah.
So he says, hey, you know what? We need somebody to train one of the actors out of box. I'm like, what's it pay? And he said, $3.20 a day. 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. 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 bucks, give him a stick. Are you crazy? I'd be beat up for free, homie. I started training Eric Roberts out of 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. You know, I want to rest now and go to Australia. And everything stopped. So...
Eric respected me, you know, so when they wanted him, they would tell me, go get Eric. Go get Eric and say, come on, Eric, let's do this, and then we'll train, because he wanted to train. Please be Eric Roberts. I'm sorry, I thought I shut that off. That's okay, that's okay. That's how real this show is. And so I had a...
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 and I said, Eddie, 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. Yeah, okay. Well, if I'm kissing him, if I would have known that old man did, he got me a SAG card. Yeah. You know what I mean? That SAG card changes your life. It's my life. Yeah.
I'd have washed his back. Let me get that front too. I mean, you know, it's like the whole life. Yeah. I started going from movie to movie to movie because they were making a whole bunch of prison movies. I got that big tattoo on my chest and the directors loved it. So I didn't, my first 10 movies I don't have a shirt on, you know, we're in prison. And it was funny. Directors would always say, Danny, say something prison-y.
Hey, we'll kill all you punks. Oh, my God. Where did you study? Safeway, Vons, all the robbers. And so it was like I just kept working. I kept going from movie to movie to movie.
And that's the way it's been my whole career. 1985. 1985. You got out of prison in 68? Yeah. No, 69. 69. I got out of prison in 1969. I was a drug counselor. I'm still a drug counselor. I work for Western Pacific Med Corp. We have a
detox all over. We've got 13 detoxes. Okay, can I tell you my... There are a few stories... I get obsessed with people. Especially anyone who's had a rough background, meaning like the chips were against them. It didn't look like they were supposed to succeed. Nothing was going to go their way. And all of a sudden, they just show up in a major way. And I heard a story...
One time I was talking to a friend and he said, you know, Danny detoxed in the hole. Always. Really? Every time I got arrested, I was hooked. So I would detox in the county jail with like, hey, shut up, bastard. Jesus. That's the way you just kicked. And you've got to remember, this was 1965, 64, 63, you know, when the...
I remember, well, God, in 65, 63, when I got arrested, when I got sent to the joint, it was like nothing. I mean, they were sending people to the gas chamber or selling dope, you know. Nobody knew. That was crazy when I think of it, yeah. I want to go back to Eddie Bunker, and I want to, what does it feel like, what does it feel like when you've been in prison?
I mean, I have so many fucking questions for you. Going to prison has got to feel, it's got to give you anxiety. When you put on prison clothes again on a movie, was there a moment of like, oh, God. That happened. Actually, it was funny because when the first AD on Runaway Train had me that blue shirt, I kind of laughed. You know what I mean? I just kept putting it on. And no.
He said, please, this time. And he told me to leave it open, get my shirt off, you know, because I got that big jab. And I left it off. And I just stood there, just kind of like, kind of like, just reminiscing. And I'm watching everybody, and they're all being stupid. But because everybody thinks prison is this, like, you're out of the way, I'll kill you. It's not, man. Prison is a very scary place.
but nobody can show it. You know, it's like being with your girlfriend in a haunted house, and you know you're scared, but you can't show it. Because in prison, you learn to smell any kind of weakness, any kind of fear, any kind of sorrow. You can pick it up. I mean, what's wrong? You ask somebody, what's wrong? Yeah.
I got a letter, you know, something. And so... Oh, it's so crazy. I just realized you also have personal shit happening to you while you're in prison. Absolutely. See, that's why, like, a lot of people tell their girlfriend, hey, you know what, cut it loose, let it go. I can't deal with this. Oh, yeah, because you don't want to deal with the ups and downs. I get a letter one week and I don't get it for three weeks. You're like, what the fuck are you doing? Yeah, you cut your wrist. I mean, I've watched people...
cut their wrist because they didn't get a letter. It's like, whoa. You can't depend on the outside. You're no longer on... You're on an island and people... It's...
Let me say this. A wife has three children. Her husband's in jail. So now for her to go visit... Now, he's in San Francisco. She's in Los Angeles. She's got to get a babysitter for two days, three days. And she's got to, like, drive up, take a bus, whatever, get a hotel, sleep in the car, and go visit for a couple hours, you know? And so it's not like an easy life either way, you know? And so when...
I cut everybody loose. I don't write anybody or talk to anybody. And I just, you kind of like institutionalize yourself to this is my world while, you know, this is it. This is it. And so you start acquiring everything it takes to make you comfortable, you know, and as comfortable as you can. It's the only way.
To keep from going totally insane, you know? I mean, literally. And people think, well, I'd rather be in the hole. No, you wouldn't because that's where you go crazy. You know, there's nobody there, nobody to talk to, nobody. You're just there all by yourself. You learn, you adapt. I used to do...
The Wizard of Oz. I used to act the whole, give me those shoes, Dorothy. The Wizard of Oz? The whole thing. Really? Yeah. Wait, where did that, were you a big Wizard of Oz fan? We are the Munchkin kids. Were you a Wizard of Oz fan? No, I just remember that movie.
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Guards would walk by and I'd scream, did you kill my sister? Because of the Wizard of Oz. It was like I had trails going nuts. But you make yourself kind of go crazy so the environment can't make you crazy. You understand? It's like I'm doing this. They're not. And you've got to be strong enough to know you're doing it.
That is a really profound statement. I'm certain there's like a therapist that's hearing that going, yeah, that's called dot, dot, dot. But yeah, I know what you're talking about where you go, I'm not, this is so bad right now. I bet there's men that have been in war that go, I have to contain my surroundings. Absolutely. Holy shit. And so that's, man, I did that for months. Yeah. And I play a great Hen, Hen Lotton. She gave me water. I mean, like,
How were you the first time you went to prison? Oh, God. You don't go to prison. It's like in order to acclimate, you start off in juvenile halls.
You're in juvenile hall, and from juvenile hall you maybe go to a camp or something, and then from there you end up in youth authority, and then from there you end up in youth authority. Then you end up in prison. So you've already like, you know, this is your lifestyle. You know people. The people that have trouble is that do something that gets them sent to prison the first time.
So they know absolutely nothing about the lay of the land.
It's like not having gone to summer camp and then going to college. Right. That's a bad analogy. That shows you how white I am. It's like not going to sleep away camp. And then all of a sudden you go to college, you're like, well, I never went to sleep away camp. I'm so nervous. I miss my parents. Sleep away camp. Fuck, I like that. I'm so different. We have such a different life. I have been given every opportunity in life to succeed. And I'm obsessed with your story because...
There are little things I know people hear the wrong way, but I hear a certain way. Like your uncle Gilbert. Love him. Okay, so I do too. And I'll tell you why I love him. Tell everyone about Gilbert real quick before I start. Because I've heard stories about your uncle and what he meant to you and who he was to everyone around you and what you saw him as. But tell everyone. No, Gilbert. Gilbert.
First of all, it's like my grandmother had 11 children, all right? Gilbert was the last one. So basically, they were out of kids. They're done with kids, you know what I mean? And my Uncle Rudy went to college. He was the one before Gilbert. And then Gilbert was kind of left on his own, you know? And my mom and dad... My mom and dad were perfect pictures of the American dream. If you work...
and own a Cadillac and a pickup truck with a camper, you've made it, and a house, and you've got a wife that's basically an indentured servant. I don't think my mom ever left the house. She was like, we have the cleanest house in the world. You know what I mean? And I'll never forget, we had plastic on our couches, and...
I guess, you know, I don't know, people you won't sit on. But their whole thing was right there. And the one thing, I know it sounds selfish, but they never had time. They always had their stuff. I can remember going to my mom when she was on the phone. Mom, mom. Shut up. Yeah. Well, what? And go through talking to her.
And then my dad, you know, talked to him. Hey, dad. I said, oh, I'm busted with this phone. On the phone. My boss. Was your dad born in Mexico? No, he was born in Texas. The same thing. And that is, correct me if I sound silly. Is that Chicano? Yeah. Okay, so that's Chicano. And so my dad was like, my dad was tough. He was a guy. He was tough. And, uh.
Now, if I went to Gilbert and he was on the phone, Gilbert would go, here. Oh, wait, hold on. What's up? Yeah. All right, let me get on the phone. He always had time no matter what he was doing. Yeah. He'd be running somewhere. Hey, Gilbert. Yeah, yeah, what's up? Well, here, jump in the car. Let's go. I mean, it's just. And so that's who I gravitated to, the guy that had time for me. And the guy that had time for me had to be a doctor.
Drug addict and an armed robber. A stud. He was a stud. He was a stud. Good looking dude. Tough as fucking nails. Everyone respected him. Taught me how to fight. You know, taught me how to fight. And everything he gave me allowed me to succeed in the path that I took.
Being a drug addict, an armed robber, penitentiary, lightweight, welterweight champion of every penitentiary I was in. And I was in all. And so. You were in all of them. Yeah. You were actually in all of them. Quentin, Folsom, Soledad, Vacaville, Susanville, Sierra. Those were the ones that were built when I was going. And, and, uh, uh.
So I was obsessed with Blood In Blood Out. I loved it. I was obsessed with it. And that's when I started getting into Norteños versus like... Yes, Sudeños. Sudeños. And so they started... What they were doing at this time, correct me if I'm wrong, but they were trying to break up Mexican gangs in prisons. So they would take anyone who was anyone and just shuffle them around. Well, it was funny because when I was doing Blood In Blood Out, I met a guy, Mario...
Castillo, Mario Castillo. And we were talking and I said, hey, why don't you come in and get your part in this movie? And he said, we can't. They were sureños, right? And Quentin was the northern receptionist. They were all norteños. And Mario was so tough.
that in a Norteño prison, he's wearing a pair of shorts that say L.A. County Jail. So he's saying, I'm Sureño. You know what I mean? But he's pushing for it in some pounds. Nobody messed with him. And it was, he said, you know what, we can't. We got the word from the mafia. No Sureños can work on any...
prison movie because of what James Almost did, you know, screwed everything up. Wait, what did James Almost do? Well, he did a movie called American Me. I saw that one too. And the problem with that is that he made the leader of the Mexican mafia, he said that he had gotten in juvenile hall.
which was an outright lie. Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. I remember that scene, yeah. Outright lie. Yeah. And then some other stuff that wasn't supposed to be told. And he paid some guys that were like skid row bums that had been on inside. He paid them cigarettes and stuff on the street to tell stories about the mafia, you know, so on.
So he got in trouble. And so they shut it down. So the blood in, blood out, we used inmates, you know, but none from Southern California. And our movie, Blood In, Blood Out, got a lot of acclaim. And American Me died because everybody knew, you know. Please be Edward James almost. Sure, take it.
Hey, in two days, I'm killing you. Two days. So get all your stuff, insurance, all that stuff ready. I'm in a podcast right now. Very important. Two days, okay? You'll be dead.
Yeah, I'm the guy doing it. I'm in the Russian mafia. How you doing, brother? Hey, I'll call you back in a little while. I love you too. It's so funny. This guy got out of prison, right? We took him under our wing. Yeah. And he stayed out. And then he got a part in a movie. But he couldn't go because it was out of state. It was the one about hot dogs.
Fritos Hot Cheetos. Yeah. So the Hot Cheetos is a crazy story. Yeah. It was with Eva Longoria. And I knew her. And she called me, Danny, can we get him in? I don't know. Let me see. So we went down to his parole officer. He couldn't go out of state.
He's on parole. Yeah. We go to the store, took him donuts and did, Hey, Oh, trail. We took pictures. And then I asked him, Hey, look, you know what? We got a movie minute. He's a guy that can he go? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's take this picture. So we took a couple pictures and he went to, I can't believe I just told a guy that just got out of prison. I was going to kill him. Can we edit that or just bleep me saying, I'll give you a high five. Um,
But so, I forgot what I was saying. No, we were talking about Gilbert. And we were talking about going to prison. And just like... What he did was he gave me the tools necessary to survive. Yeah. You know, in the path that I took. Well, he did. Yeah, he turned me on to drugs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. At quite a young age. This is where people get hung up. You first, you first smoked pot when you were eight? Eight, yeah. Eight, and heroin at 11. Yeah, but people say, oh my God, that's terrible. But...
Any weed smoker has gotten a puppy loaded. Uh... Okay. My sister... That's true. That's true. There's nothing better than a high puppy. And so... Should we make it ourselves? That's my mom. She didn't know about Instacart's family carts, so... Want to make pecan pie this year? Yes or no? Oh, no.
Alex!
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Jim Gaffigan, The Skinny, streaming right now on Hulu. You know, I love dogs. Yeah. And so cats. A cat is fucking scary. I happen to be...
Well, I was actually bothering my grandmother inside the house. She told me to go out there with Gilbert because he had two friends and they were reading the Bible. Because there used to be these guys that came around and they would sell these huge red Bibles, just big with gold trim. And they were only like $88, but...
you know, 10 payments for five years. Yeah. I remember I had buddies who sold those. They would go door to door. Northeastern Company was the name of the company. And they would sell Bibles. They'd sell encyclopedias. Because back in the day before the internet, if you rolled in with encyclopedias, this is a way to get your family into a different situation. You have all the information of the world in your house. We bought those. And so it was funny, but...
So I go out there to be with Gilbert, you know, where she sent me, and they were smoking weed. And all I remember hearing is, let's get him loaded. I can still hear that. And that was it. You know, I got loaded. It was funny because people that get loaded, they were going to get loaded. People that weren't going to get loaded,
I don't know what to say. I gave Timmy Sanchez weed, our next door neighbor, and I'm smoking weed. He got sick. He started throwing up and got sick and went home, right? Never got loaded again. There was no drugs. I stood there and giggled, you know? And so I went from weed, heroin,
I caught my uncle shooting heroin and threatened to tell if he didn't give me some. I didn't know what it was. I just knew he was doing it. So I did that, and that was it. I found it. Really? And I became like a full-blown alcoholic because now that bug opened up, you know, and heroin can't be 13, 12, 13, run around.
scoring heroin. I used to just go up to one of the connections doors and like my uncle would wait in the car and I'd go, hey, give me some heroin. Shut up. You bet. Wait, wait. I'll kill you. Go on, take that.
That's so crazy. It's interesting you say that about people that get loaded are going to get loaded. Yeah. Because my wife can't smoke weed. Huh? If my wife smokes weed, she throws up immediately. Exactly. I mean, it's just so that some people are born with the bug or whatever it is and other people aren't. Some people, it's like I watch some people drink and you're like, yo, I don't think alcohol agrees with your system. You know, like they just turn into a different person. It's a...
It's an allergy of the body coupled with an obsession of the mind. Your body's allergic to it, but your mind's obsessed with it. You know what I mean? It's like beer. My dad, I had gotten sober.
And I would sit, me and my dad would watch, these would be Saturday fights. Every Saturday they'd have fights. And we'd watch them on TV and he'd sit down at 6 o'clock, right? And we'd sit there and open one beer, right? And we'd be watching the fight. And there's a six-pack in the, and 10-round fight. One beer. And then I'd, Dad, you want another beer? Yeah.
Nah. Well, then why'd you buy six? I couldn't stand to see him. Like, stupid. Beer is supposed to be in the icebox. I'm always shocked when I go to dinner with my wife and she has one glass of wine. And I go, what are you, just trying to stain your teeth? I was like, let's get on to one. Let's get after it. Yeah, I... You know, so I've never understood. I know people that order a mixed drink and are...
Aren't done. The ice melted. It's like, what this? And so I don't drink like normal people. Yeah. And I don't shoot heroin. Well, normal people don't shoot heroin. But you know what I mean? Yeah. It's an obsession, an obsession of the mind. So how did you turn it off? I know you've had a lot of great, I say men because I think there were men, but a lot of great men that kind of like,
Just gave you the right advice at the right time. Well, you know what? It's like one of the things that, like, I started going to AA by accident, all right? Everything happened by accident. But there was a big party in our neighborhood. I was in Pacoimo, and that was the murder capital of Los Angeles in 19...
When I was 1959. Pecora's right there, right? Yeah. Pecora. And, I mean, we were killing everybody. And there's all these cars parked out in front of this house. And hold it. This is our neighborhood. They're having a party in the murder capital of Los Angeles. They're not inviting the murderers. What the hell is going on? So we stopped, went to the trunk of the car to get the tools necessary to
you know, to crash parties. And so we got entire iron bumper jacks. I had a .38 snub nose, a case of beer, three bottles of wine, half pint of whiskey. I was already loaded on Red Devil's pills. And so we crashed. You can't knock. You just kind of bust. Yeah. And the first thing we saw was a big sign that said, We care. And we're trying to care about what? And all these people...
They were coming up with coffee cups, you know, like, hey. And I always told my troops, don't split up. Stay together. There's 20 of us. We got them. But what the people did was like dividing. You had everybody in little groups of four telling them about the perils of drinking. Everybody's drunk. And this guy comes up to me and starts talking about he was an alcoholic and now he don't drink and everything.
Why don't I put that stuff outside and join him? I said, hell no. I got penitentiaries to go to, fool. You know what I mean? I didn't know what to say, but I left, and we all left. And I mean, this guy whispered a curse to me. He said— Maybe I don't want to hear it. No, I'm telling you. He said, Danny, if you leave this meeting, you will die, go insane, or go to jail. And I thought, screw you. It's a—
That's a stupid thing to say to a 15-year-old kid. We left. Two weeks later, come on out, we have a house around here. I was busted, arrested again, and gone too long. And so it was like a pattern. You know, I always, I've never gotten arrested sober. I've never gotten, I mean, I've never gotten arrested that I wasn't loaded on heroin. You know what I mean? And so it was like,
Is that my problem? Using was my problem. I'm the problem. Drinking and using is my medicine. Part of the thing, yeah. You know what I mean? No, I know exactly what you mean. And damn, I had to go to meetings in every institution. Damn, Frank Russo, Frank Russo, Frank Russo. And I say that because he told me never to mention his name.
But he actually, I show up at this penitentiary. He's there. He shot a couple of people in front of Sun Valley Receiving Hospital. And he was there. And he came, Danny, we've got to go to this AA meeting. It's awesome, blah, blah, blah. I've got an AA meeting. He said, no, no, no, AA. They got cigarettes. And I said, I'm a German convict. I got cigarettes.
cartons of cigarettes. Yeah. He said, yeah, but I know that, you know, hey, we can get coffee and cake. I said, come on, I got that in my cell. What the hell's wrong with you? And then he says, there's women coming up.
They brought women to AA meetings in prison? They don't have women's in my cell. No. It's a fucking no-brainer. I signed up for the meeting. But the problem is when you sign up for something, you can't say, I want to go to AA to see the women. You got to say, I want to go to AA...
to deal with my alcohol problem. Now, once you say that, that goes in your jacket. That means everywhere you go, oh, you have alcohol problems. They're mandatory. Every institution I went to, I had to go to alcohol as long as I could. And so I go to this meeting, and it's actually a pretty good meeting. That's where I met Johnny Harris, my sponsor, right? And he said, the only thing that's going to beat you to quitting
Are the headlights on the bus? Yeah. And I said, yeah. I thought it was a compliment. And it's funny because when we pulled up to San Quentin, right, 10 years later, I see the headlights hit the wall. And I said, hey, let me walk in front. Yeah.
I think everybody on that bus had heard Johnny Ayers because everybody knew what I was talking about. And that was it. And I went to AA all the time because I had to. Yeah.
That's interesting. When you went into AA meetings, did they do like a – I really, when I say I know nothing about prison, I just know what I saw in like Blood In, Blood Out. But did they have like an Aryan AA meeting and a black AA meeting? No. Those are all the same. Everything else is segregated. Soledad is the worst because when you're walking into Soledad, the guards –
are trying to keep things equal. Yeah. They're trying to put white, black, Mexican, all spread out. Yeah. And if they send you to like the African-Americans and you're a white guy, you better make a quick turn somewhere. Yeah. You know what I mean? If you're Mexican, same thing. It's like we segregate ourselves.
Oh, really? And they usually don't want to make a big hassle out of it. They just leave it alone. And the tables all have four. Oh, really? And four people. Prison is probably the most right now place in the world. The most right now place? Right now. It's all happening right now. If you want to be present, go to prison.
That's where the term I got your back came from. Really? When we're talking to each other, I got your back. You got my back. And people don't even know that. They use that all the time. Hey, I got your back. That means like I'll watch out for you. But that's for real. I got your back. So if something's happening, I'll check this, check, you know what I mean? I'll let you know, whatever it is, because I don't know what, you know.
And that's why I always call the right now, right now place. Right now you can die or right now you can almost die or right now you can get away with it. It seems like I would, I feel like I would act
a day late on any threats. Like they'd be like, uh, they'd be like, uh, Oh, I like your hat. I guess you can't wear hats in prison, but like, can you tailor hats? They go, I like your hat. And I go, Oh, thanks. And, but then that would mean my hat's getting taken from me. Yeah. And I would, then I'd be like, later I have a very big head size eight. You probably maybe won't talk to someone else. Yeah. Yeah. You can't let anything be taken from me. Tell me about, uh, uh,
Was it Ed Bunker? He was awesome. He drew out. This is like the wildest thing I ever heard. He drew out maps of how to rob places. I can't believe that's an occupation. When you came out of prison, if you wanted a couple of scores, you would go to him, and depending on what they were or how much, he would tell you what he wants. And if you were any good and knew your game, you know,
He'd go with you. If you were just something, then you'd have to pay him. But he was amazing. And most of the people that bought robberies from him got away. And then how did he get involved in movies? Was he a consultant? Yeah, actually him and Alvin Sargent, who was an outsider. He was a writer, director, whatever.
They wrote a screenplay called, I mean, No Be So Fierce with Dustin Hoffman and Gary Busey's first movie. And Dustin Hoffman came out of prison and went to buy a robbery. That scene is in, but it's actually my uncle and me. And anyway, so Dustin Hoffman buys a robbery from him. And that's how...
he became, he was famous. He went back to prison after that. And then, uh, and him and Sergeant finished writing that when Eddie was in, uh, Terminal Island. Just, I mean, uh, Alvin Sergeant would go up to Terminal Island, the visiting room, and they finished writing it. Jesus. You know, and, uh. Seems like such a misplaced genius. And so then when it came, when it came out, it was a hit, unbelievable movie, right? And, uh,
Eddie was probably one of the most brilliant people I knew. I mean, he was a captain's clerk. Wait, what's that? He was the captain in San Quentin has a clerk because the captain runs the whole institution. That's the top dog. Yeah. And he basically counts on his clerk. So if a guard was like,
messing with my tattoo operation or my booze operation, I could pay Eddie and say, hey, can you get this guy transferred? And yeah, okay, it costs you $100, $200, whatever it's going to cost you. And Eddie, when he had his stack of papers for the captain to sign, and all of a sudden, two days later, that guard was on the
6 p.m. to 6 a.m. guard out there in the bay somewhere. Wow. And he had that kind of power, and he was that smart. It's crazy. Do you think it's wild that that one tattoo that you got on your chest became almost like a calling card, like a thing you did in prison? Hey.
That is the most recognizable tattoo in the world. So recognizable. And so funny. That was more recognizable than me. I mean, it was literally people went to Cannes and were talking about doing this movie with me. And who? Who? Who? This guy. Oh, the guy with the tattoo. Yeah. Dude.
I mean, so many movies, it's so many movies, you see that and everyone knows who it is. It's funny because Harry, Harry Super Jude Ross, he, he, he,
He hated it because it was one of his first tattoos. And so the lines are very thick. Oh, he's the one who drew it? He's the one who drew it and did it. But now they've gotten so thin. They've gotten so thin. The lines have gotten so thin. The tattoos are like paintings. What are the words above it? Well, cross out one of them. One's Danielle, my daughter.
Yeah. You know, the other one was a mistake. That one's gone. We misspelled it. That one's gone. And I put my son Gilbert and Dan. You named your son Gilbert? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's badass. That's my boy. That's badass. Is Gilbert's son still in prison? No, he's out. In fact, we got him out. The governor, I talked to the governor yesterday.
And he's, yeah, yeah, that's enough time. So we got him out. And then I talked to Newsom and got Mario's.
- Wow. - And, well, yeah. - How much have prisons, like, okay, another very white guy analogy. When you look at gymnasiums from like when Arnold was working out in Gold's Gym to where gymnasiums are today, they've grown so much. They've got polar plunges and IV drips and they've got deprivation tanks.
compared to where they started, how much have prisons grown? They took most of the weights out of... What? Yeah, out of prisons. Well, the problem was that the police, the guys would, you know, guys would be up there five, six years, lift their weights, and all of a sudden come out on the streets. They're monsters. Yeah. You know, and...
A lot of the police started to, wait a minute, you guys are breeding monsters. And...
So they took the weights out. So now all the guys are coming, they're coming out still ripped, but cut. Push-ups, air squats. I do the prison burpee where you do it and then you... It's funny. I used to see guys doing squats with guys on their shoulders. So it was, you know, everything, you adapt to everything. You know what I mean? And so a lot of the weights were probably at the guards' houses.
Do you think you're in such good shape right now because you've worked out your whole life? Yeah. Are you 80? 80. You do not. My dad's not 80. And the hurricane down in Florida, and I was like, I think you should come out to LA. He said, why? I said, well, didn't mom fall on the ground the other day and you just left her there to sleep?
And he was like, yeah, that's, yeah. And I was like, well, if you guys can't get off the ground, maybe we should get you out of where a hurricane's coming. But you're in fantastic shape. I still work out and I still walk and I still do whatever I can. I have to. Yeah. I, uh, you know, like I'll sleep for like four hours and then I'll wake up and then I might go live some ways, come back to bed, sleep some more. Then you wake up. I just,
I don't know. It's weird, but I'm staying in shape. I'm still staying in shape. I'm still staying weighed about 180. Yeah. When was the last time you thought about drugs or alcohol? Like in an honest way, you're like, God, it would be good to have a glass of wine. Not, no, I'm not really, it doesn't really hit me like that. I'll be like working on the yard, working a sweat or something, and you think about
But, why sir, la cerveza mas fina. But a beer on a hot day will give you a headache. So you drink another one. You know, okay, so now that's two. And then when you got two, it's like, all right. What are we doing here today anyway? You got a buzz going on. So I don't, it doesn't, it doesn't...
I don't know how to say it. That's not my taste anymore. Yeah. You know, and I hate not being in control. And it's funny. Police know me. I'll be speeding. They'll stop me. Trey, what the hell were you doing going so fast? I'm in a hurry. God. I was on the freeway on the 170. Yeah. Yeah.
And I'm in the diamond lane, and I'm jamming to the restaurant, right? And about 65, Buick Riviera, up to 85. Damn. And I pulled over. What the hell you got in this? You know, that's when we started talking. He said, get out of the diamond lane. Because I was... By yourself? By myself. I do that sometimes when the cop pulls up. I just go like this. And he says...
He says, stay out of the Diamond Lane, okay? Is that your thing? You like cars, don't you? I love cars. Really? It's funny. I got a 1936 Dodge, and I love that. My grandfather. You can pull these up on the screen. I'd love to see any of these. My grandfather had a 1936 Dodge, and it didn't have a clock.
And so my uncle Gilbert used to deal weed. And that's the second one, the black one up there on top. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. It's like a Peaky Blinders car. And we would drive. My grandpa would sleep for two hours during the day, so we'd steal the car. And my uncle had a big bowl, and it had Sensei Mia in it, right? Yeah. And I'd listen to the radio. I would count the songs. So...
Because the clock didn't work. So it would be like the time. We got two hours. And Gilbert would pull up to a house, two joints, three joints, and we'd just keep driving. So an hour and a half, and we'd go back home. Oh, wow. And so I got a 36 Dodge, too. That's great. Can I tell you my favorite thing that Mexican men seem to own is the whistle?
It's like my buddy Felipe does it all the time. I always wonder, are there different whistles for different things? Or is it one whistle? There's a whistle. And that means danger. Yeah. What's the whistle if you see a beautiful chick and you're trying to tell your friend? We had a parrot that did that. I didn't know he did it.
That's so fucking badass. God, that's my car right there. That's your actual car? Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful. How many cars do you have? I think nine lowriders, nine different lowriders. I'm building right now the most gorgeous 1949 Chevy stepside pickup truck. It's absolutely stunningly gorgeous. Oh, my gosh. The black one.
The black one. Right there, yeah. F5 window, but it's beautiful. Car culture is, I feel like it's, I feel like it's predominantly an L.A. thing. Oh, yeah. I feel like anyone else that's into, the car culture was big in like Indiana in the 50s where they'd drag race and stuff, but every culture in L.A. is into a car, a different type of car. And, and,
Like your southern California states, you know, like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, you know, they have the best weather. So, you know, the cars, the paint jobs and stuff, and they're, God, I...
I love them. If I remember songs and cars together, I can go, like, I remember the first time I heard NWA. We were on my Volkswagen Fox. We were smoking Marlboro Reds, and they put on NWA, and I was 16 years old, and it blew my mind. Give me a time in a car with a song where you can almost transport back into that moment. I can remember a song...
by Bob Dylan. It was Bob Dylan. You used to run around in and out, didn't you? Didn't you? Oh, I just heard that. Yeah. And it was funny because it was a long song. And when it first came out, they used to play it back to back two or three times. And you would be like shooting heroin and you'd be like nodding and you'd wake up
And the song was still beyond. And you're down. Did you? I remember that. And it was like, you know, you go back. There's so many songs. Yeah. Were you the same age as Richie Valens? No, he's a little older than me. I think he was two years older. Two years older. But you guys went to the same high school, didn't you? Junior high. Junior high.
Pacoima Jr. Do you remember when Richie Valens came out? I don't know what it is about Mexican culture that I'm obsessed with, but all those movies came out in a time where not much representation of Mexican culture was shown. And so there's weird things that I'm obsessed with, the Zoot Suit riots, and because they were all parts of movies that I saw, but man, Richie Valens, I...
I was obsessed with him because he was the one guy dating the white chick that was authentically Mexican. Duh. And I got kicked out of San Fernando High School, and they sent me to Monroe High School, and I had to take a ceramics class. I took a ceramics class, and she was the first one to say hello to me.
really, really sweethearts. Oh, Donna. I knew Richie, right? We started talking, blah, blah, blah. And I had to do this, what is it, a project, ceramics. Yeah. And she said, here, we'll just do this. And we did a wine glass and rocks and we put it in a kiln. And it was a beautiful wine glass. I wish I had it. And...
That was it, and I passed the class. It's crazy to think that that kid, who was probably so lost at the time, would turn into you. Will you pull up Danny's movies for a second? And I want to talk about Trejo's Tacos. So your tacos, this is going to sound once again like the whitest thing in the world. My sister nannied for the guy who you partnered with to make those tacos. And I think he was a business partner of yours. Who's that? An Indian dude. Yeah.
Oh, Ash. Yeah. Are you kidding? Yeah. Isn't that crazy? God. Yeah. So we used to sidebar. We used to get Trejo's tacos all the time for parties because we hit up. My sister would hit up Ash's wife. I forgot her name. Yeah. Beautiful. Beautiful. And they got a divorce or they're getting a divorce. Yeah. Oh, really? Oh, she's on the market, guys. She is beautiful. Indian women. I slept on Indian women. I never hooked up with an Indian woman. I wish I had.
It doesn't matter. It's not them. It's us. It's not them. It's us. That's what my fourth wife finally said. It's not us. It's you. I got to tell you, if anyone's going to watch one movie out of all these, and in my opinion, and I'm telling you, this is the thing I want you to walk away with this podcast. If you're having a rough day right now, and we have a lot of kids that are just like trying to figure their way through life. Maybe I'm not the best shepherd.
But Inmate No. 1 is such an amazing movie about a man whose journey was not supposed to be that journey, but it turned out to be. If you think you're down on your luck and you think, but it doesn't happen for guys like me. It really wasn't supposed to happen for Danny. It really was not supposed to happen for Danny. But you did something that I swear to God, I woke up today and I was like, that's going to be my new thing.
is you said, I just want to help. I'm going to see what it feels like to help people. And when you help people in just the littlest way, you were talking about the very first person you helped was an old lady who you were helping her take her trash cans in, and she thought she was getting robbed. Yeah. Shut up. I got a trash can. And you know what? God pays us back.
I mean, like I said, Mario Castillo, when I talked to him in Quinton, and eight years later, after I met him, I run into him in a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. I don't know if I told you this story, but I run into him in a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, and 10 years ago, he saved my son's life. Literally. My son was dying in a hotel room with friends. My son, he's got the key to my safe. So I'm in Germany, and...
And he's got money, and you've got money, you've got drugs, you've got friends around you. And so, I mean, he's literally dying. And Mishko, who was a friend of my son's who grew up with me, and he calls me, and he says, man, Gilbert's dying, Holmes. He's got out that dough in him.
So I called Mario. Don't worry, I'll find him. I'll find him. Okay. I'm ready to split. I'm going to leave this production. I don't care about the money. And then about six hours later, he calls me and says, I got him. Don't worry, I got him. Yeah, he's here. Yeah, he don't got no shoes, but I got him. God damn. And it was funny because the two guards that were guarding this crack house, right? Yeah.
I didn't know, but I knew one who knew me, and one of them said, who was that crazy guy? He came up and said, don't move. I'll kill both of you. Wow. And Mario, if you look at Chicano gangster in the dictionary, it's got his picture, okay? Don't mess. And he's not like that big. He's just a tank. And...
And then I got home three days later. We took him to a friend of mine's recovery house, Rene, and it was rim of the world up in Lake Arrowhead. And I remember as we went through the clouds, my son goes, well, all plans of escape are out. And he's got 10 years clean. Wow.
He's in the DGA right now. He's a director. He's leaving for Japan tomorrow to direct some big music video. Oh, wow. Don't tell me there ain't no guy. He'll pay you back. Maybe not in your own time, but he will pay you back. I think that was the most applicable thing I got from that movie was –
by you helping people, people started helping you and the world started working for you. And I just was like, you know, in everything we're going through in this world right now,
So many people are about me. How do I get it for me? Yeah. And as opposed to how do I just help the average person? So if you're listening, you're a little lost, maybe take, maybe just help go get an old lady or her shopping cart at the store, just something. Or if you see a shopping cart sitting in the middle, don't get outraged. And yeah, you move it over and do a solid. Now out of all these movies, what was your, if you go, uh, Hey, uh, at Danny's funeral, we're going to play three movies.
And then these are his movies. The funeral's going to be a five-hour funeral. I would say Spy Kids. Yeah, fuck yes! I would say Heap. Oh, fucking... I keep looking into the room. How great was Heap? I know you were in it, so you can't really say, but that fucking movie was... We would...
That was the first surround sound I ever, my buddy had it. And we would go and we'd watch Heat in surround sound. Oh my God. That movie, I did Heat with Robert De Niro and we became friends. He loved my kid. He loved Gilbert. He thinks Gilbert was a genius. Because we went to dinner with Robert De Niro. Gilbert, my daughter, and me, we went to dinner with Robert De Niro when...
when we were doing Machete, and Robert asked me, Danny, do you remember this French director that did something blah, blah, blah, I'm going to watch it. And I started to say something, and people said, oh, you know what? I love him. They spent the rest of the night talking about Machete.
the idea of moving. Yeah. Me and my daughter played with our food, you know, and, uh, but they became really good friends. And, and Robert De Niro gave my son the key to, uh, uh, Texas university because he donated all his memorabilia there. And so my son got to go in there and check it all out. You know, my son's got his phone number and, uh,
And, uh, uh, what a crazy cast. Unbelievable. Val Kilmer. I did Heat and, and, uh, me and De Niro kind of made friends, you know, and, uh,
And then when we asked him to do Machete, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I keep going back. My favorite character other than you in that movie is like the outlier characters are the better than De Niro and Pacino. And I always say like Val Kilmer's character in that's so underrated. Oh, yeah. It's such a... You know what? Well, I was so upset that he didn't win an Oscar for...
Tombstone. God. Tombstone...
One of the best Westerns ever. If it comes on, I watch... From where I turn it on, I watch the rest of the movie. Absolutely. If I ever see Tombs, probably one of the most quoted movies, in my opinion, of our generation. The Godfather, Goodfellas, very quotable. I mean, I can quote American Me and Blood In, Blood Out are two fucking movies that I was obsessed with as a kid. But fucking...
Goddamn tombstone. That was unbelievable. I'm your Huckleberry. That's like, oh, what a great. I did a film recently that just came out. It's called Seven Cemeteries about zombies and stuff. And then we've got, right now, we've got Unearthed.
Unearthed on History Channel. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, eight episodes coming out. By the way, History Channel's got my number. I love them. Everything they fucking do. God, I love them. Everything they do is so good. And I love the, I watched the first episode and it is phenomenal, but I know all those dudes. I used to work on Travel Channel with those guys. William Shatner. William Shatner. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, it's not a podcast if I don't tell you a story about me. William Shatner.
William Shatner one time. He was so bad, man. I took a general meeting with him. Oh, I met with him. I met with him in a podcast and was like, wow. I was like starstruck. He said to me, he goes, he said, there's a scene in the movie where my character cries. And he goes, in William Shatner's way, he goes, can you cry?
And I said, "I think so." I said, "But it's kind of silly, 'cause if I cry, I feel stupid." So I start giggling at myself. And he just switches in his seat and he goes, "I'd love to see that."
And I went, like, right now? And he goes, yeah. And so I started crying on a couch with William Shatner and laughing and crying and laughing. And he just was, like, staring at me. And he just kept me going forever. And he was like, fascinating. He's unbelievable. You know what's so funny? It's like my son did a movie, right? He did a movie with me and him. And it was called From a Son. And in it,
He dies. He overdoses. And I'm his father. I go into his hell looking for him. I don't know. He's dead, right? Yeah. And I run into his little girlfriend, and I threaten her life. Show me where he's at. And he's dead. Show me. We're walking to his body, and I'm supposed to cry. Right. Well, I don't do like John Wayne. Okay, pilgrim. My son's showing me baby pictures.
All week. You know, hey, Dad, look what I found. And this is my daughter. And so when the scene, we're out in the middle of the damn desert. It's freezing cold. She's taking me to his body. And my line is, did you kill my son? And she screamed, no, I loved him. He was my only friend. And she was crying. I started crying. But now wait.
This wasn't like a manly cry, okay? No, this was like Muckles, you know, how you're trying to... I'm familiar. I'm familiar. I couldn't stop, man. God, I cried for every time I wanted to cry in my life. And so finally when he said cut, the whole chorus was crying. And he comes in and says,
Nice acting, Dad. I go, you little bitch. I finally figured out what he did. And God, man, it's like that's going to a con right now, this movie. Is it really? Yeah. Yeah, so that's.
You have so much. I want to go back to the History Channel show for a second. What episodes? What are the episodes? There's eight episodes. Do you know all the episodes? No, I just know. I've seen some of them, and they were amazing. I like history anyway. I fucking love history. And by the way, History Channel, if you're listening, more shows like this. I don't need to see people making knives. I want this. My teacher, Mrs. Finley,
She was like crazy about the Navajo Indians. I forget. But she was also obsessed with, what do you call it? The Amazon River. And that's got such a history. This is before time. And she had these dead piranha fish in a big jar.
And I always used to, like, get bread and put on the top of the jars. Might get hungry. But she always talked about this river and this. And I would always disrupt. And I hated the fact that I'm studying the damn Amazon River in the fourth grade. Come on, I'm never getting out of L.A., lady. And we got an L.A. river here. Tell us about that one. Fifty years later, I'm doing a movie called Anaconda.
God dang it. All the damn Amazon River. Yeah, you're on the Amazon River. Ice Cube. J-Lo. J-Lo. John Voight, who I know. Eric Stoltz. All these guys are asking questions. That crazy lady gave me the answer. I knew the answers. Hey, how come those are all the... Oh, that's due to the rise and fall of... Cube. Ice Cube goes, you know all that shit, Danny. I thought you were a gangster. Yeah.
I lied. I said, you know, I read a lot when I was in prison. Come on. I'm going to tell Ice Cube. Oh, my fourth grade teacher mentioned Finley, dog. Shit. I love that one day at lunch, Ice Cube leaned over to J-Lo and was like, he knows a lot about the Amazon. I was obsessed with, when I was a kid, you know, I was,
you're you're you are older than me you're my father's age but we're of the same generation when we didn't have the internet the way it was so all you have were books and and the few books we have were like on the Bermuda Triangle and like and like Atlantis and everything about this series is stuff that I'm fascinated with especially this first the first episode I saw
It's all about, I just listened to this podcast about the lighthouse of Alexandria, and it was lost for years. And in 1960, this guy went sponge diving off the coast of Egypt or wherever it is, and he uncovered the stones. In that first episode, they uncover stones and they're in a straight row. And that feeling of being an explorer, I kept thinking...
If being an archeologist was just a little easier, I would have loved to do it. But those first three years have gotta be exhausting where you're learning shit you don't care about. I just wanna go do the digging and then grab the lady and get in the plane. - God. It was so funny 'cause we were in Texas.
And they were building this building there. And then they found some bones, right? And the contractor was like so mad because it stops everything. They got to be until the dinosaurs and stuff. And I love that. That's the one thing I think I ever got a good grade in was like history, you know, and just knowing stuff. But it's so funny. It's like...
The stuff that's really, really interesting, you just really don't need to know. Math isn't interesting, but you really need to know it.
I said to someone the other day, he said, the lighthouse of Alexandria. And I went, I've never met someone I could talk to about this. I was like, all the stuff you're supposed to know, I don't know any of that shit. I only know the crazy, stupid shit. But all right, I'm going to get you out of here. Congratulations on the series. Is there anything else we need to cover? The 10th, we have eight episodes.
Okay, I'll cover it. Congratulations on the new series, Mysteries Under Earth, with Danny Trejo. Eight episodes on the History Channel, premiering December 6th. And last but finally, not least, what is the third movie they play at your funeral? And I'm hoping it's what I think. What is what? The third. The three movies they want to play at your funeral. We've got Spy Kids. We've got Heat.
And by the way, you're covering everyone at the funeral. My kids are happy. And Machete. I knew it. I fucking knew it. Better have that one. The fucking... I get the girl. Yeah. It's so funny. I love to do that. People say, God, I thought you were taller. Well, I was tall enough to kiss Jessica Alba. Oh, yeah. She's awesome. She was just so...
Unbelievable professional. It's like, it's crazy. It's like, and I don't know how to say it. It's like Selma Hayek, same thing. Selma Hayek, beautiful lady, right? And she's, when we were doing From Dusk to Dawn, they had hired all these strippers from different clubs to work because they've got to be naked. And Selma was like,
Like so almost crying. I said, what the hell's wrong with you? These women are so beautiful. Bitch, what the hell's wrong with you?
But, no, but see, but it's like, it doesn't matter. You know what I mean? It doesn't matter. It's like how we feel, you know, about ourselves, you know. And, God, I said, yeah, two minutes and I'll be brushing your hair. Two minutes and I'll be like, oh, Salma's hair. And she's just, she's so, how do you say it?
Humble. Yeah. Humble. And I bet it. I'll be so beautiful and humble. Shit. You know? God. If I was that beautiful, I don't know if I'd leave a mirror.
I definitely wouldn't have clothes on. I'd spend a lot of time naked in front of the mirror. Brother, this has been an absolute honor. Thank you so much for taking the time. I am such a fan. I am such a, such a fan. And I'm more of, I mean, I'm more a fan of just the man. The work is amazing, but the man, you're a legend. Just an absolute legend.
Did you hear that? Thank you, brother.