Iconic character actor Danny Trejo, 80, is surely the poster boy for paying it forward. This reformed drug addict and criminal found faith and turned his life around. He’s been helping young offenders and addicts ever since his release in 1969 after serving several prison terms. With more than 250 film and TV credits to his name, he has no intention of slowing down – he’s currently starring in the fantasy thriller, Seven Cemeteries.
Q: Your new movie sees you play a desperado who resurrects his old posse to help save a widow’s ranch from an evil drug lord. Do you believe in the afterlife?
DANNY: Yeah, somewhat, I think the good Lord picks out different people to be other people’s guardian angels or guides. There’s got to be something else.
Q: And what about ghosts?
DANNY: Being Latin I grew up with ghosts. I remember grandma saying, ‘Boy, if you don’t act right, La Mala Hora is gonna get you’ – or one of those other evil spirits.
Q: But, in truth, you are a man of God?
DANNY: Yes. I wake up in the morning and pray. I’m 80, so first of all I thank Him for just waking up. I’ve been doing that since I got out of prison more than 50 years ago. I usually say, ‘Dear Heavenly Father, please let me help somebody today’. And it seems like somebody will always come into my world that needs help. It doesn’t have to be monetary, just a ‘Hello, how are you?’ is helpful. A shirt, a lunch or anything. Sometimes you just listen to them for a little bit, and it makes them feel better and it sure makes me feel better too.
Q: There weren’t so many Latin actors around when you began appearing in films like Spy Kids, Heat, Con Air and Desperado. You’ve worked with Robert De Niro, Nicolas Cage, Charles Bronson among many other legends. Do the young Latin actors thank you for paving the way?
DANNY: Yes but what I love most is when some kid gets out of juvenile hall and comes up to me at the airport and says: ‘Ten years ago, you talked at juvenile hall and it changed my life.’ And then they say: ‘I’m good. I got my own business. I’m doing this. I got a kid.’ Sometimes I have to go the bathroom, and almost cry. Thank you Lord for letting me be on this path. And I am still a drug counselor for Western Pacific rehab in Glendale and I do a lot of public speaking. You don’t get out of this life without helping people. Everything good that’s happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else.
Q: What does a day in your life look like when you’re not acting or counseling?
DANNY: I wake up at 6am but I stay in bed till two cups of coffee later, and then I go out, play and run with my dogs. Then I’ll come in, eat breakfast and figure out what I have to do that day and go do whatever I gotta do. I’ve got five or six different low rider cars so, if I’ve got nothing to do, I’ll take them out for a spin, and make sure they’re all running. And then I’ll do a weights routine or walk the dogs. I don’t go to bed at any set time, especially if I’m driving between my restaurants.
Q: You don’t look 80. What is your secret?
DANNY: I do the same work out I always used to do – just with lighter weights. I used to bench 315 pounds – but I can’t anymore so I do 50 pounds on each side or sometimes only 10 pounds. I got dogs, so I also walk them and just make sure that I eat good. I’m not too wild about health food, but I eat good.
Q: What first inspired you to launch Trejo’s Tacos?
SANNY: I did a movie called Bad Ass in 2012 which ended up becoming a trilogy. And on set, the producer Ash Shah saw that I ate good food. I wouldn’t eat processed food. Sometimes on a low budget movie its all fast food so I would bring a tuna salad or a chicken salad. He asked me why I ate so well and I said: ‘I’m 70. I better!’ After we’d finished the movie, he gave me a business plan for a restaurant and we just did it together. So now we’ve got four restaurants in Los Angeles and we even opened up one in London.
Q: And you also employ former offenders and give them a second chance?
DANNY: Yeah. absolutely. I used to work at the narcotics prevention project in East LA in 1973 and then when I got out from the pen, I went to work for Western Pacific Med Corp. I still work for them today, and when we need something through Sacramento, I can go up there and get it done. I got [Governor Gavin] Newsom on speed dial.
Q: You’ve been married and divorced four times and have three adult kids. Are you still looking for love?
DANNY: We’re not married but I’ve been with Maeve – mom of my two youngest kids – for close to 40 years. We don’t live together. But she had two other children after she got married again, and both of them had autism. Her husband left, and so it was almost impossible for her to deal with. If you have an autistic child, that is your job, and she told me you have to be a lawyer to deal with LA City Schools [for help with autistic children]. I told her to go to law school and I’ll take care of everything. And so she did. She’s an advocate now for special needs children. But she was a nurse before that so I told her: I’m 80 now so we might get back together because I’ll need a nurse pretty soon!
Q: What’s your secret to aging with attitude?
DANNY: If I wake up on the green side of the grass, I’m batting 1000 right there. I also believe that walking is the key to longevity. You don’t have to go far – just walk to the end of the block and come back. A dog is always a good reason to walk and move around. I also make sure I have lots of little chores because if you don’t move your muscles, they will atrophy. So maybe get a ball and squeeze it. It doesn’t matter what you do, just keep moving. And if I can help another person every day, then that makes me feel better every time.
Want a sneak peek at Seven Cemeteries? Check out the trailer!
Seven Cemeteries is available ON DEMAND and DIGITAL
Photo (top): Hernan Rodriguez
Gill Pringle began her career as a rock columnist for popular British newspapers, traveling the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Moving to Los Angeles 27 years ago, she interviews film and TV personalities for prestigious UK outlets, The Independent, The i-paper and The Sunday Times – and, of course, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Choice Association, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix family film, The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure. An award-winning writer, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Club with 1st prize at the NAEJ Awards.
