Benicio Del Toro on playing The Collector and filming for Guardians of the Galaxy

September 16th 2013, 9:06am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

One of the reasons (and there are many) why I'm pumped for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is Benicio Del Toro as The Collector AKA Taneleer Tivan. He's a fantastic actor that I'm sure will do a stellar job playing the villain, but I'm not going to pretend I know a great deal about The Collector. I don't feel that bad though, since Del Toro isn't that familiar with the character either.

In an interview with the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles (provided by CBM and transcription via @Agraoufan) Benicio Del Toro talked about how he was excited when he got the call for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY:

"When someone calls you and says ‘I need you in my movie’, it’s exciting. I like comic-book movies, and it’s totally new for me. My character is The Collector, I’ve never heard of him so I just started some researches about him… A blockbuster can be really tiring to do, but it’s fun to shoot one occasionally. You have many people around you who bombard you with many information… You can not go wrong."

He goes on to talk about what it's like shooting for a film that is sure to have plenty of visual effects:

"For example they told you ‘Now you have to go in this restaurant and kill this person.’ And then you ask: ‘Who? The blue haired girl, or the guy with the wig? ‘And you don’t get the answer. And suddenly, you heard ‘Action!’. And you have to go along: so you shoot everywhere and they’ll find a solution for the final cut."

Shooting is currently underway for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and several tweets have given us some production updates on the film. Apparently Benicio Del Toro recently filmed a scene with Lee Pace's Ronan the Accurser, David Batista kicked a bunch of ass and there was a long shoot involving an "aircraft hanger full of aliens":

Long ass night shoot on Marvel #GOTG with @ChrisNorton17 and @KarenAnderson67.Aircraft hanger full of aliens.

— Oliver Price (@metrofour) September 11, 2013

Great stunts/fight sequences tonight on #GOTG with Drax kicking ass and taking names

— Oliver Price (@metrofour) September 12, 2013

2 nights of filming #marvel #guardiansofthegalaxy reminds me how I love sleep but oh so interesting.Lee Pace + Benicio del Toro v.cool guys

— Jamie Walker (@JamieWalker321) September 10, 2013

1/3 of the Gunn Oligarchy. Tonight we're having one of the best times on set we've had yet! #gotg http://t.co/mqlB2sHtQ0

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) September 12, 2013

With a loaded cast like this and being one of the quirkier Marvel properties heading to the big screen, many people have high hopes for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. I think it could end up being the funnest Marvel film to date and hopefully director James Gunn will deliver a very special comic book movie.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is in theaters August 1st, 2014.