Don't ask actor Benicio del Toro any difficult questions about revolutionary thug and cult idol Ernesto "Che" Guevara whom del Toro portrays in a new biopic. While on tour to promote the movie, the actor got his panties in a bunch when it was pointed out that Che was a psycho and a killer.
"I'm getting uncomfortable," del Toro said after fielding a question from the Washington Times. He stood up and walked out of the interview saying, "I'm done. I'm done, I hope you write whatever you want. I don't give a damn."
Director Steven Soderbergh's 4 1/2 hour "Che" has received mixed yet critical reception, as has del Toro who won top acting honors at Cannes this year. In his acceptance speech, he dedicated the award to Guevara.
Del Toro doesn't deny that Guevara had a dark side but defends the one-sided script. "We have to omit a lot of stuff about his life," he said, "but we're not omitting the fact that he's for capital punishment, which is the essence of that."
Critics of "Che" have suggested that the film whitewashes the revolutionary leader's legacy and that it's impossible to understand the man by glorifying his more romantic aspects while ignoring his darker side.
"We can't cover it all," Del Toro said. "You can make your own movie. You know? You can make your own movie. And let's see. Do the research."
What research? Just ask those Cubans in Miami in December standing outside the theater holding up pictures of dead relatives that Che killed and protesting your movie. They'll tell you what happened in Cuba in 1959.
