Whiskey Ginger with Andrew Santino - Danny Trejo

Episode Date: May 24, 2019

Santino sits down with Danny Trejo to chat about his days in and out of prison, the unwritten rules of the streets, boxing and his film career and the moment Danny knew he was going to live and change his life around for the better. SEE ME LIVE!!! RALEIGH MAY 30- JUN 1 BRIDGEPORT, CT JUN 13-15 SAN DIEGO JUNE 21-23 LEXINGTON, KY JUL 11-13 SACRAMENTO, CA JUL 18-20 MONTREAL JUST FOR LAUGHS JUL 24-27 TICKETS AT http://www.andrewsantino.com Go to http://www.andrewsantino.com for all things Cheeto Follow me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheetosantino/ Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/cheetosantino/ For all things Danny Trejo to go https://dannytrejo.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In here, we pour whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk. You're that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse. Gingers are beautiful. You owe me $5 for the whiskey and $75 for the horse. Gingers are hell no. This whiskey is excellent.

Ginger. I like gingers. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Whiskey Ginger. My guest today is one of my favorite people on earth. I say that for all my guests, but I like gingers. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Whiskey Ginger. My guest today is one of my favorite people on earth. I say that for all my guests, but I mean it today. Ladies and gentlemen, Danny Trejo. Danny Trejo, the man. How are you, brother? Oh, I'm cool, but I remember whiskey and ginger and wild, wild women. They'll drive you crazy. They'll make you insane.

Oh, that's awesome. How's that? That's great. What is that from? What is that? Is that an old song? I don't know. This is some old street shit?

I did that in a movie. Did you? Yeah? Whiskey and ginger. Women will drive you insane. Oh, my God. Tell me about it. I've been married four times.

Four times? Good God. And divorced four. And divorced all four times. You're a free man, huh? Yeah. Well, I'll drink to that. Drink to the free man huh yeah well i'll drink to that drink to the free man all right cheers to that a free man four times man when did you when did you first get married how young were you oh god i think i was i just got out of youth authority i was like 19 or 18 19 18 yeah yeah yeah how many how many kids you got a lot of kids? I got three kids, but God, none with my wives.

They're just out there, huh? I like that. I like that, man. How old's your oldest? My oldest is 36. That's daddy boy. 36. My youngest, my next one is Gilbert.

He's 32. And my daughter, Danielle Reyna, Queen of the World. She's 28. 28. Okay, wonderful. And you love them all the same, or which one do you like the most? Oh, God, I love them all. Okay, you don't like one more than others? No, they're just all awesome.

See, out of mine, I was the least favorite. My mother liked my sister more than me. I was a punk-ass piece of shit. I was a brat. I was a punk brat. Every one of them has their own their own deal right

place in my heart my deal was being an asshole that was my deal and it worked out I'm a born and raised Chicago guy but I moved to LA about 14 years ago

you're a staple of Los Angeles right here I'm gonna give you some love man this is your city I saw you I saw you at I saw you at a Ramsams game a couple of rams games last year on those on the field uh on the field boost man the love you get is crazy la is

like obsessed with you you gotta you gotta itch to scratch no i got a phone oh you got another phone you got two phones one for the plug and one for the load is that what that is yeah one for the burner that's right that's right that's. That's why you've been divorced four times. That's what that's from. But listen, you're from Echo Park, right? You know what? Actually, I was raised in Pacoima. Born on Temple Street, moved to Echo Park, got in trouble, went to Texas for, I suppose, three years.

I stayed one summer and then came back to L.A. And my mom and dad bought a house in Pacoima in the valley. That's where I grew up. In Pacoima. Yeah. But LA's still home, man. You're an LA guy

through and through. I used to be in LA. I used to ride street cars in downtown LA. Wow. Back when there were, huh? Yeah. Awesome.

You go any place in LA in 30 minutes. Any place. It didn't matter. Tell me this. Is this true? Because I've heard this rumor. You know there's the medians that go along,

what is that, Wilshire, that goes all the way to the water? That used to be streetcars, right? You know what? Every place, let me show you how brilliant we are, okay? We had the best transit system in the world. We had turned a profit every year, and then our tire companies

and our car companies, right, bought them all up and turned us into the worst car city in the world. Cats and stuff. And everywhere they're putting the rapid transit in right now, we used to have tracks.

Wow. Isn't that crazy? They're going back and doing the shit again. Absolutely. They got rid of the shit and they got it again. Except for now, it's costing us $4,365,000 a quarter of an inch. God. That's some ridiculous amount of money.

I wish I had that much money for the inches of my penis. I'd have just $8 million. Just two inches. That's max for me. That's wild that they ripped all that shit out and they're putting it all back you know because i'm new to la you know i grew up in chicago and la to me i always knew as this crazy busy traffic city and then i talked to people they're born and raised here they're like never you never used to be that way now it got worse and worse well you know what it's still not people say it's bad but in los angeles it's all about

maneuvering yeah you know it's like we had like had Waze in my mind a long time before they brought it out on the computer. Right, right, right. They stole it from your head. Yeah, you were Waze. Oh, make a left here. Do you remember, what are the old Thomas guys? Do you remember Thomas guys? Oh, absolutely, yeah.

Remember those old maps? I used to have to use those. You know what? It was like I can remember when San Fernando Road was the main drag. That was excellent. Highway 5. That was like the main thoroughfare, huh? That was the freeway.

That was 5, yeah. That's nuts. Yeah. That's nuts. Have you lived anywhere else besides Los Angeles? Texas for a summer. Yeah, but other than that. But now LA's my town.

You love this place. Yeah. So tell me, are you a Rams fan or are you a Raiders fan? Oh, I'm a Rams fan. You're a Rams fan. I used to sneak into the Rams. I used to sneak into the Coliseum in 1957. Man. We would sneak in, just walk in with the family.

Yeah. They adopted a Mexican school. That's when you could sneak into shit now they kill you man you try to sneak into shit now they murder you you know they got like you go through a metal detector and you know then all you do is wait in the bathroom and somebody walk by just walk out just poke in yeah the good days so so so rams dodgers or no absolutely what about lakers or Clippers? Who do you work with? Absolutely. Both? I'm an L.A. fan. Yeah, you like it all. I'm an L.A. fan. And if like the Dodgers, I mean if like the Rams play the Chargers, right?

Yeah. Because they're both L.A. teams now. Yeah, that's right. I'll just say what's the point spread? What's the spread, baby? Yeah, where's my money going? That's what I want to know. That's who I'll bet on.

And same thing with the Dodgers and the Angels. Every time they, okay, what's the spread? baby? Yeah, where's my money going? That's what I want to know. That's who I'll bet on. And same thing with the Dodgers and the Angels. Every time they, okay, what's the spread? Yeah. Are you a big sports guy? You love sports? I love sports. Yeah. What do you keep up with the most?

Boxing. Boxing. You love boxing, huh? Yeah. Boxing. MMA. There's too many sexual positions men are taking. Is MMA too gay for you?

There's too many dude-on-dude shit? The Wade. Hold it. Hey, they're not wrestling no more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why are they kissing? Is that part of the fight? That's crazy.

Yeah. You know, it's just like, it's just not, I like the science of boxing. Well, you were, I mean, I say once you're a boxer, you're always a boxer, right? You were a boxer. You trained for years. Your grandfather? Or your uncle? My uncle.

My uncle Gilbert. He was a Golden Gloves champion. So he started. I was his punching bag. I was like eight years old, nine years old. And so I had to learn how to fight or get my head kicked in. Was it head shots or body shots? All of them.

So what I would do, I'd wait until he'd get loaded, and then I'd fuck him up get him liquored up and then start popping him that's great so when you fought when you were young when did you start boxing?

well I started boxing I was about 11 and I fought a kid at the God what was it Burbank Armory at the Armory? yeah he was about 13

damn and so that was it once Burbank Armory. At the Armory? Yeah, he was about 13. Damn. And so that was it. Once you started, you never wanted to stop, huh? Yeah, yeah. And did you fight at any semi-professional level or league or anything like that? You know, when I came out of the joint in 69, I tried to get a license. And because of the violence I had on my record they they put me on probation for two years so so what howie steinler who was a a big trainer here yeah he would do i'd get club fights

you know i would i would yeah go into clubs kind of underground and right and uh make good money you know i made good underground fights made good money back in the day huh well good money then was like you know five hundred dollars for a fight you know still. I don't know what guys are getting paid these days. You know what I mean? Boxing is taking such a turn. I don't know what they're making now. I'm embarrassed to say what they're making. But you'd make like $500, $200, depending.

And then it was kind of sometimes you'd have a manager say, hey, we're really trying to bring this kid along. I'd say, okay, let's put a little more in my envelope, and I'll give him three rounds. That's exactly right. Yeah.

Give him a little money, feed my family, and then we'll have a conversation, right? You know, and so, but I had a bunch of fights. I did pretty good, but you realize that, boy, this ain't what I want to do for a living. Getting your head hit is not the thing. Did you, as a kid, like I know enough about you because I'm a fan of you and a fan of your work, and you've said that acting was never like

a thought in your head, right? So as a kid, what did you, did you have anything that you really want to do? Was there one thing you're like, damn, I really want to do that? Yeah, God, you know what? There's a dude, I'll tell you right now, Charlie Diaz and my uncle Gilbert Trejo,

they had just done a robbery, I think. I was about nine years old, eight years old. I can't remember. They showed up. They were wearing black pager pants, black shoes, black shirt, and black top coats. Oh, okay, okay. and black top coats.

Oh, okay, okay. But they were the, God, they were beautiful coats. And they had just did a robbery, so they had all these ones. Yeah. And I was trying to get the girl next door to my grandma's to show me her tits. And she wouldn't.

You know, and is that okay to say you say whatever you want man this is america and so so uh uh she wouldn't do it and then they showed up and they were like floor showing so they here take these ones so they each gave me about eight ones okay so i'm like nine years old like ball and i got like eighteen dollars one dollar they were like just showing out here we don't want these ones. Yeah, these mean nothing to us.

And, so then I went and I thought, wow, wait a minute. So I asked this girl, hey, I'll give you $3

and it's okay. So, so she showed me and then I said, well, I'll give you another dollar to let me touch them. $3 to let you see them, $1 to let you touch them. By the way, you still got a good amount of money left over. You know what I mean?

So I was a baller. Yeah, you were killing it. But I seen these guys, right? I seen these guys and the way they were. That's what I want to do. Yeah. I want to be a gangster. You want to be a gangster you want to be a gangster man yeah right really though in in my neighborhood you had like three alternatives you could even be a laborer right or uh uh i don't know some kind of job

right or a gangster a dope dealer a dope dealer or be a part of a gang. Yeah, a proper ass gang. But to me, I didn't really like gangs. Gangs were followers. You know, gang members, you got to have followers. I'll be the president or I won't be nothing. So you just want to be a solo gangster. Well, my uncle was an armed robber. And armed robbers don't enjoy gangs because they don't like sharing. Yeah, nobody likes to share.

Thieves don't like giving away the shit they just stole. They don't want to get robbed again. They just rob somebody. That contradicts everything. So I wanted to be like them. You know what I mean? I want to be a sheriff. I don't want to share.

No. Listen, I get that. I don't want to share. If I'm stealing from someone, I want to keep all that. You know, gangsters, they got to put everything like, okay, well, how much did you make? And, you know, you give it to the boss. Right. You know, fuck him.

Fuck him, man. Run the block yourself. Unless I'm getting it. You know what I mean? That's exactly right. And it's so funny. It's like people talk about gangs. All gangs today are paying taxes.

Really? You know, so when you see a gang member, he's paying taxes to stand on that corner. Yeah. So it's kind of like, fuck you, shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? I like that.

I mean, that's the truth. Be your own gang. Yeah, you know, be your own guy. And so the gang that I was in, a gang called the Yulons. We were in the San Fernando Valley. And we were the guys that were kicked out of every other neighborhood. Right. Oh, so you were like the bad news bears of the gangs. Yeah, well, you know.

You got fucked out of every gang. You know that guy that when he shows up, everybody's like, oh, shit, he's damn. Don't say nothing. You know, that guy. We were that guy. When you came around, people go, oh, fuck. Don't, don't, don't. The cops were going to show up.

There was going to be a fight. So. Did you have a nickname, by the way, in the gang? All of us got together and just we're just always just in trouble causing trouble yeah what was the most fun thing you did like what was the most fun thing that you did when you when you were in the gang when you're running on like what kind of trouble did you do that you were like that's my favorite uh you know what uh well let me see god it was just like you you know, just really fights.

Gang fights. Yeah. Shootings. And Frank Russo was, God, my best pal, man. He shot a cop and shot a kid coming out of the hospital. Jesus. And it was kind of, you know, it was kind of like just everything blew up. And we were just not good guys at the time.

Yeah, you're not happy about it. Are you blowing up? Is that your phone? Chubby's Automotive. Hold on. Take it, baby. Chub Dog, what's up? Okay.

Hey, check this out. Right now you're on a podcast. Anybody that wants their car fixed, good. Go to Chubby's Automotive in Sylmar. Best dude there is. Is that Chubby on the phone? That's Chubby on the phone. What's up, Chubby?

Hey. Hey, I'm going to talk to Chubby. Chubby, what's up? It's Andrew Santino. You're on the Whiskey Ginger Podcast. They can't hear you, but I got to tell you, man. We're plugging your spot. We're plugging Chubby's.

All right, dog. All right, we'll talk to you later. Peace.'re plugging Chubby's Alright dog Alright we'll talk to you later Peace There's Chubby bro Alright homie I'll talk to you later Chubby sounds like a nice dude You can only trust a dude

Who fixes a car named Chubby I'm telling you something right now Chubby sounds like a guy Who fixes cars Like I can take my cars I got a lot of vintage cars Yeah

I can take them everywhere Right I can take them anywhere. I got a lot of vintage cars. Yeah. I can take them everywhere, right? I can take them anywhere and afford to have them. Of course. This guy. Chubbies is the best. I drop them off there to fix them. You got to have a guy who fixes your car with a nickname.

Chubbies is great. If this is just Tom, I don't trust Tom. Fuck Tom. Chubbies. It's got to be Chubby. You know? It's got to be someone that has some culture to him. And I mean, he's like, you know, like, God, he's just, every one of them.

I got runners. I got a 1936 Dodge that we could jump in right now and take it to Frisco. Beautiful, man. As long as it don't go over 50. Yeah, how many cars you got? Vintage, about eight, nine. That's great. But these are all drivers, and they're all cars that I've worked on.

They're not like, you know, like Leno and all. They just buy them. They buy them, and they got a cars that I've worked on. They're not like, you know, like Landon. They just buy them. They buy them, and they got a garage. They keep them in. They're fancy. That's fancy shit, right? I got a six-car garage. That's big.

That's big. Is that where you keep the rest of the cars? On the side of the house. That's nice, man. That's great. Get right in the front yard. That's real L.A. shit. Hello.

That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A.

That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A.

That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. That's L.A. shit. Hello. That's L.A. That's East L.A. shit. Park them in the front. Fuck it. We're on a driveway. The lawn is a driveway.

Yeah, no. So as a youth, though, we don't need to focus on all of that shit when you're coming up and getting into trouble. And now you've kind of regained a whole new second life. You know what I mean? You're a businessman. You're an actor. You're an investor. You got, I mean, let me tell you something. Trejo's tacos, Trejo's donut. i mean like you're a you're a businessman you're an actor you're an investor like you got you i mean let me tell you something trejo's tacos trejo's donut i

mean you're fucking everywhere but everything everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of help of someone else everything that's a good i honestly believe that that's the way the good lord is wants us to live it's like you got to help somebody every day do something you know i mean even if it just move a refrigerator do some good shit yeah do something The good Lord wants us to live. It's like you've got to help somebody every day. Do something. You know what I mean? Even if it's just move a refrigerator. Do some good shit. Yeah.

Do something for someone. What would you argue is the moment? Like was there a moment when you were locked up or when you were trying to get your life together that you go, I've got to make some serious moves to change my life? Cinco de Mayo, 1968. 1968 yeah i was four years old no no it's 1968 i was in solid dad state prison me rey pacheco henry quijada

incited a riot they they alleged. And people were seriously hurt. A free person was socked. And that is a gas chamber offense. Rape, potential. Damn. Socked the people. Henry had kicked off their coach. It was alleged that I'd thrown a rock

and hit Lieutenant Givens in the head. Was it true? It was alleged. It was alleged. I don't know. Who knows? So we went to the hole. So it true? It was alleged. It was alleged. I don't know. Who knows? So we went to the whole, so basically I'm thinking, this is not good, you know, because I knew it was a gas chamber offense, and me and Ray and Henry were yelling at each other,

talking about what we're going to do, what we're going to do, and I said, you know, just plead not guilty, you know, just plead not guilty. You know, just plead not guilty. Yeah. And so basically the whole thing was a DJ reject. The DJ rejected because he couldn't get a witness. Oh, right. There was 2,000 people on the yard and all the letters were, your mother did it.

You know. None of the prisoners wanted to snitch. No one says shit. Yo mama threw the rock, bitch. And Mickey Mouse did it and Pluto. All of them? They were all involved in inciting a riot.

Marvin the Martian was on one. And so while I was there I asked God to let me die with dignity. That's all I did. Because you thought you were going to die. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you thought that was it.

And so I said, you know what, let me die. Because what had happened is a long time ago, I'd seen this movie with the East Side Kids years ago, right? Right. In the 50s. And the bad dude in the neighborhood goes to to the they're sending him up the river to the chair you know yeah and so the gang was saying yeah he'll spit in their eyes yeah he'll yell come and get me coppers you know right right and then pat o'brien had to come out and tell the gang, nah, he was screaming like a bitch.

He was pussing out. Couldn't handle it. He pussed out, yeah. And so they were like heartbroken. And I had a little reputation on the yard. I was a lightweight and welterweight champion. I was a shot caller. And so I remember asking God,

just let me die with dignity. Don't let me piss my pants or shit or scream mother or tell him, don't, just let me go. dignity. That's all. Don't let me piss my pants or shit or scream mother or tell him, don't just let me go. Just want to go out like a man. Yeah. That's all. Let me die like a man.

And let me die with dignity, die with like a man. And then the DJ reject came down. So I, wow, when I hit the yard again, I had to, God, it's like, okay, this wasn't a promise like get me out of trouble so my mom won't be mad. This is like the real shit. That's real. I started trying to be a better person in prison. Right.

And I got so good, they made me an inmate social catalyst. I was like a counselor in prison because they had to get somebody that the guards trusted and somebody that the inmates trusted. Right. You were the buffer, so to speak. You're kind of like that. Yeah. So guys would come with me, and I'd let them know, this is what we can do.

So when I got out, I'm thinking, okay, now what? How am I going to be a nice guy? I've robbed everybody in this neighborhood. Not giving it back. Nobody was glad I came home. Right. But I remember seeing this old lady pull out her trash. Because in 1969, they used to put trash all in a big can and drag it out.

Oh, right. You know, they didn't have the roly-poly kind of stuff. big can and drag it out. Oh, right. You know, they didn't have the roly-poly kind of stuff. Didn't have the rollies, yeah, not the rollies. And I went to help her. I'll never forget. I walked down to help her. Her words to me were, no me robas. Shut up.

She told me, don't rob me. Shut up. I got her trash. I pulled it out. And then I walked to the backyard to get the other can. That lady never took her eyes off me. She knew I was her trash. I pulled it out, and then I walked to the backyard to get the other can. A lady never took her eyes off me. She knew I was going to. She thought you were up to some shit.

Oh, I'm going to steal her lawnmower or something. I stole everything. And I grabbed her trash and brought it back. And then she walked over. She never took her eyes off me. And that's what I started doing. I just started taking the old people's trash out. Just helping old people in the neighborhood.

Yeah. Wow. And that was it. And my mom, the first present that I can remember getting, because you don't get presents in prison. I mean, some people do. Those are gifts I don't like. Yeah, but you don't want to be one of them guys.

It's not my gift. You know, if somebody gives you a present, stab them. Yeah. So I remember this. you don't want to be one of them guys. It's not my gift. You know, if somebody gives you a present, stab them. Yeah. So, so, so I remember this, somebody brought me this suede, fake suede.

Sure. Double breasted coat. Yeah. And his mom said, mijo, the old guy with the, he had, he had that crippling arthritis and he couldn't get his trash out.

He would like, like kick his gas because he couldn't grab it. So he says, he brought that for you. And so I said, wow. And everything good that has ever happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else. That's a beautiful way of living, man. That was the beginning of everything, right? You know what?

Every one of my friends carries thermal underwear or socks in their trunk because we hand them to the homeless. It doesn't matter. I don't care. And I know people don't want homeless in their front yard, all that crap. I understand. You know what I mean? But they need to have thermal underwear.

They're humans too. That's it. They're human beings, man. And so that's what we do. I carry dog biscuits because I love animals. So if anybody's got a dog, I just give them. And if a woman you see is ugly enough, you might feed that to her too. This is terrible.

You had to say that. I'm fucking around. No, I'm fucking around. No, but you, so everything you've done, you know, you've had this great success now. And then now you've built businesses and employed people and lifted up your community. I mean, that's, I mean, listen, if ever there was the american dream you're the american that's the american dream man right you that's you start from when someone says i started from zero they're probably full of shit you started from zero i mean you had zero i think i was less you know yeah

you were negative yeah you're negative prison points yeah prison points get you negative you know but you know what it's like i honestly believe that what the good Lord wants me to do is give them guys hope. Because it doesn't matter where you start. It matters where you finish. And like my cousin, my cousin Gilbert right now, he just finished doing 38 years. 38 years. He went in when he was 17, okay? God damn.

55 right now and by law or or by statistics he should already be back he's been out two years he's getting into the the electrical union he's helping build a the stadium the new ram stadium oh shit and then he he then he works as an usher in the evening at the Staples Center and at the Lakers games and stuff. You know what I mean? He works as an usher. Because I said, Gilbert, when did you sleep? He's standing.

I slept for 38 years. Yeah, yeah. He slept a lot. Crazy. You know, he's having the time of his life. So he's found a renewed sense, too. But there's a guy named, oh, God, please. There's a couple of people that work with ex-convicts, right?

And they're amazing. Scott is one of them. They work for programs that help. Ex-cons? Ex-cons. Like Homeboy Industries? You know Homeboy Industries? That's one of them.

Yeah, they're one of the best. Mario works with Homeboy. Mario's one of the guys that I use as an assistant to Mario Castillo. And right now he also works with Casa Rivas, which basically has about 15 lifers in it that have come out of the joint and finding them jobs. Trying to get them back in the community. For people that don't know, Homeboy Industries and a lot of places like this, what they do is they make sure people that have gotten out of prison get back into normal society because they're people that want to work and contribute you know that I think there's this bullshit idea in our community where it's like because you've gone to prison you're there's nothing left for you you

know what I mean and I think these places give people hope to go no fuck that you can still contribute we want you to be back in society if you're reforming and want to get back to square one you know I think that's what's good one of the biggest problems that we have is that young kids in neighborhoods want to identify with guys that have gone to prison. Right. So if they come out and they're a negative, then they're going to influence 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 kids. Sure. Yeah. That spreads. influence five six seven eight nine ten kids sure yeah that spreads if a guy comes out and he's a positive and is telling them hey look that's not the way you want to go you think that's cool let

me tell you about that and pull them to a side all of a sudden their role model has switched to somebody that's positive. Right. Do you understand? Yes. Like when you speak at schools, I go to schools and I talk. I don't care who you are. When you walk into an auditorium, first you have to get this auditorium's attention. Yeah.

All right. Impossible because the kids don't have none right then you got to keep their attention which is impossible because the number one they don't have any right and then you have to teach them show them that you're cool now uh if you're 10 years older than them you automatically lost your cool button. You're not cool. Well, yeah. You're a Republican. And if you're then you deliver your message. My message is

drugs and alcohol will ruin your life if you're addicted to them. There's people that drink and that's fine. They have no problem. Some of us take it to an excess. Drugs and alcohol ruin your life. Education is the key to anything you want to do. Anybody can deliver that message. Only problem is they're not listening. The blessing that I've got is that when I walk onto that campus, I got everybody's attention.

Not just, not me, not Danny Trejo, but the guy from Spy Kids, the guy from Heat, the guy from Desperado, the guy from Blood In, Blood Out. Con Air. The guy from Con Air. They want to hear what that guy has to say. And if that guy says, education, good, you know, failure, bad, hey, they believe it. Yeah, they listen up. Absolutely. you know failure bad hey they believe it yeah they listen up absolutely positive positive spreads much yeah much more uh much more wonderfully than negative bullshit negative shit it's like i get

you know i've teachers have told me my god how'd you do that daddy is it it's it's not me it's it's a guy from spy kids right yeah it's a spy kids dude man machete that's machete doing all that shit do you do you feel like do you feel like because of the success that you've had uh in hollywood do you think that people think they know you but they don't really know you does that ever happen yeah that's wild right people think they know you people come up and start talking to me like we were like your best friends yeah cool yeah i just fall into it yeah all right yeah because it's strange right because you are you are your own individual, but because of the popularity, they think that's always Danny Trejo.

But Machete isn't Danny Trejo. The Spy Kids guy isn't Danny Trejo. You're a different man, right? You have to wear a million different hats, you know? I mean, that's kind of the beauty, though, as long as the hats that you're wearing are hats you enjoy. Let me tell you something, dude. I've had your tacos.

They're fucking good. Yeah. You know what you something, dude. I've had your tacos. They're fucking good. Yeah. You know what? That started again. I did a low-budget movie, a movie called Badass. Yeah. So it's kind of your low budget favor or whatever. Sure, just to fuck around. Everything good that's happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else.

So I do this movie for a cool director, right? This guy named Craig Moss. this movie for a cool director, right? This guy named Craig Moss. And in it, Ash was the producer. Right. Ash. I forget his last name.

But my business partner, I forget his last name. And he saw that I like good food. I don't eat junk food too much, right? Yeah, you're not a junk food guy. And and uh because my mom was a great cook you know she was unhealthy but but great and uh he says danny why don't you open a restaurant so jokingly i said trejo's tacos and uh we did a um badass then we did badassass 2, then we did Badass on the Bayou with Danny Glover. All of them made money. And when we did Badass on the Bayou,

we were in Louisiana. He handed me this business plan. Oh, he had outlined the whole thing. Yeah, and so being the brilliant businessman that I am, I gave it to my agent and my secretary mary matico i says here check this out let me know what it is because the three lines and i'm done i'm a.d i can't sit still and they said hey this looks like it's gonna work you know who did you who did you choose as like your head chef did you did you have someone in mind we've got a chef

his name is Mason he's young and this guy is brilliant did he copy any of your mom's recipes what he did was Mexicans in the 50s put a little more lard more fat more fat

so he came up with some brilliant brilliant stuff that still tasted like mama so yeah it's not it's not the same ingredients

but the same same flavors well you know what it's you know because a lot of food even like like

like healthy about healthy food it's like biting into styrofoam yeah it's gotta have taste yeah

I like that that jackfruit you know it's like tastes like meat it's good and you know yeah that kind of stuff you know and we have a cauliflower taco that was the number one recipe last year yeah you won an award right you guys win the cauliflower rainbow cauliflower right delicious yeah man do you still eat meat or you you know you are yeah yeah you eat that I eat a cow in a minute. But late at night, I don't like to eat a lot of meat. You're not going to eat a burger at one in the morning.

Yeah, get yourself some cauliflower. I'll eat like cauliflower tacos and stuff late in the evening. Well, you have to take care of yourself because you're not a young man anymore, right? Not as young as you once were. I passed young a long time ago. You're a good looking dude for your age, man. I got to tell you man you gotta stay healthy somehow what's your trick

what do you do you know what I walk I still work out I live light I don't work out I gotta it's funny

me and Craig Munson Craig Munson was Mr. World that's nuts and you were working out with Mr. World yeah that's wild man

but you know he used to live at the time he used to live he used to lift five plates, 545. That's crazy. But he would get just excited if I did 315. But we still work out, but we work out light. Yeah. Once you get older, and you know, like me, I don't take any supplements other than vitamins.

Yeah. Like me, I don't take any supplements other than vitamins. So that's one of the reasons why I'm still healthy. And all them heroes in the movies, they're all sicker now. Yeah, they're all gone. I know it's wild, right? Well, because you take all that shit over so many years, your muscles break down. Your body can't handle that stuff. You put more foreign shit in your body, it's way, way worse.

If you notice, none of them will work with me because i will flex you flex on them i will flex real oh no this is real muscle yeah this isn't fake bitch these aren't implants and it's funny but you know like people talk about who's tough you're one of the toughest guys really all boosters right there's a guy named chuck norris okay now all your karate guys in the movies right they're all full of shit okay Chuck Norris like the real thing I remember seeing him and

Benny Uquitas fight kickboxing oh god they were beautiful it was awesome I remember the first film I did with Chuck I did a movie called God Maniac Cop 3 and i'm watching him he's not that tall he's got shoulders just why he's not a big guy and i'm thinking you know you know and then he's like practicing with his sensei and i watch him do this spin kick

kick a a mitt about six feet high you know know what I mean? Yeah. Bang! Kicked it. He goes, wait, let's do that again. I was a little slow. I thought, Mr. Norris? Before that, you were sizing him the fuck up. I'm sizing him up. Mr. Norris?

Excuse me, sir? Get you some coffee. He's the most, so you think he's the most bad dude huh yeah the real deal yeah did you ever have uh you don't have to talk shit if you don't want to did you ever have someone that you thought was going to be great but they were a diva was anybody a big diva because you don't seem like you put up with bullshit no you know what uh i i pulled a couple people aside and told them look i'll beat you to death yeah stop cut that bullshit. Yeah, but most people really treat me with a lot of respect. And then when you got guys,

when you talk about Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, these are gentlemen. You work with all of them, too. They're like gentlemen. And it's so weird. They're like the real thing. God, I remember when we did Heat. One of my favorite movies of all time oh god man and de niro was just like so unbelievably cool yeah my kid talked to

my my kid was about nine years old gilbert right and gilbert just directed me in a movie right he just my son 32 years old just directed you just directed me in a movie that he wrote called from a son unbelievable amazing that's got to feel so good to work with your kid oh yeah every time he'd tell me something i'd look at him and go i used to put you on time out you came from my nutsack watch the way you talk to me bitch bitch. He was like, Dad, please. Yeah. And this guy, he was like amazing. But when my son met Robert De Niro, right? He's nine years old.

And I said, hey, Gilbert, this is Robert De Niro. Bob, this is my son. And Robert goes, hi, Gilbert. My son goes, you talking to me? You talking to me? You talking to me? You must be talking. Robert De Niro hugged him. I said, Gilbert, you didn't see that movie?

He goes, the comedy channel, Dad. You talking to me? De Niro became friends. That's wild. So he grew up with you in that world, huh? I wanted him to be an actor because of his look, right? Secretly, that little shit learned camera. He learned lighting. Smart.

He learned everything. Eddie, he learned the whole thing behind my back. Yeah, good. Good. You know being an actor's tough. He's got the head on him. I don't know nothing. Yeah, yeah.

You let that thing go. Yeah, all this stuff. Who the fuck knows how it works? I know how to find my light. Yeah, yeah. You let that thing go. Yeah, all this stuff. Who the fuck knows how it works? I know how to find my light. Yeah, that's right. There you go. Your skills are defined, man. They're very defined.

So of all the films that you did, of all the films that you've done over the years, you're never going to stop. I know you have a long time to go. Is there one that you feel like changed your career forever? Was there one that you go, man, that's the thing that I feel like it was everything for me? Desperado gave me a name.

Desperado. And I never said a word. Yeah. I never said a word in Desperado. You didn't have to in that fucking movie. And I became strong. And it was funny because Robert Rodriguez, I kept, Robert, come on, give me a line. He goes, no, Dan, no, come on.

Robert, come on, give me a line. No, Dan, no, come on. Robert, come on, give me a line. Danny, you can say more with your face than most actors can with a page of dialogue. So just shut up. And we got an argument, right? And then when that guy came out, the strongest character in... Yep. And so it was funny. He was right.

When we were having this big question and answer for all the people that made the movie and they asked me, Danny, you didn't say a word and yet that was the strongest, was that an actor's choice?

I was, absolutely. You took all the credit. Yeah, man, that was my choice, you know. Yeah. Rodriguez was like yelling at me,

like, say something, say something. I was like, shut the fuck up, man. I'm trying to do my work. But that movie really like, boom, like, who was, say something. I was like, shut the fuck up, man. I'm trying to do my work. But that movie really like boomed. Like, who was that guy?

Catapulted. And then he, you know, he, he, I'm almost tearing up. He put me with like the A-League. Yeah, man. De Niro, Pacino, Val,mer. I'll be your huckleberry. You know that? I still think he should have won an Oscar for that. Sure.

For Tombstone. Sure. I'm the God. Tombstone was phenomenal. Man, you know, Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave. I know that whole thing. I've got that on my, what do you call it? On your iPad?

iPad. I got that on my iPad. I watch it every time I'm in a plane. It's phenomenal. It's phenomenal, man. So those movies kind of put you in the place that you felt like you were. I really made it. Prior to that, did you go, I don't know if I want to do this acting thing.

No, I'm making good money. Yeah, you were living. Because I got, see, I remember I got a, I got when my first movie was Runaway Train. Yeah. And I ran into Eddie Bunker on that. Did I tell you this? I ran into Eddie Bunker. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And he said, hey, you know, are you still boxing? And I said, well, I still train, you know what I mean? I don't want to get hit in the face no more. I'm 40 years old. Yeah, right. And he said, we need somebody to train one of the actors how to box. And I said, what's it pay? Because they were going to give me 50 bucks

for acting like a convict. Right, right. And he says, 320 a day. And I said, how bad do you want this guy beat up? Yeah. I thought it was a hit. You thought you were going to fuck him up. And I thought he was mad at somebody.

I don't have done it for another 50 bucks. And then he says, we need to train this actor out of box. I said, okay. I started training an actor named Eric Roberts out of box for the movie Runaway Train. And the director saw me and saw that Eric respected me and would kind of do what I told him. So he came up. I'll never forget it.

They picked me to fight Eric in this movie. And they brought us in front of the director and the director said, you be in movie. You fight Eric in movie. And you be my movie. You fight Eric in movie and you be my friend. Wow. Well, if you got a prison background,

you be my friend is kind of a red flag. That's a different terminology. Yeah, you know what I mean? You meet me in the shower and you be my friend. You're like, fuck that. He leans over and he kisses me on one cheek.

Kisses me on the other cheek because he's like a Russian. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I remember telling Eddie, look, 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, he's European. You know what I'm saying? You ought to give a fuck what he has. I'm not kissing men for 300 bucks.

And Andre and I and Eddie became really good friends. Yeah. Really good friends. That was the start of a new thing, man. That was it. But before that, I'd never really thought about being in the movies. Right. Extra here, extra there.

Just for fun. Extra 50 bucks. Right. Because that's when they used to pay you cash. Yeah. Don't do that anymore. And, oh, God, I did that the first five years of my career. I never even had a name.

I was always just badass or mean Chicano or tough guy. I remember the first time I got interviewed, this girl probably fresh out of interview school, she says, Danny, don't you feel you're being stereotyped? I said, what do you mean? She says, well, aren't you feel you're being stereotyped? I said, what do you mean? She said, well, aren't you being typecast as what? She goes, as the mean Chicano dude with tattoos. I thought about it.

I lift up my shirt. And I said, I am the mean Chicano dude with tattoos. What are you talking about? Somebody finally got it right. They don't got Mark Wahlberg being like a Mexican. Yeah. You know.

No, but you understand. So I didn't know that I was typecast. I was just, I'm making 320 every time I showed up on a set. Because I was a, I was sag. Right, you're in the union, yeah. And so I

The director would always Want to give me a line Even if I just showed up And he would say Danny can you say something Kind of prison-y I go sure Kill that fucker

And he Oh my god that's perfect And so yeah I said that a million times It's like I don't need to I don't need to rehearse this at all This one director

Said Danny this is what we got Look Look, I want you to, it's a poker game. I want you to kick in this door. They're all stunt people. You'll bash somebody in the mouth. You'll do, they'll all know what to do. Right. Right. Okay. So I kick in the door and this girl jumps up and I just go like this in front of the girl. Wow. She wow she flies other guy bang him all right move move move can I kill a white boy all day and cut my god Danny where did you study this guy was almost as robbing poker games and Vons. He didn't get it.

He goes, oh, oh. Yeah, you're like the Vons on Western. Circle Liquor. Yeah, yeah. Bob. Bob, big boy. You hit them all. You're like, I'm a man of the streets.

But so the first, Eddie Bunker was funny. He goes, yeah, the first five years of your career. No, he said the last part of your life was a character study of all the guys you're gonna play wow and it was like it was like god it was like fun that's profound right you know yeah and and he was like okay i can do this right and i just kept doing it first the first name I ever got I didn't even get to play Mexican I was Italian I was Art Sinella

Charles Bronson movie Death Wish War they do that all the time they make Mexicans and Italians the same guy yeah they're interchangeable this guy's just so tan and so I played Art Sinella and then me and Charles Bronson made friends.

And about six months later, he called me for another film. Danny, you want to do this movie? And bring your friend. I had a friend, George Perry, right? Old man. And bring your friend. And so we were like extras, but we got paid SAG. That's wonderful.

Because Bronson wanted you out there. And so what did I yell? They were putting this guy into jail and I said, hey, put him in my cell. That was my... And George says, yeah, let the old man have some.

That was our line. That was it. And we made 320 bucks. Did they let you guys improv or was that they wrote that for you? No, he just said that. Yeah, you just say it. Directors always say, say something kind of prison-y. All right, how about, I'll kill you.

Yeah, great, perfect. Perfect, you sound like a natural. You sound like you've done it before. You're like, I have, motherfucker. What's the, what is the, what's the one kind of film or the one thing

that you haven't done that you do want to do? What's something that you're like, man, you know what I haven't done and I haven't been able to? I don't know. I love Westerns. I just love Westerns. I could do Westerns all day long. I just love them.

Like the Coen brothers, they make some wild, cool desert shit. Stuff like that. I love that world too. I think Westerns have slowly made some sort of a comeback and they take shape. There's horror Western type of genre.

The comedy Western type of thing is coming back again. Because for a long time. I did a Western with Adam Sandler. Oh, yeah, right, right, right. It's called Ridiculous Six. Ridiculous Six, right. God, I never had so much fun. That guy's funny.

Yeah, he's hilarious. And I was talking to my cousin Gilbert. My cousin Gilbert was still in prison, and he called me from prison. And so I'm on the set, and I'm like, yeah, cool, all right, and then, hey, Adam, come here, and I say, just say hello to him. It's my cousin. He's done 38 years.

Talk to him. Hey, yeah, no, cool, yeah, yeah, yeah, and then my cousin says, you know, I'll do anything for my cousin, and he goes, anything? Oh, yeah, yeah, anything. So then Adam gives me the phone back, and I says, yeah, Gilbert, hey, so can I tell Adam that I'm going to be in all his next movies? And he goes, yeah, yeah, tell him that.

Adam goes, got me. Yeah, he doesn't want to cross you, man. He's like, Gilbert will fuck you up. Gilbert's going to find you in Brentwood go get that ass yeah I love that he's so cool

he's hysterical he put out a new comedy special it's one and we've talked about it before on this podcast he's brilliant man he is one of those guys you know what

he's one of the nicest guys in the world he would be because he stayed humble because he doesn't let all the bullshit get in front of him right

you can't that's the biggest that's the biggest thing I hate. Eddie Bunker once gave me the best advice because I remember we were with a movie star and he left and everybody started talking bad about him.

And he's trying to remember this. The whole world can think you're a movie star but you can't. And I thought about that. And Eddie Booger used to give me some profound shit. Yeah. And I seen the way everybody talked about him when he walked away.

That fucking punk. I stabbed that son of a bitch. And it was like, whoa. That's right. I don't want to be that. Every situation I leave, I want to leave right. I don't want to be that. I want every situation I leave, I want to leave better. I don't care what it is. Right.

You know, I don't care what it is. And it's like, that's the way I live my life. I won't leave a situation bad. And I won't let nobody fuck with me. That's right. You know what I mean? Like I said, I pulled a couple of people aside, told them, you know, look, I'm not Hollywood on them.

I'll beat you to death. And not fair either. Right. Right, right. I'll beat you to death and not fair either right? Like people that well you don't fight fair. It's a fight you fucking idiot There's no rules. Oh, yeah, what you mean hitting me with a bat from behind his fair you want to win? You know so it's like I don't what the hell's up. I don't fight. Yeah people talk about In prison it was so funny it was like i remember some the bottom line to an argument is a murder and i thought well that's pretty extreme but that's the truth yeah that is the truth that's the truth the bottom line okay so now when somebody starts arguing with me automatically it's just worth a killing.

No, fuck no. I'm going to get away from there. I don't want to hear this shit. Come on. You work at 7-Eleven. You're going to argue with me? Shit, God, leave me alone. I'm going to leave.

Right. You're going to get the fuck out. Yeah, it's stupid. I will not argue. And people have tried to get me into arguments. And people have tried. But now they want me to sock them so they can sue me. Right, right, right.

Now you got money. Before they just wanted to fight. Now they want to win some fucking cash off you. So you don't say, I don't want to fight. I don't want to argue. You're over all that bullshit. But just so people know, he will still fuck you up if you cross him, right? Don't think you can get away with some bullshit on Danny Trejo just because you think you're a tough guy.

Fuck that. You know, it's so funny. It was like, there was a time when, you know, I'll kill you, then I'll go kill the people that dry clean your clothes. Damn.

You know, it's like, that's the mindset. You know, prison, there's only two kinds of people in prison. There's predator and prey. Now, what do you want to be? Yeah, that's it. Do people kind of suffice themselves to being prey if they know they can't handle it?

They're like, fuck it, I'll just. Well, me and a guy named Tyrone Ryan, I can say he's dead. They beat him to death. Who did? Prisoners or guards? No, no, this was on the street. On the street. And we had a little protection ring going.

we had a little protection ring going and if people are smart and they come to prison and they know they're not in their element this is not my element then they will find somebody that they can pay to make sure

that nobody hurts them we used to we had this one gay couple and they were like sure that nobody hurts them. We used to, we had this one gay couple, and they were married on the streets, you know what I mean? So when they came to prison, they're targets, that's all. They're just targets.

they came to us and said, you know what, look, we just don't want to be bothered. And that's okay. But then there's rules. Okay, you can't walk around here being tough. got to respect everybody and you just got to stay out of people's way right if you don't do that we'll feed you to the animals right and and and literally they had money and and let me tell you something all every celebrity that has gone to jail i don't care who they are has paid protection okay remember that because if they got money and I don't care who they are. Has paid protection. Okay. Remember that. Because if they got money and I don't, they're going to pay.

And so, but that's just the way it is. Yeah. It's the rules. No, I didn't. Bullshit. And so, and these guys were like, great. They were angels. If you can't pay, okay, well then clean up the cell. Damn.

You know. Okay. And then they would take care of your shoes, take care of your laundry, all that stuff. Right, right. So they figured out a way. But you know what? Five years after I'd gotten out of prison,

I was still getting Christmas cards from people's families that we had helped. Yeah, you had protected. Yeah. You kept people alive. Absolutely. But now years later, how funny, you keep a lot of people alive, but you do it in a civil way, right? Now you keep all these people alive absolutely but now you keep now now years later how funny you keep a lot of people alive but you do it no in a civil way right now you keep all these people alive western pacific med corp has 13 detoxes throughout los angeles so we and you and you are you do drug counseling

you do all that right yeah mark hickman mark hickman is my ceo and he allows me to go do film, do whatever, simply because it's like it's good to spread the message of, hey, you know what, if you're using drugs, call us, man. Western Pacific MedCorp. We'll detoxify you. You try to help. You're giving back, man. And like Mario, like Mario Castillo. I met him in San Quentin, actually.

I think I told you. Yeah. But he I told you. Yeah. But he works for me. He like gets people into detox like that quick. Because he knows. Because, I mean, the best people to deal with addicts are always addicts, right? If you've lived through the shit, you know how to get people out of the shit. It's so funny because when I first got into drug abuse, helping people. There was a big fight between psychiatrists and professional people and ex-addicts because

they realized, wait, no, you don't know I've been trained. So finally, in like 79, 80, 81, they started realizing, wait a minute, man, we can't get to these people because they don't trust us right because we haven't so all of a sudden they started in in encompassing that was a bitching sentence right there yeah encompassing drug addicts you know that were clean and sober into their you know into their uh facility yeah facilities. Yeah, yeah. And it worked. And it worked. And now you'll do that for the rest of your life.

You'll help for the rest of your life. Oh, yeah. That's wild, man. How many fucking businesses do you own, Danny? Seriously. I think I was in Vegas. Somebody told me you're opening up shit in Vegas. Yeah.

You're everywhere, huh? We got eight restaurants right now, and Vegas has contacted us, San Antonio, Texas contacted us, and Hawaii. Because we've got a restaurant at LAX in Southwest Terminal. So they just opened up a terminal in Hawaii. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you have one at LAX. I've seen it.

They want us to go there. That'll be a nice vacation, huh? Plug that shit. I'll probably have to go there every month for a week. Oh, fuck. You need someone to go with you? I'll go out there and help you, man. I'll go make some tacos.

I got some honeys already set. We'll go. Yeah, no shit. Yeah, Danny, do you need someone to just help you along the way? Yeah, okay. And then I have a record company, Trejo's Music, and we're dropping an album. This, Music, and we're dropping an album. This, hold on, we're dropping an album.

This, oh no, don't tell me. We're dropping an album. Where are my texts? I don't know how to do this shit. But you got a brand new, Trejo's Music is the name of the record company. Trejo's Music and, oh, here it is. And you got a bunch new Trejo's Music Is the name of the record company Trejo's Music And Oh here it is

And you got a bunch of artists All over there I know you told me Yeah here we got We got Frankie J Baby Bash Chicky Rivera

Daughter of Jenny Rivera Trish Toledo Tara New My artist Awesome And Joey Quinones We're dropping that album On Father's Day It's chicano soul shop

volume one chicano soul shop baby and it is like unbelievable man that's awesome and it's like so much fun and i started that again tara was like she'd been bouncing around trying to sing you know for years and i said you know come on, let's start a record company. Yeah, why not, right? And we started this record company and it's amazing. Now, are you putting out everyone's individual album too or just these collaborations? No, no, this is a collaboration.

All these people are on this album and some of them already got their followings and so I think what I'm going to do is every album that I put out, I'm going to put a new artist on it so that they can get recognition. And the community grows and thickens, right? Yeah.

That's great, man. I love this stuff. What's this new business? What's this Giddy thing that you do oh yeah well giddy that's a that's for for people that that that uh might have a uh ed oh yeah they got pp problems but yeah but but it's not a problem it's like you know sometimes you're tired she's not and it's like hey you know let's get some help that's all it's not like a like uh uh uh or it could be a problem you know i mean but like i know sometimes you know i've been out all night right you know i mean

wait a minute so it's like with this giddy it's like all of a sudden it's like okay all right climb on let's do it some tell me you don't need help though you don't need help yeah i think you're cool like a lot of the friends that i've turned on to this, they're like, hey, this is cool. And so that's what it's about. It's about. And it's like people, you know, talk about anything sexual, blah, blah, blah. Like if you talk about condoms. Whoa.

You know, people should just be free to talk about any, especially condoms. You know, we got so many babies running around. We got too many babies, man. You only got four that you know of you don't know about the rest man i got three okay give me a given no there is another one we brought them in here come on in gabriel we got another one man you know what's so funny my son one time was in a my son and my daughter they were in this tattoo shop and these two girls these two twins came in and they pointed to my picture and said hey that's our dad and uh my son what and this is well that's what my mom says you know that's who i was

thinking about so when i made you i was with your shitty dad but i was thinking about daddy trail my i think my son said nah hey if he's not paying child support, you're not his. Because I pay my child support. That's exactly right. Danny Traylor pays his fucking child support. Make no mistake, man. And it's so funny because when my friends, man, shut up. You had the baby.

You better pay your child support. Yeah, it's your kid, man. It's wild. That's funny that people want to escape escape that my kid's mom Maeve she's a she just became a lawyer oh wow wow

what kind of lawyer do you know family family law she works with autistic children so me and her are going to start a Westside Advocates and what we're going to do is

is help because LA City schools are falling really short of special with special needs children so what we're going to do is is help because la city schools are falling really short of special with special needs children so what we're going to do is is is be be their attorneys because you have to be an attorney to deal with la city schools if you have an autistic kid right right so she does it that's one more thing you're doing again for the yeah what when do you tell what's the thing that you do just for you you help out a lot of people You do like Seriously What's the one thing

That you're like This is just for me man You know what I I Work on my cars At Chubby's Automotive That's the most

That's my You and Chubby Just hang out And kick it And talk shit That's like my Go to place Yeah

So that's kind of like The barber shop for you That's your hang out You know what I mean They don't like me To play with the tools But I gotta bring my Yeah because they know What you used to do with them man i don't want to fucking

someone doesn't want to end up with their head but uh but uh no it's like you're like like my uh my uh that's my passion you know yeah man i got a 36 dodge i got a a 1965 buick riviera that's beautiful beautiful man you Rivs are beautiful, man. You know what? When I cruised that Van Nuys Boulevard Wednesday nights, and it's like, people just stopped. And then Chubby put a air horn on it for me. So when I hit the horn, it's like a diesel truck. Let them know you're there, right? Let them know you're coming through

man yeah so uh so that's your thing that's for you right listen now listen i got a a little boxer and her name is uh senisa wait hold on let me get her last name is oh god uh who was Oh, God. Who was... Estrada. Oh, okay, Estrada, yeah. Yeah, her name is Denise Estrada, right? And she is the WBC featherweight champion of the world. Wow. Okay? And when she was eight years old,

she was begging her dad, because he was working with the boys, begging her dad, train me, too, dad, train me. And, you know, Pop says, you know, Mexican, you know, he's like, Mama, this is for men. You know what I mean? This is for men, baby. Daddy, please, please, please train me.

So Pop says, okay. So he goes to this 10-year-old kid, right? She's eight and says, look, I don't want you to hurt her, but I want you to convince her that she don't want a box. You know. Right. The Mexican way of doing things. So puts her in the ring.

She kicks the shit out of this kid. They had to pull her off. He went to the ground. She was just whopping her on the ground. No, no, no. She said, will you train me? Yeah, I'll train you now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You got something. So right now, he quit training the boys. She's a... That's your air horn. That sounds like your car. She's the featherweight or paperweight. I forget. Yeah.

The champion. WBC champ of the world. Isn't that wild? Unbelievable. She wears my logo from my restaurants on her shorts. Oh, so she's sponsored by Trejo. Oh, yeah. You do Trejo Sports.

That's going to be next for you, man. Yeah, man. You start sending athletes. I'm going to be with, what's his name? I love him, too. I always forget his name. He's always at the fights. Probably the only one that really understands boxing, and I always forget his name.

What? An announcer. Was it a fighter? Oh, an announcer? Yeah. At the fights yeah what guy which one though oh god he's i forget he's always on the big you gotta sponsor him though huh no he's cool yeah yeah that's what you gotta do or get with or get with the buffer the buffer brothers

they're still they're still announcing you know those they're still doing the intro now he's a he's more of a of a a commentator oh oh okay okay yeah okay. Yeah. The hell's his name? Oh, man, I'm sorry. We'll figure it out. That's fine. But anyway, one time he asked me about Floyd Mayweather.

About what? Sponsoring him? Yeah. Would you? Yeah. No, no, no. He asked me about what I thought about Floyd Mayweather.

And I remember saying, you know, one of the greatest boxers that ever lived. Boxer. Yeah. Boxer. Not a Boxer. Boxer. Not a fighter.

He can fight. If you want to go to the mat, he will go. He can fight. Kid was raised in the alleys. But as a boxer, he's the greatest. Oh, he's one of the greatest of all time, without a doubt. Absolutely. Absolutely.

And I said, the difference between Floyd and everybody else, everybody else is playing checkers while he's playing chess. Oh, yeah, that's a fact. You know what I mean? Yeah. And he's amazing. He's so smooth. And it's like people go to the board, oh, this is boring, this is boring,

but they don't understand boxing. Right. Well, there's a lot of skill and technique and timing. Oh, absolutely. Right. That's the beauty. I always loved boxing. The problem with boxing, unfortunately, now it's lost so much fanship. That's the beauty. I always loved boxing. The problem with boxing,

unfortunately, now it's just lost so much fanship. It's gone by the wayside, man. Well, you know, it's like MMA, there's just too many sexual positions.

It's too much for it. Yeah, yeah. It's like, wait a minute. Hey! They're not, come on, they're kissing.

Stop it. Why is his dick out? That's that, you know what? No, listen, and I've recently, I've recently learned a lot about it, about the world of it. I respect the shit out of fighters that they train like crazy.

I went to the Mayweather-McGregor fight, which was wild. That was a weird-ass fight. Well, you know what? McGregor, I'll tell you something. Mayweather actually played with... I mean, Mayweather actually played with McGregor from the third round on. Oh, well, right, yeah. He just kept beating him, beating him, beating him.

He could have fucking... And right when he was just going to knock him out, they, like, pulled him off. You know what I mean? Because he was... But McGregor... Well... They like pulled him off. You know what I mean? Because he was. But McGregor. Well, Nick Diaz beat the shit out of McGregor. Conor, yeah.

Nate Diaz, yeah. Out of McGregor. Yeah, Conor McGregor. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Beat the hell out of him. And they were supposed to have. They had another fight.

Okay. Beat the hell out of him. And they were supposed to have, they had another fight. Okay, now I know that Diaz wanted a third fight. They would have made millions, right? Ton of money. So his heart really wasn't in to the second fight. Right. And McGregor beat him. But now McGregor won't fight him again. No, not at all. Because Diaz will just beat him to death now McGregor won't fight him again. No, not at all.

Because Diaz will just beat him to death. Yeah, I think that ship has sailed. Oh, yeah. That's all gone now. And so they lost. They could have both made a ton of money. But like I said, McGregor didn't want to fight him again. What do you think would bring boxing back into the limelight?

Do you think it will ever come back? I don't think it's left. I don't think it's left. I still love watching it. There's a's left. I still love watching it. There's a lot of people that still love watching it. You know what I mean? It's like...

But the fanship has gone down. That's what's hard, right? It's just gone down. Well, it's like what we need is... We need a hero, man. Yeah, a little paperweight named Sanisa... My fighter. Yeah, that's right. She's awesome she's awesome yeah you just she's pretty used to

her gorgeous little face getting kid popped around god fight her ass you know just like god she's like beautiful i'm just but can fight but see that's funny that we i think we need another name right because like tyson tyson did this thing for boxing right hey like they did so these names they did things for Tyson could still be fighting if it wasn't for drugs and Don King yeah Don King I blame him for all that shit yeah I think it's Don King in general he'll be fighting God Don King fucked up a lot of people I was so sorry to win money on Buster Douglas yeah you bet on you bet on You bet on Buster? Well, I had gotten a report that he wasn't training. Sure.

And he was, you know, partying. How much did you bet on Buster, will you tell me? A lot. That says enough. Yeah. That says enough. 50 to 1, 45 to 1. Yeah, that's wild.

You know. So you knew what was going to happen. Yeah. That's incredible. Well, listen, man. I really appreciate you coming by and hanging with me. I loved it. This is fun, right? you know so you knew you knew what was gonna happen yeah that's incredible well listen man I really appreciate you coming by and hanging with me I loved it

this is fun right why can't we do this again let's do it all over we can keep going for a long long time so I'm gonna plug everything for you in the description

to follow on everything that Danny's doing and all the Trejo shit the Trejo empire if you will I'll put the description down there do you got a website

you got like a DannyTrejo.com is that Danny Trejo I don't know it. I'll put the description down there. Do you got a website? Do you got like a dannytrejo.com? The Danny Trejo Origins? I don't know. It's on there. We'll plug it. We'll plug it on the internet. My son's movie, man.

My son's movies. You got to look it up. It's called From a Son. From a Son. And it's just tragically beautiful. Yeah. Well, I'm the lead. Oh, yeah.

You better fucking believe you're the lead. But it's a kind of movie I've never done. It wasn't. Yeah. Was it emotional? Man. Heavy, huh? Yeah.

And it was like he was reminding me of all the little stuff he did when he was a baby. My son went through a big drug deal. You know, drugs, I mean, I almost lost him. Damn. And. What happened? Well, he started using heavy heroin, right? And I'm out of the country.

And who was saving his life literally was Mario Castillo and Mary. They were like following him around and chased him and and uh I'd call from from Germany and and I can't get a hold of him he's oh do I find him and Mario go find him he's okay and so when we finally got him into detox and stuff you know and uh he cleaned up it's like he wrote this screenplay and uh and he was reminding me and reminding that man when it came to when it came to me my emotional part i lost it man it was tough huh it was i couldn't i couldn't talk i was sobbing so bad you know and and he got it on film and

and i says give her cut that shit out he's like can't dad you win a kind of academy fucking award i don't give a fuck about award it was gonna be my fucking sissy i cut that shit out he's like can't dad you win a kind of academy fucking award i'm gonna give a fucking about award it was good i think i'm a fucking sissy i cut that shit out i don't look like a bitch on film and uh but it was like you know like i'm my son's dad you know fuck man and so the the good thing the thing about this movie if you know when you have a big star and and don't like julia roberts julia roberts amazing ass gorgeous but if she's in the movie you lose the message everybody's talking about what a wonderful job she did or what how gorgeous she looks and you know so they lost the message is about kid dying right you know what i mean yeah right and and uh and so i'm not a big star.

I'm a worker bee. You know what I mean? I don't know what the fuck you call it. I think worker bees is good. Yeah, you know, okay. We need the fucking worker bees, man. And so when I'm in this, it's like you don't lose the message. Right. And if you look at this message, this message is not about the cartel.

look at this message this message is not about the cartel is not about it's about upper middle class kids when they're in their drug addiction not the fall right do you understand right so we started it and it's like man you know when you're shooting dope out of a toilet and you know when you're like you know oh the you're heavy in, the little girl. Oh, man, I can never remember her name. Damn. The little girl in the movie? Yeah. She is.

Let's see if I can find it real fast. Let's see if I can find it. She's Russian, and her name, oh, my God, forgive me. A Russian woman. Vladimir Putin's kid wait and it's called From a Son

From a Son yeah and it's Gilbert Trejo and her name is Sasha that's a Russian we're gonna find it

we're gonna find it we're gonna find it From a Son S-O-N Son right ah why can't I find it we're gonna find it man we're gonna find it here also I was looking by the way I was looking

Trejo I thought does that sure that doesn't translate to anything bad motherfucker all right look it's not missing missing you from hell is the last one that's on here right now so I think the new film isn't't on there yet. But you'll get it. You're ahead of the game. You're ahead of the game, man. But either way. So this is all about when they're done. And my son, Gilbert, he goes out and he overdoses.

But you know, like when you were young and your mom used to say, you know, when you got in trouble, I woke up in the middle of the night. You know what I mean? Right, right, right. And your moms knew it. So when he overdoses, I wake up. You woke up another night. How old was he when he overdosed?

Gilbert, hey, what's Sasha's name? Vrlova. Vrlova? Look at my son. So you say, hey, what's up, man? Your dad's on my podcast. How you doing, brother? What was that?

I say your dad is on my podcast. How you doing, brother? What was that? I said your dad is on my podcast. How you doing? Oh, Brad, sorry. We're just setting up a first table and doing a set. Oh, I think they're shooting something or something. All right. They're shooting a video, I think. Oh, okay.

He's with the Star Crawlers right now, which is a band. He's probably shooting for them. Oh, okay, dope. What's the name of the girl? Your dad wants to know the name of the star, the other girl in From a Sun. Oh, her name is Sasha Frolova. Sasha Frolova. What's the name of the girl? Your dad wants to know the name of the star, the other girl in From a Sun. Oh, her name is Sasha Frolova. Sasha Frolova. What's Arrow's last name?

Arrow's last name is DeWild. DeWild. DeWild. DeWild. There you go. They're star crawlers, right? Yeah, star crawlers. Awesome.

All right. I love you, son. I love you, too. All right. I'm coming back on Wednesday. Oh, cool. Then I'll see you because I'm leaving on Thursday. Yep. All right? All right. Love you. All right. Love you. Bye. That's family love right there. I'm coming back on Wednesday oh cool then I'll see you because I'm leaving on Thursday alright

alright love you that's family love right there that's how the men who work together so this movie right this girl there's a part where she says I said did you kill

we're in the middle of the desert where she buried him right did you kill my son and she says middle of the desert where she buried him, right? And I said, did you kill my son? And she says, no, he was my best friend. And she starts crying. Now, this little girl looks like the perfect little girl that just got off the bus from Bogalusa, Louisiana, and came into L.A. to be a star, and two pimps grabbed her. I was just vulnerable as hell. So when she says, you know, she says, no, he was my best friend.

And I'm supposed to say, well, okay, because let's go. And I put my coat on her. So what happened was my son had been feeding me all this stuff about him being little and when you remember this dad remember that and remember my little truck so when she looks at me and she's crying i lost it i couldn't i remember all this and i could and then i started like like sobbing and i'm saying i don't i don't want I don't want him out here alone because it's cold and I couldn't stop I'm snotted and shit and I'm like what the fuck I'm trying to hide it was I wanted to give my son the finger you know what I mean but it probably was a great fucking scene but it came out like and then finally when he said cut, everybody's crying.

And so it was like, fuck. I said, Gilbert, you have to cut that shit out of here. Oh, man, you made some magic. And so, but he knew how to get to me, you know what I mean? Well, it worked. Yeah, and then right now he's with a band called Starcrawler. Starcrawler? Yeah.

And they're making a music video? Yeah, and what's her name? Oh, Arrow. And they're making a music video? Yeah. And what's her name? Oh, Arrow... DeWild. DeWild, yeah. Arrow DeWild. And she's like, she's like real quiet,

but God, when she gets on stage, she's like... Let's it out. But I love it. It's like, I love my life. I love my job.

Your life is good. Yeah. Do you have another movie coming out that's coming up soon? What are you doing right now? Well, I'm going to be in Dora the Explorer.

Shut up. I'm going to be the voice of Boots. You're going to be Boots in Dora the Explorer. That's wild. Yeah, that's awesome. Dora, I don't think we should be doing this. And then I'm going to be... It's funny because I was in... I was in...

I went to the Super Bowl and Snoop Dogg was performing. Yeah. And I go up on stage, I go, Snoop, what's up? He goes, this a bitch? Two of the oldest gangsters in LA and we're in Sponge Bath Square Pants. Sponge Bob. Sponge Bob. Sponge Bob Square Pants.

I'm Diablo the Pirate. It's like, God, okay, we're cool. Full circle, man. You've lived all the lives, right? I love it. I think that's awesome. Yeah. Well, Mr. Trejo, Mr. Danny Trejo, everyone, I appreciate you coming.

This meant the world to me. It was incredible. I'm going to plug everything that Danny's up to right now so you guys can check out all that stuff. And I'm coming back. All right? He's going to come back again and again and again. Yeah, he's going to come back again and again yeah absolutely yeah he's gonna come back over and over uh i'm leaving for switzerland this thursday but i'll be back

he'll be back all right he'll be back next week uh i'm in raleigh north carolina go to andrewsantino.com for all that jazz it's in the description peace you were that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse. Gingers are beautiful. You owe me $5 for the whiskey and $75 for the horse. Gingers are hell no. This whiskey is excellent.

Ginger. I like gingers.