How Prison Changed Danny Trejo's Life | 2 Bears, 1 Cave

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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 steams 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 legit. Your first movie was 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. 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 Andrei God's lawsuit, the director was trying to tell people, no, look, this is Eric Roberts. He goes to Eric's face like this. Look, face. Look. And this other guy was kind of spannier Spanish. Look. Hey! I was like, clowning me or what? How did he say he says,

Adversary, it was adversary, or, you know, like against each other. You look like enemies, you know what I mean? So, these other guys look like lovers, you know. So, I ended up boxing Eric Robert 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? 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'm, I got 108 days clean, please. So I just went down to hang out with him and, uh, uh,

unbeknownst to me that I was supposed to go down there the next day anyway as an extra so I walked on the set and that night and to hang out with this kid and I run into a friend of mine that I was in prison with a guy named Eddie Bunker. Eddie Bunker is fascinating. Eddie Bunker. Hold on. Please tell me a story about Eddie Bunker. Oh, he's awesome. Keep going. I apologize.

He's looking at me and says, hey, you're Danny Trail. What are you doing here? They're going to give me 50 bucks for acting like a convict. And we laugh because we've been doing that for free for all our lives. So he says, hey, you know what? We need somebody to train one of the actors out of a box. What's it pay? And he said, 320 a day.

And I said, oh, bad, don't you want this guy beat up? I thought.

I said, I wasn't making that a week. And a day, I don't take two minutes to beat him up. And he said, don't know. You've got to be real careful. His kid's high strong, and he might sock you. I said, Eddie, for 320 bucks, give him a stick. Are you crazy? I've been beat up for free, homie. And 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. I want to rest now and go through this for you. And everything stops. So Eric respected me. So when they wanted him, they would tell me, go get Eric. Come on Eric, let's do this. And then we'll train, because he wanted to train him.

Well, please be Eric Roberts. I'm sorry, I thought I'd shut that off. That's okay, that's okay. That's how real this show is. I had, I had, I go get Eric and Andre comes in, because I was just training him. He comes in, I never get, he comes in.

Russian, first American movie was Runaway Train. 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? 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 look at Eddie as Eddie. I'm gonna trade the kid for 320, but if I'm gonna be kissing that old man, I want more money. He said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's your opinion, you know? Yeah, okay, well, if I'm kissing him, if I would have known that old man did, he got me a sad card. You know what I mean? That sad card changes your life. And he took my life, and so I don't watch this back.

You gotta make it that front too, man. I mean, you know, it's like the whole life. 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, they'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 them? Safeway, Varner's. And so it was like, I just kept working. I kept going from moving to moving to moving.

And that's the way it's been. My whole career, 1985, you know. 1985. You got out of prison at 68? Yeah. No, 69. 69. I was in 1969. I was in drug counsel. I worked for a Western Pacific Med Corp. We have a...

detox all over the 13 detoxes. Okay. Can I tell you my, my, the, there's, there are a few stories. I got obsessed with people, any, especially anyone who's had a rough background, meaning like the chips are 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, 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. You know, that's the way you just kicked. You know, and you got to remember, this was 1965, 64, 63. You know, when I remember, well, I got in 65.

It was 63 when I got arrested. It was like nothing. I mean, they were sending people to gas chamber or selling dope. Nobody knew. That was crazy. I want to go back to Eddie Bunker. 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,

I had me that blue shirt. I kind of laughed. You know, I mean, I'm just kidding. So I put it on. And he said, please, this time. And he told me to leave. It opened my shirt off, you know, because I had that big tattoo. 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,

I'll kill you, it's not, man. Prison is a very scary place, but nobody can show it. 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 didn't ask somebody what's wrong. I got a letter, you know, sometimes they didn't.

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 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 do.

cut their wrist because they didn't get a letter. You know, it's like, whoa, you can't depend on the outside. You're no longer on your island. And people, it's, it's a, 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 of 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, talk to anybody, you know? And I just...

you kind of like institutionalize yourself to, this is my world while, you know, this is it. And so you start acquiring everything it takes to make you comfortable, you know, and you get comfortable as you can. It's a

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 talked to them. And you just, they're all by yourself. You learn, you adapt. I used to do the Wizard of Oz. I used to act the hole to give you those children,

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I used to do the hunchback of Notre Dame the old one

Guards would walk by and I'd say, did you kill my sister? Because of the Wizard of Watson. It was like that trail's going nuts. And so, 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. So that's, man, I did that for months. And I play a great hand lot. She gave me water.

How were you the first time you went to prison? Oh, God. You don't go to prison. In order to acclimate, you start off in June or hall.

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. So you've already like, 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. 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. That means my parents.

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 you're your uncle Gilbert. Okay, so I do too. And I'll tell you why I love him is like it.

Tell everyone about Gilbert real quick before I started, 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. You know, 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 kid. They're done with kids.

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 hard 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 her house. She was like, we're the cleanest house in the world. You know what I mean? And I'll never forget we had plastic on our couches.

And I've just never, well, 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 were always had their stuff. I can remember going to my mom when she was on the phone, mom, mom.

Yeah. Well, what? And go through talking, you know. Wow, and then my dad, you talk to him. Hey, Dad, I should go and bust you with this one.

phone, my boss. Was your dad born in Mexico? No, he was born in Texas. Correct me, sounds silly. Is that Chicano? Yeah. Okay, so that's Chicano. And so, my dad was like, that was tough. Like that. And now, if I went to Gilbert and he was on the phone, Gilbert was going, here, oh, wait, hold on. Yeah.

All right, let me get on the phone. You always had time, no matter what he was doing. Yeah. He'd be running somewhere. Yeah, Gilbert. Yeah, yeah, what's got? Yeah. Well, you're jumping the car. Let's go.

You know, 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 drug addict in an armed robber, you know. 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 awe. And so... You were in all of them. Yeah. You were actually in all of them. Quentin Folsom, Solidette, Vacarville, Susanville, Sierra. Those were the ones that were built when I was...

And so I was obsessed with blood and blood out. I loved it. And so I was obsessed with it. And that's when I started getting into Norteños versus... 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 the blood out, I met a guy, Mario Castillo, Mario Castillo. Yeah. 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 Schurangos, right? And Quentin was the Northern Reception, they're all North Angels.

And Mario was so tough that in a North Daniel prison, he's wearing a pair of shorts that say LA County Jail. So he's saying I'm Sudanial, you know what I mean? But he was pushing for some pounds. Nobody mess with me.

And it was, he said, you know what, we can't. We got the word from mafia. No, no student is going to work on any prison movie because of what James almost did, you know, screwed everything up. And... Wait, what did James almost did? Well, he...

loves ever he did he did a movie called American me and the problem with that is that he made the leader of the Mexican mafia he said that he had gotten in juvenile hall outright lie yeah yeah yeah oh yeah

Remember that scene? Yeah, outright lie. And then some other stuff that wasn't supposed to be told. And he paid some guys that were like skid bro bums that had been on inside. He paid them cigarettes and stuff on the street to tell stories about the mafia.

So he got in trouble, and so they shut down. So that war was out. So the bloody blood out, we were inmates, you know, but none from Southern California. And our movie, Bloody Blood Out, got a lot of acclaim, man. America made me die, because everybody knew, you know. Please be Edward James, almost. Let me 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. And two days, okay? Okay, two days. Hey, what are you doing in the 16th? You'll be dead. Yeah, I'm the guy doing it. I'm in the Russian mafia.

Hey, I'll call you back a little while. All right. Love you, man. 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 apart in a movie. But he couldn't go because it was out of state. It was the one about hot,

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He's on parole. Yeah, we go just for took them donuts and they all trail. We took pictures and I asked, Hey, look, you know what? We got a movie man. He's a kind of can you go? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think this picture. So we took a couple of pictures and he went. 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, you know, we were talking about Gilbert and we're talking about going to prison. Yeah. And what he did was he gave me the tools necessary to survive. Yeah. You know, in the path that I took. Well, well, he did. Yeah, he turned me on to drugs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's quite a young age. This is where people get hung up. He first, he's first spoke part when you were eight. Eight. Yeah. Eight and heroin at 11. Yeah, but he was like, Oh my God, that's terrible. But

Any wheat smoker has gotten a puppy loaded. That's true. That's true. There's nothing better than a hot puppy. And so, you know, I love dogs. And so cats. I'm just 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 and and they were reading the Bible because They used to be these guys that came around and they would sell these huge red Bible to speak with gold trimming and they were only like 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. North Eastern Company was the name of the company. And they would sell Bibles. They'd tell encyclopedias because back in the day before the internet, if you wrote them a psychopedias, 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.

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 and then it was funny because people just get loaded.

they were going to get loaded people that weren't going to get loaded i i i don't see i gave timmy senses we

like my, our next anyway. And I'm smoking with a tear. He got sick. He started throwing up and got sick and went home, right? Never got loaded again, didn't you? 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 money to know what it was.

I just knew he was doing it. So I did that and that was it. I was found it, you know, brilliant. 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 one of the connections doors and like my uncle weighed the card.

Hey, give me some heroin. Shut up. You bet y'all. We win. Kill you. 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. Because my wife can't smoke weed. 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, if they just turn into a different person. 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. It's like, my dad, I had gotten sober.

And I would sit, me and my dad would watch, there used to be Saturday fights, every Saturday I would have fights. And we'd watch him on TV and he'd sit down six 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 and a 10 round fight. One beer. And then I'd, Dad, you want another beer?

I will know why you buy six. I couldn't stand to see him. It's like stupid. Beerin's supposed to be in the ice bomb. 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. I smelt it. It's like, what this? And so I don't drink like normal people. Yeah. And I don't shoot heroin. I don't normally be a little shit on here. But you know what I mean? Yeah. What is 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 they're a man, but a lot of great men that kind of like just gave you the right advice at the right time.

you know what it's like one of the things that like I started going to AA by accident all right like everything happened to acid but there was a big party in our neighborhood I was in Pacoima and that was the murder capital of Los Angeles in 19 when I was 1959. Pacoima is right there

there, right? Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, we're 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 murders to go on. So we stopped one to the two

went to the trunk of the car to get the tools necessary, you know, to crash parties. And so we got entire iron bumper jacks out of 38 snub nose, a case of beer, three bottles of wine, half-final whiskey, already loaded on red devil's bills. And so we crashed, we can't knock. He was kind of like a bust. And the first thing we saw was a big sign that said, we care.

And all these people, they were coming up with coffee cups, you know, like, hey, you want some coffee?

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 corn. Yeah, everybody had 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 alcoholic and now he don't drink and you know, why don't I put that stuff outside and join him like, hell no, I got penitentiary to go to food. I mean, I didn't, 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, well, maybe I don't want to hear it. No, I tell you, he said, Danny, if you leave this meeting,

you will die, go insane or go to jail. And I thought, screw you. That stupid thing to say to a 15 year old kid, we left two weeks later. Come on, we have a house around it. I was busted arrested again and gone too long. And so it was like a pattern. You know,

I've never gotten arrested sober. I've never gotten arrested that I wasn't loaded on heroin. It was like, is that my problem? Eugene 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. The damn Frank Russell Frank Russell Frank Russell. And I say that because he told me never to mention his name. But he actually

with a short spent century he's there he shot couple of people in front of uh... sun valley receiving hospital

And he was there and he came in, Danny, we got to go over to this AA meeting. It's awesome, blah, blah, blah. I got an AA meeting. He said, no, no, no, AA. They got cigarettes. And I said, I'm a German convict. I got cartons of cigarettes. He said, yeah, but I know that, you know, we can get coffee and cake. I said, come on, I got that in my mouth. They'll run. And then he says, there's women coming up.

What? They brought women to AA meetings in prison? They don't have. Women zip by sale. 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 an alcohol problem, so they're mandatory. Every institution I went to, I had to go to alcohol as long as people end up. And so I go to this meeting and it's actually a pretty good meeting. That's one that Johnny Harris might.

My sponsor, right? And he told me, he said, only he's going to beat you to Quinn or the headlights on the bus. And I said, yeah, I thought it was a compliment. And it's funny, because when we pulled up the same Quinn, right, 10 years later, I see the headlights hit the wall. And I said, hey, let me walk in front.

I think everybody on that bus at her journey is just everybody knew what I was talking about. And that was it. And I went to AA all the time because I had to.

That's interesting. When you went to AA meetings, did they do like, I don't really, when I say I know nothing about prison, I just know what I saw in like, blood and blood out. So like, but did they have like an Aryan AA meeting and a black AA meeting? No, no, those, those are all the same. You know, it's, it's the, everything else to say. Solid that it's the worst. Cause when you go walking into solid that, the guards,

or trying to keep things equal. They're trying to put...

white, black, all, you know, 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, I mean, if you're a Mexican thing, it's like we segregate ourselves, you know, and really. And they usually don't want to make a big hassle out of it. You know, they just leave it alone. And that's what the tables all have for.

Yeah, really? And four people and so on. 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, hey, I got your back. That means I'll watch out for you. But that's for real. I got your back. So if something's happening, check this. I'll let you know whatever it's because I don't know what.

And that's why I always call the right now, right now, please. Right now, you can die right now, you can almost die 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, they'd be like, oh, I like your hat. I guess you can't wear hats in prison. But like, can you? They go, I like your hat and I go, thanks. But then that would mean my hat's getting taken from me.

Yeah. And then I'd be like, later, I have a very big head size eight. You probably maybe won't talk to someone else. Yeah, you can't let anything be taken from me. Tell me about, was 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, how much he would tell you what he wants. And if you were any good, you knew your game, yep.

He could, you could, he'd go with you, you know, but if you were just somebody with, then you'd have to pay him, you know, but he was amazing. And most of the people that bought robberies from him got away, you know. And then how did he get involved in movies? How did he, was he a consultant? Yeah, no, yeah, actually him and Alvin Sargent, who was outside her, he wasn't, he was a writer, director,

They wrote a screenplay called, I think, No Be So Fierce with Dustin Hoffman and Gary Buzier, Gary Buzier's first movie. And Dustin Hoffman came out of prison and went to buy a robbery. That scene is in, you know, but it's actually by uncle and me and anyway.

adjusted Hoffman by the robbery from him. And that's how he became, but he was famous that he went back to prison after that. And then him and Sergeant finished writing that when Eddie was in a terminal island.

Just, I mean, Alvin Sargent would go up to Terminal Island, the visiting room, and they finished writing it. Jesus. You know, and it seems like such a misplaced genius. And so then when it came out, it was a pit, unbelievable movie, right?

And he was probably one of the most brilliant, one of the most brilliant people I knew. I mean, he was a he was a Captain's clerk. And wait, what's that? He was the captain in San Quentin has a clerk because the captain runs the whole institution. That's the that's the top dollar. Yeah. And he's basically counts on his, 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, of course, 100 or whatever it's gonna cost. And Eddie, when he had his stack of papers for the captain to sign, he

And all of a sudden, two days later, that guard was on the 6PM to 6AM guard out there in the bay somewhere. And it was, yeah, that kind of power. And he was that smart. It's crazy. Do you think it's wild that that one to two that you got on your chest became almost like a calling card? Like a thing you did in prison.

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, there's so many movies, there's so many movies, you see that and everyone knows who it is. It's funny because Harry, Harry's super dupe Ross. 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

But now... Now they've gotten some so thin, they've gotten so thin, the lines have gotten so thin, the tattoos are like paintings. What are the words above it? We'll cross out one of them, one's Danielle, my daughter. Yeah. You know, the other one was mistake. That one's gone.

We misspelled it. That was gone, and I put my son Gilbert and Dan. You name your son Gilbert? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's badass. That's badass. Is Gilbert's son still in prison? No, he's out. We got him out. The governor. I talked to the governor.

And he's, yeah, yeah, that's enough time. So we got him out. And, uh, and then I talked to Newson and got Mario's, Mario's son out, you know, wow. And, uh, how much, how much have prisons,

Like, like, okay, in 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 prisoners.

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 breed monsters.

so they took the weights out. So now, all the guys are coming, they're coming out still, rip, but. Push ups. Yeah, push ups. 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. Yeah. And 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 guard's house.

Do you think you're in such good shape right now because you've worked out your whole life?

Yeah, cause you're, are you 80? 80. You do not, my dad's not 80. And they, the hurricane down in Florida. And I was like, 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. Hey, I still work out. I still walk and I still do whatever I can. I have to. Yeah.

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 wake up. I don't know, it was weird, but I'm staying in shape. I still stay in shape, stay in weight 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?

Not, no, I'm not really, it doesn't really hit me like that. I'll be like working on the yard, working to sweat or something. And you think about, uh, but why sir? Last said, rest of my feet. No, no, no, no, no, no. 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,

We got two, it's like, all right. What are we doing here today, anyway? We 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 you wouldn't, it's funny, a police no mother, I'll be speeding. They'll stop me. Trio, what the hell? Who are you going for so fast?

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 years up to 85.

What the hell you got in this? You know, I started dropping. He said, get out of the diamond, because I was... By yourself? By myself. I do that sometimes when the couple's up, I just go like this. And he says... He's still out of the diamond way, 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... It didn't have a clock. And so my uncle Gilbert used to deal with

And that's the second one, the black one up there on top. Oh, wow. And the... Oh, wow. And the... It's like a piggy blinders car. And we would drive... He would... 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 sensemia 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 so, and you ever pull up to a house, two joints, three joints, and we just keep driving. So, you know, hour and a half and we go back home. Oh, wow. And so, but that's why I got a 36 Dodge too. That's great. I love, can I tell you my favorite thing that Mexican men, it seemed to own, is the whistle.

It's like my buddy Felipe does it all the time. And I always wonder, are there different whistles for different things? Or is it one whistle? That means danger. Yeah.

What's the whistle with? You see like a beautiful chick and you're trying to tell your friends. We're a parrot. That's so fucking badass. That's my car. That's your actual car. Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful. How many cars do you have?

I think nine low riders, nine different low riders, yeah. I gotta, I'm building right now in the most gorgeous, 19, uh, 19, 49 Chevy step-side pickup truck. Oh, wow. Absolutely stunningly gorgeous. Oh, my gosh. The black one. The black one.

a five-window, but it's beautiful. Car culture is, I feel like it's, I feel like it's predominantly an LA 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 LA is into a car, a different type of car. Absolutely.

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, uh,

They're all, God, I love them. Well, if I remember songs and cars together, I can go like, I remember the first time I heard NWA. We were in 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. I was Bob Dylan. You used to run around in and down, 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 is still beyond, you know? And you're damn. Did you? I remember that. And he was like, you know, he'd go back to so many songs. Yeah. Were you the same age as Richie Ballons? No, he's a lower 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.

Do you remember when Ritchie Valens came out? I don't know what it is about Mexican culture that I'm obsessed with, but all those movies came out when in a time where not much representation of Mexican culture was shown. And so there's like weird things that I'm obsessed with, the zoot suit riots and like because they were all parts of movies that I saw, but man, Ritchie Valens, I

I was obsessed with him because he was the one guy dating the white chick that was authentically Mexican. 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 sweet arts. I knew Richie. We started talking and I had to do this

What is it? Project ceramics. Yeah. And here we'll just do this. And we did a wine glass and rocks and we put it in the kiln. And it's beautiful wine. I still wish I had it.

That was it, and I passed the claps. 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? Indian dude?

Oh, Ash. Yeah. Are you kidding? Yeah, isn't that crazy? God. Yeah. So we saw that. Sidebar. We used to get Trejo's tacos all the time for parties. Yeah. 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 are they getting a divorce? Yeah. Oh, really? 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 10. It's us.

That's what my fourth wife finally said. It's not us. It's you. I gotta tell you, if anyone's gonna 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 number one,

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 gonna be my new thing.

As 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 as an old lady who you were helping her take her trash cans in and she thought she was getting robbed. And you, you God pays us back.

I mean, like I said, a Mario Castillo when I talked to him in Quentin. And eight years later, after I met him, I run into him in an narcotics anonymous meeting. I don't know if I told you, but I run into him in an narcotics anonymous meeting. And 10 years ago, he saved my son's life. Literally, my son was dying in a hotel room with friends with my son.

He's got the key to my safe, you know, so I'm in Germany and he's got money and he's got money, he's got drugs, he's got friends around you. And so, I mean, he's literally dying. And Misko, who was a friend of my son, who grew up with me, look at that. And he calls me, he says, man, come on, she's got that door in her.

So I call Mario, don't worry, I'll find him, I'll find him. I'm ready to split, I'm gonna 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 about him. Yeah, he's here, yeah, he don't got no shoes, but I got him. And it was funny, because the two guards that were guarding this

this crack house, right? I didn't know, but I knew one of them knew me and one of them said, who was that crazy? He came up and said, don't move. I'll kill both of you. And Mario, if you look at Chicano Gangster in the dictionary, it's got his picture. Don't mess. And he's not like that big. It's a tank.

And then I got home three days later, we took him to a friend of mine's recovery house, Renee, and it was a 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 route. 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 they know God. He'll pay you back. Maybe not 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? 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, hey, at Danny's funeral, we're gonna play three movies. And then these are his movies. The funeral's gonna be a five hour funeral. I would say, spy kids. Yeah, fuck yes.

Oh fucking I keep looking into the room how great was he I know you were in it so you can't really say but that fucking movie was we would

That was in first round sound. 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 we were doing Despere, and

Robert asked me, uh, Danny, do you remember this, do you know this French director that did something blah, blah, blah, blah, come on and watch a friend? And I started to say something and it was, oh, I, you know what? I loved it. They started talking. They spent the rest of the night talking about, uh,

the idea of moving. Me and my daughter played with our food. But they became really good friends. And Robert De Niro gave my son the key to Texas University because he donated all his memorabilia there.

And so my son got to go in there and check it all out. And then my son's got his phone number. And what a crazy cat. I'm a little vouchy over. Well, I did heat. And me and De Niro kind of made friends. And then when we asked him to do much, 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 Patino. And I always say like Val Kilmer's character, and that's so underrated. Oh, yeah. It's such a, it's such a. You know what? Well, I was so upset that he didn't win an Oscar for Tombstone. 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 could quote American me and blood in blood out or 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, what a great... I did a film recently just came out, it's called a...

seven cemeteries about plumbers and stuff and then we've got right now we've got uh... unearth unearth on history channel yeah yeah eight episodes coming out by the way history channels got my number i love everything they thought 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 Shatter, it's not a podcast if I don't tell you a story about me. William Shatter one time. I took a general meeting with him. Oh, I met with him in a podcast and we were 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 Shatter's way, he goes, can you cry?

And I said, I think so. I said, but it's kind of silly because 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's like,

fascinating. He's unbelievable. You know, it'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 said, show me, you know, we're walking to his body. And I'm supposed to cry in it, right? Well, I, you know, I can do like John Wayne. Okay, pilgrim. My son's showing me baby pictures all week. You know, I look what I found, man. And this my daughter, yeah, baby.

And so, when the scene around the middle of the damn desert is freezing cold, she's taken me to his body, and my line is, did you kill my son? And she screams, 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?

This was like muckles, you know I couldn't stop, man. 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 like a nice acting dad. You little bitch.

You know, I finally figured out what he did, you know? And God, man, it's like, that's going to con right now, that this movie. Is it really? Yeah, yeah, so that's...

You guys, 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. You know all the episodes? No, I just don't. I see some of them. And they were amazing. I like history anyway. I never 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,

Right? She was like crazy about the Navajo Indians. I forget. But she was also obsessed with what do you call it?

Amazon River. And that's got such a history. I mean, 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 jar. Might get hungry. But she always talked about this river and this

And I would always disrupt it. I hated the fact that I'm studying the damn Amazon River in the fourth grade. Come on, I'm never getting out of LA, lady. And we got an LA River here. Tell us about that one, you know. Fifty years later, I'm doing a movie called Anaconda.

dang it all over the damn amazon river yeah you're on the amazon river ice cube j-low j-low uh... john void who i know it eric stokes all these guys are asking questions that crazy lady gave me the answer i know the answer hey how come those are all the all that's due to the rise and fall blue cube ice cube goes

I didn't know all that shit, Daniel, that you were a gangster. I lied. I said, you know, I read a lot when I was in prison. Come on, I'm until Ice Cube. Oh, my fourth-grade teacher mentioned family 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, you're older than me or 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 the few books we have were like on the Bermuda Triangle and like Atlantis. And everything about this series is stuff that I'm fascinated with, especially the first episode I saw

It's all about, I just watched this, 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.

Yeah. Like those first three years, we got to be exhausting. We were learning shake. You don't care about it. I just want to do the digging and then grab the lady and get in the plane. God, God. I was, you know, so funny because 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. Yeah. 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 gradient was like history. And no one stopped them. But it's so funny. The stuff that's really, really interesting, you just really don't need to know.

Math is interesting, but you really need 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 with this I was like all this 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 gonna get you out of here. Congratulations on the series on earth The 10th we have eight episodes

Okay, I'll cover it. Congratulations on the new series Mystery Is 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. I'm a chitte. I knew it. I fucking knew it. I get the girl. It's so funny. I love to do that. People say, God, I thought you were taller. Why was taller than I was the kid's Jessica Alba?

Oh, yeah. She's awesome. She was just so unbelievable. Professional. It's like it's crazy. And I don't know how to say it. It's like, sell my eye, same thing. Tell my beautiful lady, right? And she's, when we were doing, from Dust to Dawn, they had hired all these strippers from different clubs.

to work because they got to be naked. And Selma was like,

It's so almost crying. What the hell's wrong with these women? They're so beautiful. Bitch, what the hell's wrong with you? But no, but see, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It's like how we feel about ourselves and God. I said, yeah, two minutes, I'll be brushing your hair. Two minutes early.

And she just brought the mirror. She's so... How did he say it?

Humboldt. Humboldt. And I bet it. It'd be so beautiful to Humboldt, shit. 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 fan of just the man. The work is amazing, but the man, you are a legend, just an absolute legend.

Do you hear that? Thank you brother.