There are many ways that Danny Trejo can be described: the tough guy, the hero or a general badass. But he is more than just the roles he has played on the big screen. In addition to acting, Trejo regularly speaks about his life experiences, including a stint in prison and recovery from drug addiction.

To kick off 2025 Family Weekend, the SIU Student Programming Council invited Trejo to campus on Oct. 2, where he talked about his life story, experiences while acting and his lifelong progress of rehabilitated success during an event at Shryock Auditorium. Fifteen guests — each allowed to bring two friends — were given the chance to meet Trejo at the end of the panel and ask him questions directly.

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Trejo started out as a lightweight boxing champ at California’s San Quentin State Prison after his incarceration in 1965. He went on to receive the welterweight championship at the same prison and became a well-known boxer. 

After he was released from prison, Trejo became a heroin rehab counselor at Western Pacific Med Corp. While working for Med Corp, he was called to the set of “Runaway Train” to aid in the recovery of a client on the verge of a relapse. A screenwriter on the set, Eddie Bunker, recognized Trejo from their time in San Quentin State Prison. Bunker offered Trejo the job of training actor Eric Roberts for his role. Andrei Konchalovsky offered Trejo a small role for his exhibited talent while training Roberts. That was the beginning of his acting career.

Trejo went on to act in many beloved films, most notably “Machete” in 2010.

Away from set, Trejo is a family and community-oriented man. His connection with his children has helped keep him grounded from falling too deep into the action-packed personas of his career, he said during the event Thursday. 

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“I’ve got people around me to keep me in check,” Trejo said, referencing how his son will set him straight if need be. 

Trejo often mentioned his children during the panel, but along with his love for family, he spoke of his love for food.

In 2016, an on-set joke of opening a taco joint became a reality for Trejo. He opened his first location of Trejo’s Tacos in Los Angeles in March of that year. Since then, the single location has expanded across California, with one located in Chicago. Trejo’s Tacos is also a waste-free business, where loss of profit is a benefit to those in the community. They do not waste what is left at the end of the night, instead they hand it out to those in need, Trejo said.

His restaurant options have expanded, as well, to include Trejo’s Coffee and Donuts where he is “not allowed in because he eats all the profits,” he joked during the panel.

With the restaurant business, Trejo has played a large role in being an activism-oriented actor. He stands for causes of sobriety and recovery, prison reformation, Latin representation in media, and animal rights and welfare. 

Trejo turning his life around from a person in active addiction to a rehabilitated drug counselor has been an inspiration to many people who silently struggle with those trials themselves. His success is a sign for others that they have resources and opportunity to look for rehabilitation and reform into the people they aim to be.

In 2015, Trejo spoke in favor of a California penal code that would permit inmates who were sentenced as a juvenile and have aged out of detention facilities to be permitted parole hearings for reformation. His mission is to inspire inmates to follow the 12-step program to a life of rehabilitation. Even in his movies, he will not let the bad guy win as a lesson to the younger audience.

During a question-and-answer session during the panel, he was asked by a fan how Latin representation in the media has changed during his career. 

“I won’t do a film unless there are Latins in it. Representation has greatly improved since I started,” Trejo answered.

Trejo not only holds a heart full of compassion and love for his family and community, but for animals as well. He is a partner of Best Friends Animal Society and encourages people to adopt, not shop, from their local animal shelters. 

The fans were starstruck and touched to hear about Trejo’s past and present involvement outside of the acting studio. A few attendees that were chosen for the meet and greet with him shared their experiences about how he has impacted their own lives.

One fan who shared an ambitious admiration for him was Sylvia Przybylowski, a Hispanic woman and SIU alum. Przybylowski has already completed seven years of recovery and is currently a substance abuse counselor. She grew up watching Trejo with her mom and views him as an inspiration because of his story. 

“He’s a huge inspiring person from where he came from to where he is now and it’s something that reminds me that life is so precious and that you can really do anything you put your mind to,” Przybylowski said. 

A current student, E, said that Trejo was a large part of his childhood in “Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies.” 

“I feel like he’s underrated for his role in ‘Call of Duty,’” E said. “In a personal opinion, it was refreshing for someone to mention one of Trejo’s non-normative roles in media along with his presence in ‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’ and the TV series, ‘Rick and Morty.’” 

E also said Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would be a great speaker for next year’s Family Weekend.

Staff reporter Carmen J. Tapley can be reached at [email protected]. 

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