Guillermo del Toro Gómez (born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, actor, and former special effects makeup artist. He is best known for the Academy Award-winning fantasy films Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017), winning the Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for the latter.
Throughout his career, del Toro has shifted between personal, lower-budget Spanish language films, such as Cronos (1993) and The Devil’s Backbone (2001), and Hollywood tentpoles, including Mimic (1997), Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), and Pacific Rim (2013). He also directed the gothic romance film Crimson Peak (2015). As a producer, he worked on the films The Orphanage (2007), Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010), The Hobbit film series(2012–14), Mama (2013), The Book of Life (2014), and Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018).