Danny Trejo also shares a story of getting paid $500 to sign a giant tortoise.
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Though he only appeared in two episodes, Danny Trejo shined in Breaking Bad with his memorable role as Tortuga. In the show’s second season, Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) meets with Trejo’s Tortuga, a cartel drug runner secretly serving as a criminal informant to the DEA. He explains in the scene how he gets his Tortuga nickname as someone who will “take my time but I always win.”
While Tortuga doesn’t survive the episode, Trejo reprised the role for a flashback scene the following season. The scene revealed how Tortuga met his end at the hands of the Salamanca twins, Marco (Luis Moncada) and Leonel (Daniel Moncada). Looking back upon this role in a new interview with GQ, Trejo recalled how he was invited back for season 3 despite his character’s death because of how popular he was with fans.
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“Breaking Bad. I love that, and you know what? Tortuga, it was received so well that – writ another one and called me back and did the first part… Yeah, I remember that scene was awesome. When I was sitting in the bed talking to the feds. ‘Yeah, I’m slow, but I always win.'”
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Danny Trejo Signed a Tortoise Because of His Breaking Bad Role
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Along with how Trejo played the part, the way Tortuga was killed also made his role stand out as among the most memorable of the show. After Hank and the DEA staked out a location given to them by the informant, they discovered a lone tortoise on the ground with Tortuga’s severed head placed on top along with the message: “Hola DEA.” A hidden explosive device then triggers, wounding several agents.
Because of this scene, Trejo was once presented with what must be among the most unusual things he’s ever been asked to sign. He recalls how he was approached by a group of fans in the UK with a literal tortoise that they offered him a fast, easy $500 to autograph. Trejo was happy to oblige, signing the animal’s shell while writing the same message that was left for the DEA agents in the series.
“When I was in London, these guys came up with this tortoise about this big. Took three guys to carry, it’s huge! And they said, ‘We’ll give you $500 if you sign it.’ ‘Oh, you got it!’ So, I signed it ‘Tortuga,’ and ‘Hola DEA,’ you know. And made myself 500 bucks!”
Breaking Bad can be found streaming on Netflix.
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