Guillermo del Toro, director: I only make movies for art

“I have never made a movie I didn't believe was necessary for me or for someone in the world, whether to entertain or to connect at a spiritual level or something. It's been only done for the art.”

John Wilson speaks to Oscar-winning Mexican director, screenwriter, and producer, Guillermo del Toro about his life and career.

Born in Guadalajara in 1964, his life suddenly changed at the age of five after his father, then a motorcycle racer, won the lottery. While his parents travelled the world with the winnings, del Toro was raised at home by his Catholic great aunt, a deeply religious figure who exposed him to concepts including purgatory and sin.

Fascinated and frightened in equal measure, it piqued his interest in the supernatural, leading him to seek out books and films on the genre. And when his father presented him with a video camera a few years later, the two interests combined and set the young del Toro on a path to becoming an Oscar winner renowned for making films that mix fantasy, horror, and Gothic romance, to create modern fairy tales.

Thank you to the This Cultural Life team for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, and artificial intelligence pioneer Mustafa Suleyman. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: John Wilson Producers: Ben Cooper and Edwina Pitman Editor: Damon Rose

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Guillermo del Toro. Credit: Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images for Santa Barbara International Film Festival)