‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Star Benicio del Toro Shares the Secret to Being No. 1 on the Call Sheet (Exclusive)

Academy Award-winning actor Benicio del Toro dished on scoring the lead role in director Wes Anderson’s latest film in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.

Del Toro, 58, plays the lead role of European businessman Zsa-zsa Korda who is planning to hand off his estate to his only daughter, a nun named Liesl (played by Mia Threapleton) in Anderson’s new comedy, The Phoenician Scheme, in theaters May 30. The actor first collaborated with Anderson in 2021, when he starred in the dramedy The French Dispatch alongside Tilda Swinton and Timothée Chalamet. However, this time around, he’s taking center stage.

When asked his secret to being No. 1 on the call sheet, del Toro shared that taking the spotlight requires a different approach. “When you’re a lead actor, you have to keep an eye on the story,” he exclusively told Us while on the red carpet for the New York City premiere of the movie on Wednesday, May 28.

Having begun his acting career in the late ‘80s, the actor is no stranger to the industry. However, he says that playing a main character warrants a different approach. “You have to learn how to pace yourself a little bit,” he said, noting that it’s important to keep an eye on the bigger picture.

The Puerto Rico native compared his approach to running a race and noted that his smaller roles in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy are a little different. “When you do a smaller part, you almost come in and you’re like a sprinter,” he told Us. “You got to go really hard.”

In contrast, Del Toro’s preparation for his starring role in The Phoenician Scheme required the mindset of a distance runner. “When you’re playing a lead, like I do in this film, you just need to pace yourself.” He noted that thinking one step ahead can be helpful for him when playing the leading man, sharing that it’s crucial for an actor to “know what’s coming, and what you need to do to get from point A to point B.”

The Oscar winner is joined by a star-studded cast for the film, including names like Tom Hanks, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson and Michael Cera.

The leading man left an impression on his costars, including Hope Davis. She revealed her favorite memory from filming was a quiet one.

“I’ll remember eating pastrami sandwiches with Benicio del Toro,” Davis, 61, told Us at Wednesday’s premiere. “He has a lot of young orphan boys that are part of the family. I play Mother Superior, and we all eat pastrami sandwiches for lunch. We just shot a lot of silent footage of everyone just crunching on potato chips and eating pastrami sandwiches. That was a very sweet moment.”