In 1995, Robert Rodriguez promised Danny Trejo a starring role. It took 14 years and “780,000 phone calls” to make it happen

After years of waiting, Danny Trejo finally got the starring role Robert Rodriguez had promised him in the action film *Machete*. The film grew from Rodriguez’s idea for a Mexican B-movie action hero and gave Trejo one of his rare leading roles.

Rodriguez began developing the script in 1995, but the project gained momentum after a fake *Machete* trailer appeared in *Grindhouse* in 2007. Trejo described asking when the film would be made through “14 years and 780,000 phone calls”; the 2010 film featured an eclectic cast including Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba and Steven Seagal, and Trejo received some of his strongest reviews.