Danny Trejo Shares Remarkable Life Story in Trailer for New Doc ‘Inmate #1’

Danny Trejo recounts his incredible life story, from criminal to celebrity, in the new trailer for Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo. The film is set to arrive on digital platforms July 7th.

Inmate #1 was directed by Brett Harvey, and the new trailer offers an overview of its scope, starting with Trejo’s troubled childhood. From a young age, Trejo struggled with addiction and violence — he recalls burying a sawed-off shotgun and a hand grenade in his mother’s backyard — and frequently found himself in prison. But he eventually turned his life around, and it was his new role as a drug counselor that actually led to his first ever acting job in the 1985 film Runaway Train.

While Runaway Train kickstarted Trejo’s acting career, success certainly didn’t come quickly: Inmate #1 takes its titles from the kinds of lackluster roles Trejo was regularly cast in during his first few years. But Trejo’s his profile rose with turns in films like Con Air and Reindeer Games, and by the mid-2000s he was a bonafide star and leading man thanks to his recurring role as Machete, a character that  originated, oddly enough, in the Spy Kids franchise, but went on to appear most famously in the definitely-not-family-friendly flicks Grindhouse and Machete.

Inmate #1 will feature extensive interviews with Trejo, as well as his close family and friends. It will also boast appearances from Robert Rodriguez, Michelle Rodriguez, Donal Logue and Cheech Marin.