Executive Director Roger Durling called it the biggest night of his 23 year reign at the helm of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) as Benecio del Toro, Sean Penn and Leonardo DiCaprio took to the Arlington stage Monday night.
Moderator Pete Hammond, after whom the award has now been renamed the “Hammond Cinema Vanguard Award”, observed that the frenzied crowd outside the theater rivaled those at Cannes.
Indeed, having three actors of such longevity, fame and talent sharing the same stage is truly remarkable. All three appear in director Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar season juggernaut, One Battle After Another (OBAA). DiCaprio is nominated for Best Actor and Penn and del Toro compete for Best Supporting Actor.
As an aside, I took an informal poll of friends, mostly women but a few men, about who was sexiest. Del Toro was the hands down winner. When asked why, one friend said, “he just is.”
Hammond started the evening by saying that not since Brando, Pacino and Caan appeared in the Godfather had such an assemblage of male talent been in the same film. The event unfolded with a brief review of each actor’s career and then a discussion of OBAA.
There were many interesting anecdotes and insights revealed throughout the evening. The three actors’ careers had crossed paths previously, along with Paul Thomas Anderson’s.
DiCaprio said he was up for consideration as lead appendage, Dirk Diggler, in Anderson’s ‘70s LA porn epic, Boogie Nights. However, Titanic got in the way of that casting. Penn said he had first heard about DiCaprio when he went “toe-to-toe” with Robert DeNiro in the 1993 film, A Boy’s Life. Del Toro was in Indian Runner and the Pledge, both directed by Penn.
DiCaprio was asked about his performance in Wolf of Wall Street. He said the real life huckster-protagonist, Jordan Belfort, was his character, enthusiastically giving DiCaprio advice on how to sell stock when on set. While the film has been seen as a glorification of excess, DiCaprio noted that its intent was exactly the opposite.
DiCaprio went on to say that Wolf of Wall Street and the Aviator, about Howard Hughes, were the two films that he championed and got made over the course of his career.
About his start, he said he grew up in a low income family and, as a teen television actor, could have chosen parts based on the salary. However, even back then, he chose parts based on the character and said he was “proud of his 17-year-old self” for having made those decisions. Back then, his dad told him Martin Scorsese was the guy to work with. Later in the evening, DiCaprio said he was about to embark on his 7th film with director Scorsese. DiCaprio said he loved working with Scorsese because he lives and breathes cinema and has a movie running in the background at his house all day long.
Next up, Hammond introduced del Toro by his full name, “Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez.” Del Toro said he had considered changing his name to Ben Dale, at which DiCaprio chimed in that his almost-name was Lenny Williams.
Del Toro commented that his role in the Penn directed film, the Pledge, had the biggest character arc in the shortest amount of time of all of his films. He also talked about his scene in OBAA where he does a distinctive little dance in the middle of the road after being pulled over by the cops under suspicion of drunk driving and sheepishly tells the officer he only had “a few small beers.” He said he doesn’t clearly remember delivering the line which has become an internet meme. Here’s an article that includes the clip: del Toro Few Small Beers Meme
Sean Penn admitted he doesn’t like to look at his work. So, he worked with the event production team to show clips that focused on good writing, not his acting. The first one features Penn and Robin Wright in a wonderfully absurd argument about dinner plans. Here is a link: Sean Penn Hurly Burly
The second clip was from the film All the King’s Men, based on Southern populist Louisiana governor Huey Long. Penn noted that the original 1949 film does not hold up and is “not a classic.” However, he was truly shocked at the critical drubbing his film received (it is at 12% on Rotten Tomatoes). Hammond drew parallels to the populism of America today. Penn had a different take on the common sentiment that “if we don’t learn from history, we are condemned to repeat it,” saying “we will repeat it.”
Lastly, there has been speculation that Penn’s insanely aggressive character in OBAA was inspired by Gregory Bovino who was in charge of ICE’s operation in Minneapolis. There are, indeed, similarities as this article describes. Hammond also observed that there are parallels between the Jeffrey Epstein secret society of the wealthy and influential, the Zodiac Club, and the Christmas Adventurers Club in OBAA.
Perhaps one of the funniest moments of the evening was a discussion of a hilarious scene in OBAA in which a dissipated DiCaprio is trying unsuccessfully to remember a password that is critical to his survival. The scene hits upon a universal experience. Here’s the clip: DiCaprio Password Clip.
To conclude the lively night, Paul Thomas Anderson came out to present the Cinema Vanguard Awards, jokingly comparing the actors to three bachelors on the Dating Game competing for the “Hammond Bachelor Award.”
Over the course of the evening, the breadth and depth of the three actors’ work became glaringly apparent, as well as their lifetime of movie stardom. As Anderson proclaimed, “the supply of proper fucking movie stars is running low but here’s three”.
The 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival takes place from February 4-14, 2026. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels and celebrity tributes are held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre and the new McHurley Film Center. Passes for the 2026 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org.
Quite an honor to have three of the most prominent male figures in the cinematic community to attend and accept awards in SB, and also proves the validity and importance of receiving such an award from the SBIFF. Bravo!