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Benicio del Toro, Oscar winner for his role in Traffic and one of the most versatile figures in international cinema, recently starred in an incident that was as surreal as it was cinematic.
The actor was temporarily detained by TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agents at Boston airport due to a misunderstanding regarding the contents of his carry-on luggage.
Everything happened while the actor was in transit to Los Angeles, carrying among his belongings the printed script of The Phoenician Scheme, his new film project directed by Wes Anderson.
Del Toro explained that he always prints his scripts in a very large font to make reading and organizing scenes easier. However, that peculiarity was the spark of the problem.
During a routine check, a security agent asked to inspect your backpack. Inside, he found the script with a troubling first scene titled: “Interior Airplane: Bomb”.
The content of the following scenes did not help alleviate the tension: "Interior Cockpit: Eject the Pilot" and "Crash" were the headings of the following pages.
“The boy is reading it and I say to him: it's a movie script”, Del Toro recounted in an interview on the show Late Night with Seth Meyers. But the alarm had already been triggered.
In response to the agent's concern, he left with the script in hand and returned accompanied by five TSA members. They carefully reviewed the pages of the document as Del Toro tried to explain the context.
The moment of greatest tension arrived when a supervisor joined the procedure.
According to the actor's account, it was then that the situation changed. “Finally, the supervisor arrived and looked at me; he must have recognized me, perhaps from Sicario or Traffic, and let me go,” Del Toro commented.
Although it was not a formal arrest, the actor was held long enough for the incident to become a memorable anecdote.
Far from showing annoyance, he expressed respect for the actions of the security personnel.
“They acted as they should have”, he acknowledged.
The protocol following September 11th
The TSA, the agency responsible for security checks at airports and other transportation systems, was created in 2001 as a direct response to the terrorist attacks of September 11.
Its mission is to ensure transportation safety in the United States through rigorous procedures and demanding standards.
Its headquarters in Virginia includes a permanent exhibition called Mission Hall: Remembering the Past, Informing the Future, which recounts the evolution of the agency and its role in threat prevention from its founding to the present day.
The exhibit underscores the TSA's commitment to integrity, professionalism, and vigilance—values that were reflected in the experience lived by Benicio del Toro.
The Phoenician Scheme: An international espionage plot
The movie that caused the misunderstanding is titled in Spanish La trama fenicia.
According to the synopsis published by the specialized portal FilmAffinity, the story follows Zsa-zsa Korda, a European magnate caught in a web of espionage alongside his daughter, a nun with whom he has a complex relationship.
The work, in the stylistic line of Wes Anderson, promises ironic dialogues, meticulous aesthetics, and a top-notch cast.
The incident with the TSA, although it had no legal consequences, added an unexpected layer of realism to the script: a scene that could very well have been written by Anderson himself.
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