When it comes to actors who look as if they could make it through any and all of life’s harshest experiences with unflinching persistence and determination, I’d easily put Machete star Danny Trejo somewhere around the top of that list. The actor’s Hollywood history speaks to that toughness, with his first credited role not happening until he was 43 years old, following several years of working behind the scenes and playing extras. But Trejo is obviously filled with the same feelings as anyone, and he recently recalled the tragic-yet-comforting story about facing a total emotional implosion caused by the most unexpected source: Kermit the Frog.
The 2011 feature Muppets Most Wanted is where Danny Trejo first partnered up with The Muppets, playing an inmate within the Gulag alongside Ray Liotta, Jemaine Clement, Tom Hiddleston and others. It was an experience he’ll never forget, and definitely not only because he put his musical skills on display. Sadly, the actor’s mother passed away in the midst of the film’s UK production, and his initial attempts to maintain a stoic stance while filming was rather quickly thwarted by the marquee Muppet himself. While answering fans questions during a panel at Fan Expo Dallas’s 2023 event, Trejo was asked about his working relationship with the Jim Henson-created group, and recalled how the “Rainbow Connection” performer caused an emotional implosion on the set. In his words:
Wow, that's an experience. You know what, when I was doing Muppets Most Wanted, I was in England. And The Muppets, you don't talk to The Muppets if they're laying down. You can't take pictures with them; you can only take a picture if they're up. There's rules for them. And my mom passed away while I was doing Muppets Most Wanted. I had about three, four or five days left in England. I was leaving. I'd just called my agent to say my mom's gone, then Mary, my secretary, called me and said, 'Don't! Stay there. You'll get in the way. We're planning this, we're doing this.' So I stayed, and everybody was coming up and [saying] 'Hey, Danny…’ and I have a way of kind of shutting down, you know? Not feeling nothing, like 'Yeah, it's okay,' and kind of pushing everybody away and just doing what I had to do. And then that damn frog. [Laughs.] Kermit comes up and goes, 'Danny, I'm really sorry about your mom.' And just like that - [whistles] - I broke for the bathroom, like 'Oh no!'
In no possible way, shape, or form would I have been able to offer a response that wasn’t just “dashing away before bawling” if I were in a similar position. So power to the Desperado actor for being able to make it through Kermit’s entire thought before making a beeline for the bathroom.
He continued, sharing why he still feels to this day that it was his mother's beyond-the-ethers bidding that led to that moment.
And I know my mom sent him. I know my mom sent that frog. With my dad. I didn't cry, I was just stone. But that frog got me. And so the experience I had with the Muppets was real.
Danny Trejo shared an expanded version of the tale in his autobiography Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood, which was co-written with his Reindeer Games co-star Donal Logue. In it, he talked about how co-star Ray Liotta followed him into the bathroom, and how ridiculous it seemed after the fact that two of the most seemingly intimidating actors in Hollywood were both turned to mush by a faux frog. Albeit through the prism of highly talented puppeteer Steve Whitmire and the green-collared entertainment icon he was handling.
As hardcore fans of The Muppets and/or Trejo are likely well aware, the L.A. native has become one of the felt-faced comedy squad’s go-to celebrities across both the big and small screen, and he’s appeared in each of the original Disney+ projects: Muppets Now, Muppets Haunted Mansion and the recent tune-a-licious comedy The Muppets Mayhem. (They can all be streamed in full now with a Disney+ subscription.) To that end, the actor talked about just how easy it is to fall into the mindset that Muppets are just as genuinely real as those who bring them to life, saying:
Let me tell you something, you will be talking to them like they're real. You'll be up there like 10 minutes, all of a sudden you're talking to him. I took one of the autistic kids that I work with one time to the set when we were doing another Muppets movie. And he started talking to them. And then he went and wrote a script, a whole Muppets movie. [Laughs.]
That story is nearly as sweet as the one about empathetic Kermit. I bet that kid had as big a blast as anyone on any Muppets project set, especially if it inspired an entire script. While it likely won't ever come to fruition, I hope to hear in a few years about that kid growing up to join the troupe in some capacity, with Danny Trejo as the first guest star he brings in.
