As far as merciless villains go, Danny Trejo‘s got the whole package: the oversized muscles, the pockmarked face, the ingrained scowl, and of course, his gravelly East L.A. drawl. It’s an enviable CV that’s kept the aging ex-con steadily employed since he first broke into the biz back in the mid-80s, and now that same raspy growl has landed him a part voicing El Moco, a bandit king who makes an appearance in DreamWorks’ Shrek-inspired Netflix series, The Adventures of Puss in Boots.
The animated spinoff follows the adventures of that colorful, swashbuckling cad — er, cat — who first charmed parentally-guided audiences with the voice of Antonio Banderas in 2004’s smash hit Shrek 2, and has since appeared in a slew of sequels, prequels, and television specials. Described by Trejo as a perfectly evil foil to Puss in Boots’ charismatic Iberian good guy, El Moco has thus far only appeared in one episode of Season 1, but Trejo suggested that the square-jawed villain will be back with more dramatic weight in future episodes.
Since its premiere earlier this year, The Adventures of Puss in Boots has racked up critical acclaim for the DreamWorks team’s attractive animation as well as the show’s sophisticated humor. After premiering on January 16, the series has been released in blocks of five 22-minute episodes and will total 26 episodes by year’s end. Trejo’s voice work on the show is just another notch in an increasingly diversified belt of acting roles that has found the Echo Park native taking on increasingly comedic and family-friendly roles.