The Switchblade: 'Machete' Star Danny Trejo Is Anti-Violence

With his craggy face, muscled chest, prison tattoos and long black hair, Machete star Danny Trejo looks every part the villain. And at one point, he was. But not any more.

Long before he was a frequent face in action movies, Trejo was most often photographed for his mugshots. The Mexican-American from Los Angeles ran in gangs, robbed stores, was addicted to drugs and spent years in and out of prison.

But Trejo hasn't been in prison for more than 40 years (That's right; he's 66 years young!), and when he isn't on a movie set, he's out helping to make sure that other kids don't make the same mistakes he did.

Trejo is a frequent visitor to schools and prison programs, where he urges kids and young adults to stay off drugs, get an education and make something of their lives.

"I work with Pacific Rehab and work with drug addicts and alcoholics, communities and schools in the Valley," Trejo recently told Movies.com. I’m also working with Homeboy Industries right now."

Why does he do it?

"In prison there's only two kinds of people, predators and prey," he told The New York Daily News in 2007. "After being a predator for so long, I realized the only way I could stay out was dedicating my life to helping people. And it's worked for a long time."

Machete reunites Trejo with his frequent collaborator, director Robert Rodriguez, with whom he worked on films like Desperado and the Spy Kids franchise. Machete opens today, Sept. 3.

Photo by Dana Gonzales via Flickr.