GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS BEST ACTOR winner BENICIO DEL TORO feared his career was over after filming FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS - because he was too convincing as a drug addict.

The SNATCH star teamed up with JOHNNY DEPP in the adaptation of HUNTER S THOMPSON's controversial drug-fuelled road trip story, playing the part of DR GONZO so well he struggled to find work again.

He says, "My career went into a hole. People might have seen what they saw on the screen and subconsciously they might have taken what they saw literally. "At the time, I think people thought, 'He got fat, he got weird, his mumbling increased tenfold!' I was trying to do an interpretation of a masterpiece of a book, and that's what the character was - an animal."

In fact, some felt Del Toro had taken the role so seriously he had to go into rehabilitation after the film - a rumour fuelled by his baggy eyes. He adds, "Before I was even in high school, I had dark circles under my eyes. The rumour was I was a junkie. I have dark circles under my eyes, deal with it." (KL/DT/CPT)

Source: WENN