Benicio Del Toro has certainly played his share of damaged men.

But in a recent interview, he expressed a desire to go more upbeat, perhaps even take on the lead in a romantic comedy.

"I'd like to mix it up. I'd like to play something a bit lighter," he said. "I don't think I necessarily seek out these (dark) roles. But indirectly I might be seeking them out in some ways...I’ve always played the guy with the gun and the knife." Indeed. Traffic and The Usual Suspects prove him right.

As Dr. Gonzo in Terry Gilliam's unjustly maligned Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Del Toro had a number of funny moments, albeit darkly funny. That film shares with Annie Hall the gold medal for best scene involving an accidental loss of drugs.

Halle Berry, Del Toro's co-star in the upcoming Things We Lost in the Fire (directed by Susanne Bier and opening October 26th) said of him "I learned a lot from watching his sort of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, stay-in-the-moment method.  And working that way, when it works, creates moments on screen that are just magical."  So...improvisational romantic comedy, even?

Side note: in Things We Lost in the Fire, Berry's character loses her husband in random act of violence. In The Brave One, which opens tomorrow, Jodie Foster's character loses her husband in random act of violence. Two's a trend?