'Bad Ass' Danny Trejo: Actors who do their own stunts are crazy

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Danny Trejo on playing the tough guy

Danny Trejo talks about always being cast as the tough guy and his movie stunts.

NEW YORK – Danny Trejo has starred in blockbusters like "Machete," "Con Air," and "Badass."  His latest is the sequel to fan-favorite "Bad Ass" – "Bad Asses" – which is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. He joined us in the FOX411 studio to talk about why he continues to be cast as the tough guy, and calls out Hollywood actors who claim to do their own stunts.

FOX411: Define "badass."

Danny Trejo: I would say somebody who doesn’t take too many steps backwards. Just somebody who is going to stand up for what’s right, sees something wrong and wants to change it, and no steps backwards.

FOX411: The tagline of "Bad Asses" is, “They messed with the wrong senior citizen.” Do you think that this movie is going to change the way people think about aging?

Trejo: I think so. I also think that age is nothing but a number. I’m getting up there and I still work out.  I still do whatever I have to do.

FOX411: You’ve worked with some of Hollywood’s most beautiful actresses like Sofia Vergara and Jessica Alba. Who is your favorite?

Trejo: I love them all but one of my best buddies is a little girl named Michelle Rodriguez. She’s absolutely stunningly gorgeous but it’s funny someone once asked me, “If you were in a bar fight, who would you ever have, and they had a whole list of names of girls, and I said everyone that you mentioned would dial 911 to save me, but Michelle Rodriguez would pick up a bottle, and start whacking people.

FOX411: Speaking of whacking people, you’ve done a lot of your own stunts, right?

Trejo: No. First of all, making movies is a business. Now all you actors that want to disagree me, I dare you. The reality is insurance companies won’t let us do our own stunts. We have professionals, just like I’m a professional artist. What I do is, “To be or not to be in the barrio,” that’s what I do. A stunt guy pads up and goes through a wall. That’s his profession. Every time the profession’s mixed, I don’t want to risk 80 people’s jobs just so I can say I have big nuts. I don’t want to say that. Norm Mora is my stunt man, that’s his profession.

FOX411: How has your journey impacted you, because at 13, you got into trouble with the law, you were in and out of jail. What would you want to say to this generation of kids?

Trejo: I think if I had just gone to jail and stuff, I would just be like a regular person. I’m still a regular person but the blessing God’s given me is when you talk to kids you first have to get their attention which is impossible because they have none, and then you have to keep their attention which is impossible because of number one. And then you have to show them you’re cool which is impossible because if you’re ten years older than them then you’re not cool. Then, you deliver your message.  My message is anything is possible without drugs and alcohol, anything is possible with education. It’s the key to success in anything you want to do.