Map Of Hell

Special National Geographic (*181) 21:00 Doccie

Danny Trejo is the stereotypical Mexican bad guy. He’s covered in tattoos. Every sentence has a Mexican slang word or two. And he’s the first to admit that he went “through hell in prison”. That’s what makes the tough guy the perfect host for Map Of Hell (2017-current), a doccie series that investigates the idea of hell and its 3 000-year-old history.

The 72-year-old was born in Echo 1

Park, a traditionally Latin American suburb of LA and it’s where he got involved in construction, thanks to his building foreman father Dan Sr.

Despite his strict mom Alice, the 2

actor was always in trouble with the law and by 25, he’d been behind bars in six juvenile detention centres and prisons, including San Quentin.

His stay in San Quentin saved his 3

life and Danny says that “me and a couple of other inmates were facing the gas chamber for starting a prison riot – a lot of people got hurt. I prayed and a year later I was released. I’ve prayed to God every day since”.

The infamous San Francisco prison 4

is also where he discovered two of his favourite pastimes – Danny was the prison boxing champ and he learnt to make “a killer spaghetti sauce on kitchen duty,” he laughs.

Despite his tough-guy exterior, 5

he’s a family man (he has three kids with his ex-wife Debbie – they split in 2009 after 12 years) and loves watching family films like Disney’s Aladdin (1992) and The Lion King (1994).

He’s also 100% clean and sober 6

and says that he hasn’t had alco-hol or drugs in more 45 years.

Danny became a drug counsellor 7

after leaving prison and explains that “being the guy from [2010 action film] Machete makes kids listen!”