Danny Trejo has carved out his place in movie and TV history. From Machete to King of the Hill, audiences never forget his performances. They’ve also fallen in love with him as a public figure, from his books to the huge popularity of Trejo’s Tacos. In his HISTORY series Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo, viewers see a bit of both sides. Danny is playing himself, and he’s also making these obscure stories as exciting as they should be.

Before the Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo Season 2 premiere, Danny spoke about what it’s like for him to play himself on television. He talked about his appreciation for history as a whole, and some of what’s coming in the new episodes. Plus, he reflected on some of his many roles, both scripted and unscripted.

Brittany Frederick: What interested you in hosting Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo? Where did your love of history come from originally?

Danny Trejo: History is the only thing I got a good grade on. I was not a good student, but I loved history. I love anything to do with the past, because [with] the past, you kind of look into the future. San Quentin prison used to be a ship out in San Francisco Bay—that’s history. And who discovered America, the Vikings… And so I absolutely accepted when they asked.

And I love William Shatner [who hosts HISTORY’s The UnXplained]. William Shatner, Star Trek, he’s been a hero of mine forever.

What did you love about coming back for Season 2? Did anything particularly stand out to you?

I came to the second season and I looked at it, and I loved it. They found Jackie Robinson’s bat, and sports I love. And then I went and checked all the bats I’ve got, to see if they belonged to anybody. [Laughs.]

They found a World War II tank on the set of a John Wayne movie, and John used the tank, and that was amazing. And then the last episode—they found a million dollars worth of gold coins hidden in the gas tank of a tank.

That kind of stuff reminds me of when I was young, and we’d go through abandoned houses and find all these old paintings and stuff, and didn’t even think twice. Just passed them up. And then somebody finds a Rembrandt buried in a wall or something. They found a Superman comic book buried in a wall, worth millions of dollars.

Read the rest of this interview at Fangirlish.

Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo airs Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on HISTORY. Photo Credit: Carlos Jaramillo/Courtesy of HISTORY.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.