Giancarlo Esposito

Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito (Italian pronunciation: [dʒaŋˈkarlo dʒuˈsɛppe alesˈsandro eˈspɔːsito]) (born April 26, 1958) is a Danish-born American actor and director. He is best known for portraying Gus Fring in the AMC drama series Breaking Bad (2009–2011) and Better Call Saul (2017–present), for which he won a Critics' Choice Television Award and earned three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Giancarlo Esposito
Esposito at the 2017 South by Southwest
Born	Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito (1958-04-26) April 26, 1958 Copenhagen, Denmark
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor director producer
Years active	1966–present
Spouse(s)	Joy McManigal (m. 1995; div. 2015)
Children	4

Esposito's other television roles include Federal Agent Mike Giardello in the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street (1998–1999), Sidney Glass / Magic Mirror in the ABC supernatural drama series Once Upon a Time (2011–2017), Tom Neville in the NBC science fiction drama series Revolution (2012–2014), Dr. Edward Ruskins in the Netflix comedy-drama series Dear White People (2017–present), and Moff Gideon in the Disney+ space western drama series The Mandalorian (2019–present), the lattermost of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

He is also known for his appearances in several Spike Lee films, such as School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), and Malcolm X (1992). Esposito's other major films include King of New York (1990), Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991), Fresh (1994), The Usual Suspects (1995), Ali (2001), Last Holiday (2006), Gospel Hill (2008), Rabbit Hole (2010), The Jungle Book (2016), Money Monster (2016), Okja (2017), Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), and Stargirl (2020).

Early life

Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito was born in Copenhagen, the son of Giovanni "John" C. Esposito C. (1931–2002), an Italian stagehand and carpenter from Naples, and Elizabeth "Leesa" Foster (1926–2017), an African-American opera and nightclub singer from Alabama.[1][2][3][4]

When Esposito was six, his family moved from Copenhagen, Denmark to Manhattan, New York. He attended Elizabeth Seton College in New York and earned a two-year degree in radio and television communications.[5]

Career

Esposito made his Broadway debut at age eight, playing a enslaved child opposite Shirley Jones in the short-lived musical Maggie Flynn (1968), set during the New York Draft Riots of 1863.[6] He was also a member of the youthful cast of the Stephen Sondheim-Harold Prince collaboration Merrily We Roll Along, which closed with 16 performances and 56 previews in 1981.

During the 1980s, Esposito appeared in films such as Taps, Maximum Overdrive, King of New York, and Trading Places. He also performed in TV shows such as Miami Vice and Spenser: For Hire. He played J. C. Pierce, a cadet in the 1981 movie Taps.[7]

In 1988 he landed his breakout role as the leader ("Dean Big Brother Almighty") of the black fraternity "Gamma Phi Gamma" in director Spike Lee's film School Daze, exploring color relations at black colleges. Over the next four years, Esposito and Lee collaborated on three other movies: Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, and Malcolm X. During the 1990s Esposito appeared in the acclaimed indie films Night on Earth, Fresh and Smoke, as well as its sequel Blue in the Face. He also appeared in the mainstream film Reckless with Mia Farrow, and Waiting to Exhale starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. In 1995 Esposito was featured in a music video "California" by French superstar Mylene Farmer, directed by Abel Ferrara.

Esposito in 1998

Esposito played FBI agent Mike Giardello on the TV crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street. That role drew from both his African American and Italian ancestry. He played this character during the show's seventh and final season. Mike's estranged father, shift lieutenant Al Giardello, is portrayed as subject to racism, something Esposito's character practiced in School Daze. Another multiracial role was as Sergeant Paul Gigante in the television comedy, Bakersfield P.D.

In 1997 Esposito played the film roles of Darryl in Trouble on the Corner and Charlie Dunt in Nothing to Lose. Other TV credits include NYPD Blue, Law & Order, The Practice, New York Undercover, and Fallen Angels: Fearless.

Esposito has portrayed drug dealers (Fresh, Breaking Bad, King of New York, Better Call Saul), policemen (The Usual Suspects, Derailed), political radicals (Bob Roberts, Do the Right Thing), and a demonic version of the Greek God of Sleep Hypnos from another dimension (Monkeybone). In 2001, he played Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr. in Ali, and Miguel Algarín, friend and collaborator of Nuyorican poet Miguel Piñero, in Piñero.

In 2006 Esposito starred in Last Holiday as Senator Dillings, alongside Queen Latifah and Timothy Hutton. Also in 2006, he played an unsympathetic detective named Esposito in the 2005 film Hate Crime. The film explores homophobia.

Esposito played Robert Fuentes, a Miami businessman with shady connections, on the UPN television series South Beach. He has appeared in New Amsterdam and CSI: Miami. In Feel the Noise (2007), he played ex-musician Roberto, the Puerto Rican father of Omarion Grandberry's character, aspiring rap star "Rob".

He made his directorial debut with Gospel Hill (2008); he also produced the film and starred in it.

Esposito at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con

New York theater credits for Esposito include The Me Nobody Knows, Lost in the Stars, Seesaw, and Merrily We Roll Along. In 2008 he appeared on Broadway as Gooper in an African American production of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen and starring James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, and Terrence Howard.

From 2009 to 2011, Esposito appeared in seasons 2 through 4 of the AMC drama Breaking Bad, as Gus Fring, the head of a New Mexico-based methamphetamine drug ring. In the fourth season, he was the show's primary antagonist. He received critical acclaim for this role. He won the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama award at the 2012 Critics' Choice Television Awards and was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series award at the 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards, but lost to co-star Aaron Paul.

He appeared in the film Rabbit Hole (2010).

Esposito appeared in the first season of the ABC program Once Upon a Time, which debuted in October 2011. He portrayed the split role of Sidney, a reporter for The Daily Mirror in the town of Storybrooke, Maine, who is the Magic Mirror, possessed by The Evil Queen in a parallel fairy tale world.[8]

Esposito appeared in Revolution as Major Tom Neville, a central character who kills Ben Matheson in the pilot. He escorts a captured Danny to the capital Philadelphia of the Monroe Republic.[9]

Esposito also appeared in Community as a guest star for the episode entitled "Digital Estate Planning". He performed again in the fourth season, in the episode titled "Paranormal Parentage".[10] Esposito has additionally appeared in a video of the action role-playing sci-fi first-person shooter game Destiny, as well as plays The Dentist, a non-playable story character, in the game Payday 2.

He has joined the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. He played Ra's al Ghul in Son of Batman and Black Spider in Batman: Assault on Arkham. He had a recurring role in the first season of The Get Down on Netflix. In 2017, Esposito reprised his role as Gus Fring in the Breaking Bad prequel series, Better Call Saul. In 2019, he appeared in the first season finale of The Boys as Stan Edgar; he will reprise the character, in a more prominent role, in the second season.[11]

In 2016, Esposito voiced Akela in the film The Jungle Book, which was directed by Jon Favreau.[12] Esposito and Favreau would work together once again in the web series The Mandalorian in which Esposito appears in a starring role, while Favreau acts as an executive producer for the series and as its writer.[13] He plays the role of NY congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in the 2019 Epix series Godfather of Harlem.

In July 2020, Esposito began teasing his role in "a huge video game".[14] His role was later revealed as the main antagonist of Ubisoft's Far Cry 6, in which he would portray and voice Anton Castillo, the dictatorial ruler of Yara.[15]

Personal life

Esposito married Joy McManigal in 1995; they later divorced. He has four daughters.[16]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Running	Puerto Rican Teenager
1981	Taps	Cadet Captain JC Pierce
1983	Trading Places	Cellmate
1983	Enormous Changes at the Last Minute	Julio
1984	Go Tell It on the Mountain	Elisha
1984	The Cotton Club	Bumpy Hood
1985	Desperately Seeking Susan	Street Vendor
1986	Maximum Overdrive	Videoplayer
1987	Sweet Lorraine	Howie
1988	School Daze	Julian
1989	Do the Right Thing	Buggin' Out
1990	Mo' Better Blues	Left Hand Lacey
1990	King of New York	Lance
1991	Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man	Jimmy Jiles
1991	Night on Earth	YoYo
1992	Bob Roberts	John Alijah "Bugs" Raplin
1992	Malcolm X	Thomas Hagan
1994	Fresh	Esteban
1995	The Usual Suspects	Jack Baer
1995	Klash	Stoney
1995	Blue in the Face	Tommy
1995	The Keeper	Paul Lamont	Also co-producer
1995	Waiting to Exhale	David Matthews	Uncredited
1997	Nothing to Lose	Charlie Dunt
1997	Big City Blues	Georgie
1998	Twilight	Reuben Escobar
1998	Phoenix	Louie
2001	Josephine	Spike
2001	Monkeybone	Hypnos
2001	Ali	Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr.
2001	Piñero	Miguel Algarín
2003	Ash Tuesday	Karl
2003	Blind Horizon	JC Reynolds
2004	Noise	Hank
2004	Doing Hard Time	Captain Pierce	Direct-to-DVD
2004	A Killer Within	Vargas
2005	Hate Crime	Det. Esposito
2005	Chupacabra: Dark Seas	Dr. Peña	Direct-to-DVD
2005	I Will Avenge You, Iago!	Director
2005	Back in the Day	Benson Copper
2005	Carlito's Way: Rise to Power	Little Jeff	Direct-to-DVD
2005	Derailed	Detective Franklin Church
2006	Last Holiday	Senator Dillings
2006	Sherrybaby	Parole Officer Hernandez
2006	Rain	Ken Arnold
2007	Racing Daylight	Fred / Drifter
2007	The Box	Detective Dwayne Burkhalter
2007	Mano	Nino	Short film
2007	Feel the Noise	Roberto
2008	Gospel Hill	Dr. Palmer	Also director and producer
2010	Rabbit Hole	Auggie
2011	S.W.A.T.: Firefight	Inspector Hollander	Direct-to-DVD
2011	Certainty	Father Heery
2012	Alex Cross	Daramus Holiday
2012	Dreaming American	Daytona LeMans	Short film
2014	Requiem for the Big East	Narrator	[17]
2014	Son of Batman	Ra's al Ghul (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2014	Batman: Assault on Arkham	Black Spider (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2014	Poker Night	Bernard
2015	Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials	Jorge
2016	The Pills – Sempre meglio che lavorare	Bangla Boss
2016	The Jungle Book	Akela (voice)	[18]
2016	Money Monster	Captain Marcus Powell
2016	Brother Nature	Congressman Frank McClaren
2017	The Show	Mason Washington	Also director and producer
2017	Stuck	Lloyd
2017	Okja	Frank Dawson
2017	Unacknowledged	Narrator
2018	Maze Runner: The Death Cure	Jorge
2018	MFKZ	Mr. K (voice)	English dub
2019	Line of Duty	Volk
2019	Coda	Paul
2020	Stargirl	Archie
2020	Unpregnant		Completed
TBA	The Long Home	William Tell Oliver	Post-production

Television films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	The Gentleman Bandit	Jamie
1985	Finnegan Begin Again	Intruder
1986	Rockabye	Marcus
1998	Stardust	Mr. Peavy
1998	Creature	Lt. Thomas Peniston
1998	Thirst	Dr. Lawrence Carver
1998	Naked City: Justice with a Bullet	Chaz Villanueva
2008	Xenophobia	Young
2013	Over / Under	Oliver Ohrt

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Sesame Street	Mickey	5 episodes
1982	Another World	Willie Armstrong	Episode: "4498"
1982–1983	Guiding Light	Clay Tynan	Unknown episodes
1984–1985	Miami Vice	Luther / Ricky / Adonis Jackson	3 episodes
1985	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Kyle	Episode: "The Exchange Student"
1985–1986	American Playhouse	Elisha / Simon Fernandes	2 episodes
1986	The Equalizer	Jumpin' Jack	Episode: "The Line"
1987	Spenser: For Hire	Ramos	Episode: "On the Night He Was Betrayed"
1987	Leg Work	Tyson	Episode: "Blind Trust"
1990	Lifestories	Julio	Episode: "Jerry Forchette"
1993	The American Experience	Dr. Kenneth Clark	Episode: "Simple Justice"
1993–1994	Bakersfield P.D.	Detective Paul Gigante	17 episodes
1995	New York Undercover	Adolfo Guzman	3 episodes
1995	Fallen Angels	Paris Minton	Episode: "Fearless"
1996	Chicago Hope	Cherchez LaFemme	Episode: "Right to Life"
1996	Swift Justice	Andrew Coffin	3 episodes
1996–1998	NYPD Blue	Ferdinand Hollie / Jamaal	2 episodes
1996	Living Single	Jackson Turner	Episode: "Kiss of the Spider Man"
1996	The Tomorrow Man	Jonathan Driscoll	Unsold TV pilot
1996	Law & Order	Mr. Baylor	Episode: "Good Girl"
1998	The Hunger	Vampire	Episode: "Fly-By-Night"
1998–1999	Homicide: Life on the Street	Federal Agent Mike Giardello	22 episodes
2000	Touched by an Angel	Antonio	Episode: "Here I Am"
2000	Homicide: The Movie	Officer Mike Giardello	Television film
2000–2001	The $treet	Tom Divack	12 episodes
2001	Strong Medicine	James Bell	Episode: "Mortality"
2001	100 Centre Street	Jacob Lenz	Episode: "Andromeda and the Monster"
2002	A Nero Wolfe Mystery	Ambassador Theodore Kelefy	Episode: "Immune to Murder"
2002	The Practice	Ray McMurphy	Episode: "Pro Se"
2002	Third Watch	Father Romero	Episode: "The Unforgiven"
2002	Girls Club	Nicholas Hahn	9 episodes
2004–2005	Law & Order	Rodney Fallon	3 episodes
2004	5ive Days to Midnight	Tim Sanders	4 episodes
2004	NYPD 2069	Lt. Garner	Unsold TV pilot
2004	Soul Food	Jules	2 episodes
2005	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Orlando Ramirez	Episode: "Boys Will Be Boys"
2006	South Beach	Robert Fuentes	5 episodes
2006	Ghost Whisperer	Ely Fisher	Episode: "Fury"
2006	Bones	Richard Benoit	Episode: "The Man in the Morgue"
2006	Las Vegas	Reggie Archibald	Episode: "White Christmas"
2006–2008	CSI: Miami	Chief Braga	2 episodes
2007	Kidnapped	Vance	2 episodes
2008	New Amsterdam	Special Agent James Lawson	Episode: "Legacy"
2009–2011	Breaking Bad	Gus Fring	24 episodes
2010	Leverage	Alexander Moto	Episode: "The Scheherazade Job"
2010	Lie to Me	Beau Hackman	Episode: "Black and White"
2010	Detroit 1-8-7	Eddie Henderson	Episode: "Shelter"
2011	Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior	Gordon Ramirez	Episode: "The Time is Now"
2011–2017	Once Upon a Time	Sidney Glass / Magic Mirror	14 episodes
2012–2013	Community	Gilbert Lawson	2 episodes
2012	NYC 22	Harvey Williams	2 episodes
2012–2014	Revolution	Tom Neville	41 episodes
2013	Timms Valley	Pruit Normings (voice)	Unsold TV pilot
2013	Axe Cop	Army Chihuahua (voice)	2 episodes
2015	Allegiance	Oscar Christoph	7 episodes
2015	Drunk History	Andrés Pico	Episode: "Los Angeles"
2016–2017	The Get Down	Pastor Ramon Cruz	10 episodes
2017	Rebel	Charles Gold	4 episodes
2017–present	Better Call Saul	Gus Fring	29 episodes
2017–present	Dear White People	Dr. Edward Ruskins / Narrator	23 episodes
2018	Westworld	El Lazo / Robert Ford	Episode: "Reunion"
2018	Dallas & Robo	Victor Goldsmith (voice)	5 episodes
2019	Jett	Charlie Baudelaire	9 episodes
2019–present	The Boys	Stan Edgar	Episode: "You Found Me"
2019	Creepshow	Doc	Episode: "Gray Matter"
2019	Godfather of Harlem	Adam Clayton Powell Jr.	10 episodes
2019–present	Harley Quinn	Lex Luthor (voice)	4 episodes
2019–present	The Mandalorian	Moff Gideon	2 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	Payday 2	The Dentist / Dr. Helmann	Voice and likeness
2021	Far Cry 6	"El Presidente" Anton Castillo	Also likeness[19]

Other work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	The Law of The Jungle	Father	Trailer for the video game Destiny

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1995	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Supporting Male	Fresh	Nominated
	National Board of Review	Best Cast	The Usual Suspects	Won
1999	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Homicide: Life on the Street	Nominated
2011			Breaking Bad	Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Guest Starring Role on Television		Nominated
2012	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series		Won
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor on Television		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2013	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor on Television	Revolution	Nominated
2019	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Better Call Saul	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
2020				Pending
		Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series	The Mandalorian	Pending

References

1. Ferraro, Thomas J. (2005). Feeling Italian: The Art of Ethnicity in America. ISBN 978-0-8147-2730-0.
2. LeVasseur, Andrea (2003). "Giancarlo Esposito Pictures, Biography, Filmography, News, Videos". All Movie Guide. Starpulse. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
3. "Giancarlo Esposito Biography (1958–)". Film Reference. NetIndustries, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2009. Giancarlo Giuseppi Alessandro Esposito; born April 26, 1958, in Copenhagen, Denmark; raised in New York, N.Y., father, a stagehand and carpenter; mother, an opera and nightclub singer; married Joy McManigal (a producer), June 1995; children: Shayne Lyra, Kale Lyn
4. "Giancarlo Esposito and confrontation". Los Angeles Times.
5. "Giancarlo Esposito heads to Reggae Film Festival". Jamaica Gleaner. March 26, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
6. "Bio: Giancarlo Esposito", Starpulse.com; accessed June 14, 2017.
7. "Giancarlo Esposito".
8. Andreeva, Nellie (July 18, 2011). "TV BITS: Giancarlo Esposito To Join ABC Series, Howie Mandel To Produce Reality Format, Ben Silveran To Publish Comic". Deadline. Mail.com Media Corp. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
9. "Major Tom Neville". IMDB. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
10. Kronke, David (February 17, 2012). "Exclusive: Giancarlo Esposito Talks About His Community Guest Shot". TV Guide. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
11. Romano, Nick (July 30, 2019). "The Boys showrunner unpacks the finale cliffhanger, cameos, and season 2 plans". Retrieved June 2, 2020. Esposito will have a larger role to play in season 2. “Sure enough, in season 2, that becomes a really important character,” Kripke confirms. “So I had to call him and go, ‘Hey, remember that cameo you did for me as a favor in season 1?… Now I need you for four to five more episodes.’ To his credit, thank God, he’s available and enthusiastic.”
12. The Deadline Team (July 28, 2014). "Disney's 'Jungle Book' Adds Christopher Walken & Giancarlo Esposito". Deadline. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
13. Boucher, Geoff (December 12, 2018). "'Star Wars: The Mandalorian' Casting: Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Weathers And Werner Herzog Join Disney+ Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
14. "Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito Is Working On A Big Video Game That He Can't Tell You About". GameSpot. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
15. Thier, Dave. "'Far Cry 6' Villain Leaks, And It's A Change For The Series". Forbes. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
16. Heisler, Steve (October 7, 2011). "Giancarlo Esposito". AV Club. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
17. Spender, Sheldon. "ICYMI: The week on Front Row PLUS Inside new #BigEast 30 for 30 film debuting Sunday". ESPN.
18. "Disney's 'Jungle Book' Adds Christopher Walken & Giancarlo Esposito". deadline.com. July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
19. Watts, Steve (July 10, 2020). "Far Cry 6 Confirmed With Clip Featuring Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito". GameSpot. Retrieved July 10, 2020.

External links

• Giancarlo Esposito on IMDb
• Giancarlo Esposito at the Internet Broadway Database
• Giancarlo Esposito at AllMovie