Born on April 26, 1958, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Giancarlo Esposito is the son of Giovanni Esposito and Elizabeth Foster. This talented actor, director, and producer continue to entertain fans, and his talent is a great fit on our sidewalk of immortalized stars.. Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. Before the siren call of TV came beckoning, Esposito was carving out a successful career as a stage actor. In 2006 Esposito starred in Last Holiday as Senator Dillings alongside Queen Latifah. They want it, just like children want discipline, the actor told Conan OBrien during a recent interview. His imperious likeness graces memes, video games, and ads for Dirty Devil Vodka; at fan conventions, masochistic fans beseech him to stare them down. In both of his guises, hes the perfect American: a scrappy entrepreneur who loves the free market and embodies corporate sociopathy. From the year 1950 to 1958, Esposito has served in the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives and was the regional house speaker. Barely two minutes into our interview, Giancarlo Esposito drops a bombshell. And it's kept going like that."[5]. His decision to pursue a career in acting has clearly paid off, but as a teenager, Esposito had some doubts. Giancarlo Esposito shares what he misses about portraying Breaking Bad 's celebrated villain Gustavo Fring. The experience was also cathartic for Esposito as a Black Italian American, forcing him to confront the tensions between his communities. Table of Contents Movies and TV Shows Worried that his acting ambitions would fail to deliver the goods, he made sure to have the education to fall back on. Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to an Italian carpenter/stagehand father from Naples, Italy, and an African-American opera singer mother from Alabama. Esposito has an impressive career that spans nearly 6 decades in film, TV, and stage credits (not forgetting his many nominations and award nods, which include a Critics Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2012 and a National Board of Review Award in 1995). The man born on April 26, 1958, attended Elizabeth Seton College in New York and received a two-year degree in radio and television communications. The pair met while working in Italy. Of course, Esposito isnt only the big name to have graced the show over the years. Esposito first worked with acclaimed director, Spike Lee, on the filmmakers 2nd feature film, School Daze. All rights reserved. In Taps, Esposito plays a student officer at a fictional military academy, whose cadets stage an uprising to prevent its sale to real-estate interests. 20 Things You Didnt Know about Giancarlo Esposito, 2,523rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 10 Things You Didnt Know about Ian Alexander, 10 Things You Didnt Know about Stephanie Pratt, Johnny Galeckis Best Work Prior to The Big Bang Theory, 10 Things You Didnt Know about David Anthony Higgins, 10 Things You Didnt Know about Shaylee Mansfield, 10 Things You Didnt Know about Amanda Cerny, Five Things You Didnt Know about Tori Roloff, 10 Things You didnt Know about Lucky Blue Smith, Disneyland Tickets Are Now Averaging Over $200 with Avengers Opening. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. In between projects, Esposito makes sure to take plenty of time out to enjoy some much-needed R&R. It was Lee who first gave full expression to Esposito's aptitude for lawful evil. He played J. C. Pierce, a cadet in the 1981 movie Taps.[8]. Enrollment in the humanities is in free fall at colleges around the country. 0. . Ironically, as he grew up in the stage, screen and TV industry during the 1970s and '80s, Esposito fought hard to avoid being typecast as a street thug, a difficult task for minorities even today. When he was eight years old, he made his first Broadway appearance, portraying a slave child in the short-lived musical Maggie Flynn. The star was rushed to hospital in February after . Giancarlo Esposito exchanged wedding vows with Joy McManigal in 1995. Throughout the 1970s he starred mostly in musicals, including The Me Nobody Knows, Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, and Michael Bennett's Seesaw. 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). Giancarlo, Jeff Perry, and Brian Tarantina in the Off-Broadway show Balm in Gilead, 1984. Esposito is as equally talented behind the camera as he is in front of it. He made his 2 million dollar fortune with S.W.A.T. You also know that he may have already calculated your violent removal from this world. If it's anything Shawshank Redemption, Seinfeld, or Kevin Bacon game related he's way more interested. He portrayed the split role of Sidney Glass, a reporter for The Daily Mirror in the town of Storybrooke, Maine, who is really a genie trapped in the Magic Mirror, possessed by The Evil Queen in a parallel fairy tale world. The film premiered at the 2017 SXSW Festival and was released in theaters later that year. Being an actor doesn't shield you from having a conscience. In 2006, Esposito starred in Last Holiday as Senator Dillings, alongside Queen Latifah and Timothy Hutton. He had already been in five major musicals. A new era of strength competitions is testing the limits of the human body. He also portrayed American Baptist pastor and politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in the TV series Godfather of Harlem (2019present) and appeared in Westworld (2016). Photo: Newsday. This month, Esposito returns to Disney+ on the popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian, playing Moff Gideon, a cape-swirling insurrectionist in a remnant of the Galactic Empire. By night, hes a ruthless drug lord, bringing the same commitment to customer service into the underworld; in one terrifying scene, he eviscerates one of his own minions with a box cutter to make a point to his meth cooks. She sings the first verse. Esposito won his second Obie for Distant Fires for the Off-Broadway Atlantic Theater Company in 1991. He got to know his eccentric neighbor, a heavy drinker who sleeps in a tent, and deepened his interest in the Greco-Armenian spiritualist G. I. Gurdjieff. He was also more selective for film jobs, instead of going for the easy money of pimp and drug dealer roles routinely offered minorities in Hollywood. As a child, Espositos hero was Burt Lancaster, the legendary actor who won worldwide acclaim (and multiple Academy and Golden Globe nominations) for his appearances in such classics as Elmer Gantry, Atlantic City and Zulu Dawn. The film starred Esposito alongside Danny Glover, Angela Basset, and Samuel. Lived in Europe, New York City, and Cleveland until he; his older brother, Vincent; and their parents moved to Manhattan when Giancarlo was six. Vincent and Giancarlo Esposito during their debut on Broadway in the musical Maggie Flynn, 1968. Esposito played FBI agent Mike Giardello on the TV crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street. If they want the respect of their peers and the love of their fans, they have to do good works as well. Aside being an actor with close to 180 acting credits, he is also a director. Espositos decision to follow a career in acting came after an appearance in Seesaw at the age of 13. The character Gus Fring was created as a fill-in villain. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing more the $966 million worldwide to become the 42nd highest-grossing film of all time. Esposito would periodically reprise the role in later seasons as a guest star. I made my living on that little tinge of anger inside me, that allowed me to be an angry young Black man and rob some white lady onscreen, he told me. But a reporter discovered that behind the faade of innovation were lies and links to Russian intelligence. The 1988 musical comedy-drama, which also starred Laurence Fishburne and Tisha Campbell-Martin, gave a snapshot of the relationships and racial tensions in one of the nations historically black colleges. [5][6] He attended Elizabeth Seton College in New York and earned a two-year degree in radio and television communications.[6]. 75 kg or 165.5 lbs. Esposito is known for portraying villainous bosses, but believe it or not, he almost didnt get the biggest role of his life Gustavo Fring. His mother played an active role in Giancarlo's dramatic training. His Neapolitan father worked as a stagehand and carpenter while his African American mother sang in operas and nightclubs. 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These days, its not enough for an actor to simply make good films. The family eventually settled down in Elmsford, New York, and Giancarlo had his Broadway dbut when he was only ten years old, playing an orphaned fugitive from slavery in the Civil War-era musical Maggie Flynn. I learned how to tap dance from Michael Bennett and Anita Morris and Tommy Tune in Seesaw without ever taking a lesson, Esposito told me. During this period, he met Spike Lee who wanted to cast him in the unrealized film Messenger. Esposito walked right past it, beelining to a series of celestial multimedia paintings whose textures he found enchanting. Many a casting director were taken aback when Giancarlo, with his Italian name, natty dressing style, and intellectual bearing, showed up at a casting call. His TV credits include Sesame Street, The Guiding Light, Miami Vice, Spenser: For Hire, and The Equalizer in the 1980s. He enjoys roles that rather explore minority and immigrant issues. . Esposito and his older brother Vincent debuted on Broadway in 1968 in the musical Maggie . Actor: Breaking Bad. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Giancarlo, as Julio, sings in the Broadway musical Seesaw, 1973. We were in Shock." "After doing two shows, my brother Vincent Esposito turned to the violin and is still playing professionally." Says Giancarlo. Multimedia paintings whose textures he found enchanting met Spike Lee who first full... A series of celestial multimedia paintings whose textures vincent esposito brother of giancarlo found enchanting he enjoys roles rather! Make good films the Off-Broadway Atlantic Theater Company in 1991 first Broadway appearance, portraying a slave child in musical! Of course, Esposito starred in Last Holiday as Senator Dillings, alongside Queen Latifah a in! 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