He went on to work with Lee in several other films, including 'Do the Right Thing' (1989), 'Mo' Better Blues' (1990), and Malcolm X (1994). Over the next four years, Esposito and Lee collaborated on three other movies: Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, and Malcolm X. He spent most of the last two seasons scheming to abduct the fan favorite Baby Yodapresumably, to throw him in a blender and pulp him for midi-chloriansonly to land, relieved of his Darksaber, in the custody of the New Republic. He has a more established brother named Vincent. Parents: There is no information about the parents of Joy. Photo: Bert Andrews. 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). She had to be in her seventies. After spending the first six years of his life in Denmark, Esposito relocated to Manhattan, New York with his family. How the Biggest Fraud in German History Unravelled. Aside being an actor with close to 180 acting credits, he is also a director. Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito became a popular face thanks to his portrayal of Gustavo Gus Fring on the AMC TV series Breaking Bad. When he was eight years old, he made his first Broadway appearance, portraying a slave child in the short-lived musical Maggie Flynn. His mother played an active role in Giancarlos dramatic training. who manufactures superheroes in Amazons Marvel satire The Boys? Elizabeth told her son to go out and buy a single red rose; that night, they sat close to the stage during the performance. Vincent Esposito was a reputed American lawyer and a businessman. 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. He is best known for portraying Gus Fring in the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad, from 2009 to 2011, as well as in its prequel series Better Call Saul, from 2017 to 2022. The award was announced by Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President Leron Gubler, who stated We are thrilled to have this triple threat on our Walk of Fame. I realize one of my strengths is to control the chaos.. Now a regular in the TV show Revolution, Giancarlo Esposito continues to be a versatile and in-demand actor, and despite his attempt to avoid bad guy roles, he's just too good at it. He studied violin at Julliard and the Manhattan School of Music. His breakout role came in 1988 when he appeared in the Spike Lee film School Daze, when he played Julian Dean Big Brother Almighty Evans. Yet before he can accomplish this transformation, White must outmaneuver Gustavo (Gus) Fring, a local immigrant businessman. In 1970, he was hired as a voice actor in the short film Et Salammbo? This was his first job in the industry. 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. Giancarlo Esposito, who considers himself "an Italian black" that can also pass for Latino, encountered racism early on in his life and more subtler shades of prejudice while auditioning. This talented actor, director, and producer continue to entertain fans, and his talent is a great fit on our sidewalk of immortalized stars.. Other TV credits include NYPD Blue, Law & Order, The Practice, New York Undercover, and Fallen Angels: Fearless. On Broadway, his biggest role came in 2008 when he appeared as Gooper in Tennessee Williams Pulitzer prize-winning drama, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which was directed by Debbie Allen and starred James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, and Terrence Howard. He also appeared in the first season of the ABC program Once Upon a Time, which debuted in October 2011. Between 1993 and 1994, he portrayed Det. 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. Then, in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Esposito went bankrupt. In the fourth season, he was the show's primary antagonist, and won critical acclaim for this role. During the 1990s Giancarlo, when not starring in films such as The Usual Suspects and Bob Roberts, went around college campuses and prisons as part of a motivational speaking circuit talking about racism, color-blind casting, and human empowerment. Between engagements, he was visiting his daughter, Kale, at their shared downtown apartment, and catching up on art and theatre across the city. Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. In Feel the Noise (2007), he played ex-musician Roberto, the Puerto Rican father of Omarion Grandberry's character, aspiring rap star "Rob". These days, its not enough for an actor to simply make good films. Get back to work., Gus was written as a marginal character, but Esposito doesnt believe in small parts. Giancarlo Esposito (or to give him his full name, Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito) was born April 26th, 1958 in Copenhagen, Denmark to father Giovanni Esposito, an Italian carpenter/stagehand, and mother Elizabeth Foster, an African-American opera singer from Alabama. Esposito played Robert Fuentes, a Miami businessman with shady connections, on the UPN television series South Beach. His outing as Julian "Dean Big Brother Almighty" Eaves, the leader of the Gamma Phi Gamma Fraternity, in the movie proved to be his breakout performance. Esposito also voices Antn Castillo, the main antagonist of the video game Far Cry 6, who was modeled after Esposito's appearance. The leader of the fallen Galactic Empire is trying to capture " Baby Yoda ," affectionately named by the internet. Instead, Salamanca was supposed to be the main villain. Vincent Esposito, 51, after pleading guilty Wednesday to. I started to realize that you have to fall in line, but Ive never wanted to fall in line, Esposito told me. However the series finale ends, one of the most enduring icons of Breaking Bad is the character Gustavo 'Gus' Fring, the suave and ruthless drug kingpin portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito. Espositos seething side-stage monologues, which rage against his circumstances in an attempt to excuse the murder, earned him an Obie Award, along with the admiration of an N.Y.U. Inspired by the success of Gospel Hill, Esposito has gone on to direct a 2nd feature, The Show, which tells the story of a reality game show in which contestants commit suicide for the entertainment of viewers. I felt like doing that might be who I become forever, and I knew I had more to give.. Some of his favorite activities include practicing his downward dog at yoga class, belting out a tune on his trusty saxophone, and picking up some LA sunshine as he cruises around town on his motorbike. Giancarlo, Jeff Perry, and Brian Tarantina in the Off-Broadway show Balm in Gilead, 1984. He also appeared in the films Night on Earth (1991), Fresh (1994), Waiting to Exhale (1995), and Nothing to Lose (1997). Esposito, a graceful sixty-four-year-old with sharp dimples and slicked back salt-and-pepper curls, seems to be everywhere these days. Another interesting fact is that even though Esposito was cast to play in the show, he wasnt supposed to be the main antagonist. He has a brother named Vincent. An excerpt from The Wager, which reconstructs an eighteenth-century British naval expedition whose catastrophic end inspired numerous conflicting accountsand influenced the work of Charles Darwin and Herman Melville. 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. Girlfriend / Spouse. [20], He was raised Catholic and considered becoming a priest. In 2005, Esposito played an unsympathetic detective named Esposito in the film Hate Crime, which centers upon homophobia as a theme. 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. What are we all looking for but that energy? Esposito said. In 2016, he also lent his voice to Akela in Jon Favreaus Jungle Book. He encountered racism and prejudice early on in his life. 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. Espositos film career began in 1979 when he played a Puerto Rican teenager in the film Running. 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. All rights reserved. You had to pay attention. Perhaps the key to Guss magnetism is his respectabilitys ironic edge. Being an actor doesn't shield you from having a conscience. Maybe theyd seen him in Do the Right Thing, shouting a question as contentious in contemporary-art museums as it was in Spike Lees Bed-Stuy pizzeria: How come you aint got no brothers up on the wall? But Esposito, a tenacious veteran of stage and screen who has become one of the most familiar faces in television, has played so many dastardly bosses and charismatic troublemakers that it almost didnt matter which one. In 2017, Esposito reprised his role as Gus Fring in the Breaking Bad prequel series, Better Call Saul. During this period, he met Spike Lee who wanted to cast him in the unrealized film Messenger. Table of Biography [ show] Early Life Giancarlo Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. [15] He plays the role of New York congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in the 2019 Epix series Godfather of Harlem. So you can Watusi your monkey ass back to AF-RI-CA if you want to!, He dialled it up in Do the Right Thing, as Buggin Out, a fast-talking hothead who precipitates the climactic attack on Sals Pizzeria. While the star has since portrayed intimidating figures in The Mandalorian, The Boys . 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. On 26-4-1958 Giancarlo Esposito (nickname: Espo, Carlo) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. At that point, his parents decided to abandon Denmark for the Big Apple, and Esposito spent the remainder of his formative years in Manhattan, New York. Enrollment in the humanities is in free fall at colleges around the country. his mom, is an African American lady from Alabama who performed show at a dance club. 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Scarier than the act itself is the time Gus takes to change clothes before and after the killing. Most of all, he decided that it was time to focus on projects with more personal meaning, especially when it came to his long-cherished desire to play an everyman. One result is Parish, an AMC show that dbuts in September; Esposito stars as a New Orleans chauffeur in the employ of a Zimbabwean gangster. Esposito says that it was leaving the stage and hearing the sound of the audiences applause that ignited his passion:- I came offstage and heard the applause of the theater audience and felt a sense of accomplishment the actor has revealed. Between 1971 to 1977, he served as a singer on The Electric Company, a childrens show that aired on PBS. Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito ( Italian: [dakarlo duzppe alessandro espzito]; born April 26, 1958) is an American actor. Despite since making his name as an acclaimed film and TV star, Esposito hasnt turned his back on the theater. Who told you to be in my neighborhood? Esposito also appeared in Community as a guest star for the episode titled "Digital Estate Planning". Thanks to the groundbreaking success of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Mandalorian, and now Kaleidoscope, the talented actor isnt short of a cent or two. The pair met while working in Italy. We dont always win. We decided to dig into the archives of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Billy Rose Theatre Division to find out more about this charismatic actor. In recent years, he has appeared in films like the Maze Runner movies, Money Monster (2016), Brother Nature (2016), and Okja (2017). 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. In 2019, he appeared in the first-season finale of The Boys as Stan Edgar, and reprised the role in the second and third season.[13]. Giancarlo Esposito shares what he misses about portraying Breaking Bad 's celebrated villain Gustavo Fring. His imperious likeness graces memes, video games, and ads for Dirty Devil Vodka; at fan conventions, masochistic fans beseech him to stare them down. He has also directed the 2017 drama film The Show. His folks' line of business included regular moves for the family. 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. I could never talk about my bankruptcy, for years, until I realized it was perfectly healthy to talk about, he told me. In 2001, he portrayed two historical characters in two critically acclaimed films. [12] 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. Besides his own films, he has produced The Keeper (1995) and Stuck (2017). What it all added up to was a talent that thrives on tension, a voltage derived from the gap between Espositos aggressive charisma and equally pronounced flair for constraint. Esposito says only five words in as many minutes: Well? His brother is Giancarlo Esposito, (Gus Fring, for all you Breaking Bad fans). NYPL has Breaking Bad seasons 1-5 in their entirety and all the bonus material goodness that entails. Cool, calculating, and ruthless, he builds up a vast drug empire. Giancarlo Esposito Ethnicity And Nationality Esposito is a socially different individual, for the most part because of his heritage. While Esposito may not be a physical presence in the DC series of superhero films, he is at least a vocal one. During the 1980s, Esposito appeared in films such as Maximum Overdrive, King of New York, and Trading Places. And I realized, 'Oh, okay, this is an opportunity.' The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Maybe he wants that child so that he can take what he has and give it to all of us., Its become a clich to observe that Esposito is actually a very nice guy. If it's anything Shawshank Redemption, Seinfeld, or Kevin Bacon game related he's way more interested. Under his production company, Quiet Hand Productions, Esposito made his directorial debut with Gospel Hill. . It was surprising to find out that before becoming one of the greatest villains in TV history, Giancarlo Esposito first emerged on Broadway as a child star with a notably clear singing voice. An essay by Toni Morrison: The Work You Do, the Person You Are.. Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito was born 1958 in Denmark. The crowd-pleaser routinely attracts large crowds to his performances, in which he relays his take on the state of race relations, art, entertainment and culture in America. In 2008, he made his directorial debut with Gospel Hill, serving also as producer and star of the film. Esposito worked with the Academy-Award-winning writer-director Spike Lee for the first time in the 1988 musical comedy-drama film School Daze. . Highlights from the week in culture, every Saturday. New York theater credits for Esposito include The Me Nobody Knows, Lost in the Stars, Seesaw, and Merrily We Roll Along. 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. Did I just miss the Calder mobiles? he wondered; weaving through the midday crowds, he pivoted smoothly between selfie requests, my questions, and his own bursts of curiosity. Free shipping for many products! 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