Of his decision, Esposito says, I figured if I never made It as an actor, I could go to Alaska, be a cameraman, and collect a paycheck. Also Known As: Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito, Spouse/Ex-: Joy McManigal (m. 19952015), Joy McManigal (m. 19952015), children: Kale Lyn Esposito, Ruby Esposito, Shayne Lyra Esposito, Syrlucia Esposito, See the events in life of Giancarlo Esposito in Chronological Order, (Actor and Director Best Known for His TV Series: Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Giancarlo_Esposito#/media/File:Giancarlo_Esposito_2012_cropped.jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Giancarlo_Esposito#/media/File:Giancarlo_Esposito_(43555569182).jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Giancarlo_Esposito#/media/File:Giancarlo_Esposito_-_Monte-Carlo_Television_Festival.jpg. . Esposito let his beard grow and planted a vegetable garden. they want me to call them employee of the month. Despite jocular complaints that hed like to try a good guy, the baddie beat is treating him well. Weight. Another interesting fact is that even though Esposito was cast to play in the show, he wasnt supposed to be the main antagonist. His TV credits include Sesame Street, The Guiding Light, Miami Vice, Spenser: For Hire, and The Equalizer in the 1980s. 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. While Esposito may not be a physical presence in the DC series of superhero films, he is at least a vocal one. 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. 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. Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito ( Italian: [dakarlo duzppe alessandro espzito]; born April 26, 1958) is an American actor. Esposito also appeared in Community as a guest star for the episode titled "Digital Estate Planning". When he was eight years old, he made his first Broadway appearance, portraying a slave child in the short-lived musical Maggie Flynn. I felt like doing that might be who I become forever, and I knew I had more to give.. Because the Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan didnt think he could land Esposito, he didnt even contemplate asking him to do it. The game was released in 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. He spent his childhood in Copenhagen and various cities in Europe before his family finally settled in the Big Apple. 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.[9]. The parents of Giancarlo are Giovanni Esposito and Elizabeth Foster . Watching him grandstand, sermonize, womanize, and blackmail Dixiecrats in Congress, I found myself wishing that more directors would let him flex his talents as a showman. 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. On 26-4-1958 Giancarlo Esposito (nickname: Espo, Carlo) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo: Newsday. Motown. He enjoys roles that rather explore minority and immigrant issues. Enrollment in the humanities is in free fall at colleges around the country. [1][2][3][4], When Esposito was six, his family moved to Manhattan. Vincent Esposito, a brother of Giancarlo Alessandro Esposito was an American lawyer and businessman who was born in New Haven, Connecticut on October 12, 1914. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. His father, Giovanni, was a stagehand and carpenter who was born and raised in Italy. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories, When Giancarlo Esposito stepped off the escalator at MOMA, a trio of security guardsall young men, Black or Latinogreeted him with knowing salutes. 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). By the time Giancarlo won the Obie Award and Theatre World Award in 1980 for his role as a predatory criminal in the Negro Ensemble Company production Zooman and the Sign, he had already been in five major musicals. Esposito also voices Antn Castillo, the main antagonist of the video game Far Cry 6, who was modeled after Esposito's appearance. He studied violin at Julliard and the Manhattan School of Music. Another chance has been the latest season of Godfather of Harlem, a nineteen-sixties crime drama starring Forest Whitaker, with Esposito in the uncharacteristically righteous and unbuttoned role of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the congressman, preacher, and Civil Rights hero. In July 2020, Esposito began teasing his role in "a huge video game". Besides winning a Critics Choice Television Award, Esposito also earned a nomination for an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series award at the 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards for his performance. Along with her skills as a performer, Baker was also known for her contributions to the war effort: her work with the French Renaissance was rewarded with a Croix de Guerre by the French Military, while her title of Chevalier of the Lgion dHonneur was awarded by French President General Charles de Gaulle. Or Stan Edgar, the biotech C.E.O. After spending the first six years of his life in Denmark, Esposito relocated to Manhattan, New York with his family. This talented actor, director, and producer continue to entertain fans, and his talent is a great fit on our sidewalk of immortalized stars.. 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. My mother says, Now. After he offered her the rose, Baker took Espositos hand and pulled him onstage, singing the next verse directly to him. Giancarlo's award-winning performance in Zooman and the Sign, 1980. Esposito and his older brother Vincent debuted on Broadway in 1968 in the musical Maggie Flynn with Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy. For many years, painting was his main creative outlet, and in the early two-thousands painting the world as a director promised an escape from the doldrums. Giancarlo Esposito, as Gus Fring, stares down a sniper in the TV series Breaking Bad, 2011. Although the series only lasted one season, and did not garner generally positive reviews, it represented a personal turning point for Esposito, who relayed to The Washington Post: "I started to play bosses. I am Ghanaian. The actor who strikes fear into the hearts of strangersonce, a Breaking Bad fan tried to yield him her place in the bathroom linewould seem to have little in common with the exuberant, demonstrative man who approaches his profession with such joy and humility. Vincent Esposito is the sibling of the universally eminent Giancarlo Esposito who is a well-known American entertainer. He was a student of Elizabeth Seton College in New York, from where he received his degree in radio and television communications. 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. Rebellion involved dropping out of high school to develop a night-club act in California, and, when that failed, bussing tables at a dinner theatre back home. She sings the first verse. But it deepened my work as an actor. In every role, he mesmerizes audiences with a coiled intensity that he credits to military school, the slings and arrows of a volatile profession, and a lifelong commitment to mindfulness. Aiden's been an entertainment freelancer for over 10 years covering movies, television and the occasional comic or video game beat. The director and actor clearly enjoyed a mutual admiration, and over the next four years, they collaborated on 3 further projects: 1989s Do the Right Thing, an account of racial tensions in Brooklyn, Mo Better Blues, Lees 1990s musical drama, and Malcolm X, the epic biographical drama about black activist Malcolm X. He also performed in TV shows such as Miami Vice and Spenser: For Hire. Casting directors were taken aback when he showed up at a casting call given his Italian name. 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. But Esposito, a divorced father of four daughters, gave dimension to the role by drawing on his own struggles with childhood trauma and the isolation of life on the road. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Gus is the answer to the question: What if the pressure for Black men to act nonthreatening created the perfect cover for a kingpin? He has a more established brother named Vincent. 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. Returning to the seat reserved for antagonists, Esposito makes his debut in the Star Wars franchise as Moff Gideon. Between 1993 and 1994, he portrayed Det. This is America, he reassures employees in an episode of Better Call Saul, just after a drug-related altercation in his restaurant. Parents: There is no information about the parents of Joy. 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. He prowls the dorms stealing care packages, battling townies with a young Tom Cruise, and scoffing at Captain Kirks cautiousness in Star Trek: Why doesnt the man use his phaser? (He eventually found the right franchise.) Giancarlo Esposito was born as Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito on 26 April 1958 in He is Movies (Actor) by profession. Add this to what he makes from other projects (especially the latest successes like Mandalorian and Kaleidoscope), and were looking at a very respectable net worth of $8 million. It was during this period that he met Spike Lee and later starred in Lees School Daze becoming a household name for the character Buggin Out in Do The Right Thing. 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. 75 kg or 165.5 lbs. 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