In 1996, Esposito was featured in a music video "California" by French superstar Mylne Farmer, directed by Abel Ferrara. 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. 62 Vincent Esposito Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE Collections Project #ShowUs Creative Insights EDITORIAL VIDEO BBC Motion Gallery NBC News Archives MUSIC BLOG BROWSE PRICING ENTERPRISE VisualGPS INSIGHTS BOARDS CART SIGN IN Images Images Creative Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO I am Ghanaian. He also had a recurring role in the first season of The Get Down on Netflix. 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. What he does share with his characters is an old-fashioned sense of masculine responsibility. 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. Who told you to be in my neighborhood? 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. More recently, hes achieved a new level of success with his role as drug kingpin Gus Fring in the hugely popular AMC shows, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Age, Height, Weight & Body Measurements As per his date of birth, Esposito is 63 years old in 2020. Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. Offering to pay for trauma counselling, he explains the attack as a futile attempt by old Mexican acquaintances to extort an innocent businessman in a land where the righteous have no reason to fear.. Giancarlo Esposito is of both Italian and African-American origin. He was also included in the videogame Payday 2, as the supporting character, then antagonist "The Dentist". Vincent Esposito is the sibling of the universally eminent Giancarlo Esposito who is a well-known American entertainer. I suffered in that middle ground that got squeezed in the industry, he said. However, Espositos performance blew away everyone on set, so they decided to rewrite his characters story and the rest is history. 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. . I am from Detroit. The star was rushed to hospital in February after . Giancarlo Esposito was born as Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito on 26 April 1958 in He is Movies (Actor) by profession. my brother and I were accepted. He had already been in five major musicals. He played J. C. Pierce, a cadet in the 1981 movie Taps.[8]. From the year 1950 to 1958, Esposito has served in the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives and was the regional house speaker. (Even on Sesame Street, where, in his early twenties, he guest-starred as a camp counsellor, Esposito laid down the law for a homesick Big Bird.) Family time: He turned the star-studded event into a . Over the course of his career, he has appeared in films like Fresh, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, The Usual Suspects, and King of New York. Scarier than the act itself is the time Gus takes to change clothes before and after the killing. He appeared in New Amsterdam and CSI: Miami. He has a more established brother named Vincent. TV work followed in the 1980s, with increasingly significant parts in a string of high-profile series until he became well-established as a character player both on TV and in a number of movies.He came very much to the public's attention playing Agent Mike Giardello in the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) in 1998 and since then has rarely been off our screens. Esposito joined the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series with his casting as Ras al Ghul in Son of Batman and Black Spider in Batman: Assault on Arkham. Given his European background, its perhaps no surprise to learn the talented actor knows a thing or two about languages. He has a brother named Vincent. Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito ( Italian: [dakarlo duzppe alessandro espzito]; born April 26, 1958) is an American actor. He also appeared in the first season of the ABC program Once Upon a Time, which debuted in October 2011. Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is an actor and filmmaker from America, who is best known for his portrayal of Gus Fring in the AMC shows Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. He performed again in the fourth season, in the episode titled "Paranormal Parentage". Between 1971 to 1977, he served as a singer on The Electric Company, a childrens show that aired on PBS. His other film credits include Trading Places (1983) and Maximum Overdrive (1986). That gnawed at my guts. His punctilious menace so mesmerized viewers that Gus became one of the principals, attaining such popularity that AMC advertised the spinoff series Better Call Saul (2015-22) with a travelling pop-up version of Los Pollos Hermanos. Although he made a name for himself early on with his voice (Clive Barnes described his singing voice as "big, round, and clean as a freshly scoured skillet"), he is chiefly known today for his dramatic intensity. His mother, Elizabeth (Leesa) Foster, was an opera singer from Alabama who was touring Europe when she fell in love with a Neapolitan stagehand. Fyfe is the son of the former Yolanda . Vincent Esposito was a reputed American lawyer and a businessman. In 2008, he made his directorial debut with Gospel Hill, serving also as producer and star of the film. Walter tells Gus that hes made too many bad decisions hoping to support his family. 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. Giancarlo Esposito is known and loved by millions thanks to the extensive and varied work of his 6-decade career. 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. 0. . In 2016, he also lent his voice to Akela in Jon Favreaus Jungle Book. In the 1980s and 90s, he starred in multiple high-profile films and gained critical acclaim for his stage work. Ad Choices. 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 later years, he would star in Lee's School Daze and became a household name for the character Buggin' Out in Do The Right Thing. How long before I drown? he asked his accountant, who told him that he had about a year. Giancarlo and his more established sibling Vincent appeared on Broadway in 1968 in the melodic Maggie Flynn with Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy. And it's kept going like that."[5]. 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. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/giancarlo-esposito-44462.php, 20th Century Film & Theater Personalities, 21st Century Film & Theater Personalities, 20th Century American Film & Theater Personalities, 21st Century American Film & Theater Personalities. His mother played an active role in Giancarlo's dramatic training. 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. The parents of Giancarlo are Giovanni Esposito and Elizabeth Foster . They want me to cut their throat, they want me to give them the look. He acted alongside Nicole Kidman in the 2010 film Rabbit Hole. More and more actors are dipping their toes into the pool of philanthropy, and Esposito is no different. Esposito was only eight when he made his Broadway debut. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for GIANCARLO ESPOSITO SIGNED BOX CUTTER BREAKING BAD GUS FRINGE AUTOGRAPH BECKETT at the best online prices at eBay! For his outing as Gus Fring, he received the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama award at the 2012 Critics' Choice Television Awards. My karmic journey is to be told what to do and accept that and do it the best I can, he said. In early 2020, Esposito had just moved into a new house in Albuquerque, where shooting was set to begin for the final season of Better Call Saul. All my daughters thought that I would surely die, he told me. Hes also been known to share behind-the-scenes anecdotes, inspirational tales about his show-biz journey, and more personal stories about his experiences as a bi-racial actor in the industry. Giancarlo performs with Ken Howard and Michelle Lee in the musical Seesaw, 1973. Giancarlo Esposito is a German-born American actor. . His mother played an active role in Giancarlos dramatic training. Esposito walked right past it, beelining to a series of celestial multimedia paintings whose textures he found enchanting. 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. In the musical comedy School Daze (1988), set on the campus of a fictional H.B.C.U., he cast the actor as Julian (Big Brother Almighty) Eaves, a preening fraternity tyrant who delights in paddling pledgesone called Yoda begs for mercyand loathes the anti-apartheid activism of his popular rival, Dap (Laurence Fishburne). Esposito played Robert Fuentes, a Miami businessman with shady connections, on the UPN television series South Beach. Giancarlo, Jeff Perry, and Brian Tarantina in the Off-Broadway show Balm in Gilead, 1984. 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. 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. [21], Last edited on 26 February 2023, at 06:33, [dakarlo duzppe alessandro espzito], Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Vought News Network: Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman, Best Supporting Actor Series, Miniseries or Television Film, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, "Giancarlo Esposito Pictures, Biography, Filmography, News, Videos", "You've seen Giancarlo Esposito in everything. He also performed in TV shows such as Miami Vice and Spenser: For Hire. I find its healing for me, he said. When he was eight years old, he made his first Broadway appearance, portraying a slave child in the short-lived musical Maggie Flynn. Barely two minutes into our interview, Giancarlo Esposito drops a bombshell. Esposito also appeared in Community as a guest star for the episode titled "Digital Estate Planning". Giancarlo Esposito had two special cameo appearances in Community, adding to the connection between the comedy series and AMC's Breaking Bad.The actor, who was best known for playing villain Gus Fring in Breaking Bad at the time, starred in two episodes of the series created by Dan Harmon.Community debuted in 2009 and ran for five seasons on NBC before it was cancelled on the network due to . . During the 1980s, Giancarlo spent less time singing and dancing and doing more dramatic roles. While at the Epix portion of the Television Critics Association Press Tour, Collider got the opportunity to sit down an chat with co-stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Nigl Thatch and Giancarlo Esposito . During this period, he met Spike Lee who wanted to cast him in the unrealized film Messenger. Esposito played FBI agent Mike Giardello on the TV crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street. In the musical comedy "School Daze" (1988), set on the campus of a fictional H.B.C.U., he cast the actor as . As the well-intentioned chemistry teacher turned drug dealer spirals deeper into darkness, he will find Gus Fring waiting for him at the end. His mother was an opera diva. A man provides for his family. Esposito also made guest appearances in various TV shows since his debut as Jamie in the 1981 television movie The Gentleman Bandit. The film premiered at the 2017 SXSW Festival and was released in theaters later that year. Shayne Lyra Esposito with her younger sister, Syrlucia and father, Giancarlo Esposito at 71st Emmys Governors Ball. Yet before he can accomplish this transformation, White must outmaneuver Gustavo (Gus) Fring, a local immigrant businessman. In Feel the Noise (2007), he played ex-musician Roberto, the Puerto Rican father of Omarion Grandberry's character, aspiring rap star "Rob". How would you rate this article? Who told you to buy a brownstone on my block, in my neighborhood, on my side of the street? he challenges a white Brooklyniteand Espositos antic performance stood out, even in a film teeming with talent. It was really a great opening for me to show who I really was. 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. 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. In 1970, he was hired as a voice actor in the short film Et Salammbo? This was his first job in the industry. The actor is married to Joy McManigal, his starsign is Taurus and he is now 64 years of age. It was Vince that inspired me by writing in the stage directions, hiding in plain sight, he told me. Vincent Esposito, 51, after pleading guilty Wednesday to. 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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). Was it Gus Fring, the fussy, stoical drug lord of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul? Many critics analyzed whiteness in Breaking Bad; some argued that it was a fable about the erosion of white-male moral authority, whereas others decried a story in which a lone white chemist dethrones brown cartels with his pure product. But Gus, a smiling chicken vender who works tirelessly to put the cops at ease, is a no less racialized figurea nightmare, to some, and a fantasy, for others, about the compulsory performance of innocence evolving into a kind of superpower. . Then, in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Esposito went bankrupt. She sings the first verse. As a result, he can now boast a two-year degree in radio and television from the Elizabeth Seton College in Yonkers, New York. 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