Giancarlo Esposito

Giancarlo Esposito

Birth name: Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito
Born: April 26, 1958
Age: 66
Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
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Biography

Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito (born April 26, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Gustavo "Gus" Fring on the AMC series Breaking Bad, for which 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.

He is well-known for his roles in Spike Lee films, such as Do the Right Thing, School Daze, and Mo' Better Blues. Other notable films include The Usual Suspects and King of New York. He has portrayed Sidney Glass/Magic Mirror on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Major Tom Neville in the NBC series Revolution.

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Early life

Giancarlo Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the son of an Italian father, Giovanni Esposito, and an American mother, Elizabeth Foster. His mother was an African-American opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, and his father was a stagehand and carpenter from Naples. Esposito lived in Europe until the age of 6, when his family settled in Manhattan, New York. He attended Elizabeth Seton College in New York and received a two-year degree in radio and television communications.

Career

Esposito made his Broadway debut (1966) at age eight playing a slave child opposite Shirley Jones in the short-lived musical Maggie Flynn (1968), set during the New York Draft Riots of 1863.

During the 1980s, Esposito appeared in films such as 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.

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.

Esposito is known for his portrayal of 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 series, Bakersfield P.D. (Fox Broadcasting Company, 1993-94).

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), cops (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. He recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's hip hop literacy campaign to encourage reading about Muhammad Ali.

In Feel the Noise (2007), he played ex-musician Roberto, the Puerto Rican father of Omarion Grandberry's character, aspiring rap star "Rob".

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

New York theatre 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, in what is now seen as his most iconic role, 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. Esposito received critical acclaim for this role. As noted above, 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.

Esposito appeared in the film Rabbit Hole (2010), with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. He also appeared in an episode of the series Leverage, reuniting with his Taps co-star Hutton.

Esposito appeared in the first season of the ABC program Once Upon a Time, which debuted in the fall of 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. 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.

Esposito has also appeared in Community as a guest star for an episode entitled "Digital Estate Planning". He performed again in the fourth season, in the episode titled "Paranormal Parentage". Esposito has additionally appeared in a video of the action role-playing sci-fi first-person shooter Destiny, as well as playing 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.

Personal life

Esposito married Joy McManigal in 1995; they later divorced. He has 4 daughters.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1979 Running Puerto Rican Teenager
1981 The Gentleman Bandit Jamie Television film
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 Elijah
1984 The Cotton Club Bumpy Hood
1985 Finnegan Begin Again Intruder Television film
1985 Desperately Seeking Susan Street Vendor
1986 Maximum Overdrive Videoplayer
1986 Rockabye Marcus Television film
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 Hayer
1994 Fresh Esteban
1995 The Usual Suspects Jack Baer
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 Stardust Mr. Peavy Television film
1998 Twilight Reuben Escobar
1998 Creature Lt. Thomas Peniston Television film
1998 Phoenix Louie
1998 Thirst Dr. Lawrence Carver Television film
1998 Naked City: Justice with a Bullet Chaz Villanueva Television film
2000 Homicide: The Movie Officer Mike Giardello Television film
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
2008 Xenophobia Young Television film
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
2013 Over / Under Oliver Ohrt Television film
2014 Requiem for the Big East Narrator
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)
2016 Money Monster Captain Marcus Powell
2016 This Is Your Death Mason Washington Post-production, also director and producer
2016 Stuck Lloyd Post-production
2017 The Long Home William Tell Oliver Post-production
2017 Maze Runner: The Death Cure Jorge Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1982 Sesame Street Mickey 5 episodes
1982 Guiding Light Clay Tynan
1984-1985 Miami Vice Luther / Ricky / Adonis Jackson 3 episodes
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 Pilot
1996-2005 Law & Order Mr. Baylor / Rodney Fallon 3 episodes
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"
2000-2001 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 The Practice Ray McMurphy Episode: "Pro Se"
2002 Third Watch Father Romero Episode: "The Unforgiven"
2002 Girl Club Nicholas Hahn 9 episodes
2004 5ive Days to Midnight Tim Sanders 4 episodes
2004 NYPD 2069 Lt. Garner Pilot
2005 Law & Order: Trial by Jury Orlando Ramirez Episode: "Boys Will Be Boys"
2006 South Beach Robert Fuentes 5 episodes
2006 Ghost Whisperer Ely 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 Gustavo "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"
2011-2016 Once Upon a Time Sidney Glass/Magic Mirror 13 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) Pilot
2013 Axe Cop Army Chihuahua (voice) 2 episodes
2015 Allegiance Oscar Christoph 7 episodes
2015 Drunk History Andrés Pico Episode: "Los Angeles"
2016 The Get Down Pastor Ramon Cruz

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Payday 2 The Dentist Voice & likeness in trailers
2014 Destiny Father Trailer

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Nominated work Result
1995 Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Male Fresh Nominated
1995 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
2011 Saturn Awards Best Guest Starring Role on Television Nominated
2012 Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Won
2012 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nominated
2012 Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
2012 Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actor on Television Nominated
2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated
2013 Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actor on Television Revolution Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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