Giancarlo Esposito at Fan Expo Vancouver 2014
Breaking out at Vancouver’s Fan Expo: Giancarlo Esposito’s career blows up after that explosive Breaking Bad death scene
It’s tough to argue the point when veteran actor Giancarlo Esposito describes it as the greatest death in television history. Esposito, who will have his star installed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame later this month, is referring to the demise of the iconic villain he played in the TV phenomenon Breaking Bad.
One of the featured guests at Fan Expo Vancouver this weekend, Esposito, 55, earned most of his fans for his Emmy nominated role as Gustavo Fring, the cucumber cool virtually indestructible drug lord it took a bomb to kill. Fring was so composed, so cool, that after the explosion he stood up and straightened his tie before turning to the camera to reveal that most of his face was gone. The scene was gory and visceral, and walked the tightrope between Breaking Bad’s hyper-reality and the type of horror movie fantasy that’s perfect fan fodder.
Talking on the phone just outside his acupuncturist’s office in Austin, Texas, Esposito told the Sun his death scene was hatched during a private meeting with Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, who had called Esposito into his office to discuss Fring’s impending demise.
After ruling out bullets and sabotage they started talking about the idea of an explosive exit. Esposito liked the idea.
“I said: ‘that might be nice. It’s got to be something different but it has got to be real.’ And then he asked me what might I be doing in that moment. And I said to him, ‘Look at what I do as Gus. I’ve developed this thing where I button my buttons, I look pretty dapper and I fix my tie.’ And we both stopped and looked at each other ... and we were off and running with an idea that proved to be probably one of the most visually satisfying and emotionally gratifying deaths in film history.”
One of the only people who wasn’t blown away by Gus getting blown up was Esposito’s teenage daughter Shayne who was on set for Fring’s finale.
“She recorded the whole process with a camera I had just bought for her. She held my hand while the plaster was put on my head and ... I was breathing through tubes. It was really claustrophobic.”
When it was time to watch the episode Shayne turned to her dad after the pivotal scene and said, “The show’s kind of slow but that was a good kill, papa.”
“She was fourteen years old! She’s something else,” says Esposito.
After leaving life as a drug lord on one of TV’s most adult shows Esposito was delighted to land a role as “the Magic Mirror” on ABC’s family-oriented hit series Once Upon a Time.
“It’s a show I really wanted to do. I really wanted my kids to see me do something fun and light, I love the fairy tales, I like the fact I can play two roles in the same world and I’ve fallen in love with Lana Parrilla (the Evil Queen).”
While he was in Vancouver shooting Once Upon a Time, Esposito landed a leading role in the sci-fi series Revolution where he plays a character who breaks bad after the planet’s power goes out.
Asked about working in Vancouver, Esposito is enthusiastic. “I love shooting there,” says Esposito. “If I had my way one day I would have a residence there.”
Esposito started acting professionally at age eight in the Broadway musical Maggie Flynn (starring Shirley Jones). He’s never stopped acting on stage - he still does a play almost every year and owns a pair of Obies (Off Broadway Theatre Awards) - and his big screen career includes roles in The Usual Suspects, Ali and almost every major Spike Lee movie (Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, School Daze and Malcolm X). He recently did a memorable guest spot on the TV cult comedy Community.
Having his head explode on screen has been good for Esposito.
“I’m getting my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but I feel like my career has just begun,” says Esposito. “I’m in a place now that I can accept the love and accolades that come with that star. But more than anything it represents a new beginning for me. The part of my career that’s almost been 50 years is sort of a break in period. Now I feel like I can pick up the pace.”
Via: The Vancouver Sun
Pics of Giancarlo looking bored over here.
It’s tough to argue the point when veteran actor Giancarlo Esposito describes it as the greatest death in television history. Esposito, who will have his star installed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame later this month, is referring to the demise of the iconic villain he played in the TV phenomenon Breaking Bad.
One of the featured guests at Fan Expo Vancouver this weekend, Esposito, 55, earned most of his fans for his Emmy nominated role as Gustavo Fring, the cucumber cool virtually indestructible drug lord it took a bomb to kill. Fring was so composed, so cool, that after the explosion he stood up and straightened his tie before turning to the camera to reveal that most of his face was gone. The scene was gory and visceral, and walked the tightrope between Breaking Bad’s hyper-reality and the type of horror movie fantasy that’s perfect fan fodder.
Talking on the phone just outside his acupuncturist’s office in Austin, Texas, Esposito told the Sun his death scene was hatched during a private meeting with Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, who had called Esposito into his office to discuss Fring’s impending demise.
After ruling out bullets and sabotage they started talking about the idea of an explosive exit. Esposito liked the idea.
“I said: ‘that might be nice. It’s got to be something different but it has got to be real.’ And then he asked me what might I be doing in that moment. And I said to him, ‘Look at what I do as Gus. I’ve developed this thing where I button my buttons, I look pretty dapper and I fix my tie.’ And we both stopped and looked at each other ... and we were off and running with an idea that proved to be probably one of the most visually satisfying and emotionally gratifying deaths in film history.”
One of the only people who wasn’t blown away by Gus getting blown up was Esposito’s teenage daughter Shayne who was on set for Fring’s finale.
“She recorded the whole process with a camera I had just bought for her. She held my hand while the plaster was put on my head and ... I was breathing through tubes. It was really claustrophobic.”
When it was time to watch the episode Shayne turned to her dad after the pivotal scene and said, “The show’s kind of slow but that was a good kill, papa.”
“She was fourteen years old! She’s something else,” says Esposito.
After leaving life as a drug lord on one of TV’s most adult shows Esposito was delighted to land a role as “the Magic Mirror” on ABC’s family-oriented hit series Once Upon a Time.
“It’s a show I really wanted to do. I really wanted my kids to see me do something fun and light, I love the fairy tales, I like the fact I can play two roles in the same world and I’ve fallen in love with Lana Parrilla (the Evil Queen).”
While he was in Vancouver shooting Once Upon a Time, Esposito landed a leading role in the sci-fi series Revolution where he plays a character who breaks bad after the planet’s power goes out.
Asked about working in Vancouver, Esposito is enthusiastic. “I love shooting there,” says Esposito. “If I had my way one day I would have a residence there.”
Esposito started acting professionally at age eight in the Broadway musical Maggie Flynn (starring Shirley Jones). He’s never stopped acting on stage - he still does a play almost every year and owns a pair of Obies (Off Broadway Theatre Awards) - and his big screen career includes roles in The Usual Suspects, Ali and almost every major Spike Lee movie (Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, School Daze and Malcolm X). He recently did a memorable guest spot on the TV cult comedy Community.
Having his head explode on screen has been good for Esposito.
“I’m getting my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but I feel like my career has just begun,” says Esposito. “I’m in a place now that I can accept the love and accolades that come with that star. But more than anything it represents a new beginning for me. The part of my career that’s almost been 50 years is sort of a break in period. Now I feel like I can pick up the pace.”
Via: The Vancouver Sun
Pics of Giancarlo looking bored over here.