It seems like Giancarlo Esposito is everywhere this year. He recently earned his second Emmy nomination for playing ruthless drug lord Gus Fring, this time on AMC’s “Breaking Bad” prequel series “Better Call Saul”; his narrator character finally made an appearance on the third season of Netflix’s “Dear White People”; and he romanced Carla Gugino on Cinemax’s new neo-noir series “Jett.” Plus, he’s currently starring alongside Forest Whitaker on Epix’s “American Gangster” spin-off crime drama “Godfather of Harlem” and will soon blast off into a galaxy far, far away for Disney+’s live-action Star Wars series “The Mandalorian.” In the midst of all that, we caught up with Esposito to find out how he got to where he is today.
Piecing Together Giancarlo Esposito
How did you first get your SAG-AFTRA and Equity card?
My SAG card was a big deal. I did Taft-Hartley two or three times, because I never could afford to get into SAG. I did all my extra work in movies, and after you do so many you have to join, and I remember being really poor and borrowing the money to get into the union. That was way before “Taps.” I really need to look at my SAG card to find out what year that was. I had the old, original card. I think my first was right around ’72. That was a real triumph for me. My Equity card came earlier, I think at 8 years old, right after “Maggie Flynn.” I was really happy, because I felt like Equity as a union then was really supportive of the diehard actors who were always going to come back to the stage. The SAG card was different, because it didn’t mean I was going to be a working actor. You certainly wanted to feel that way, but I was still doing extra work and just trying to get the attention of big directors.
What is your worst audition horror story?
“Taps.” I auditioned for it and I thought I did really well. And [casting director] Shirley Rich called me and she was really gentle. She said, “Giancarlo, you’re really good, but you just need to learn how to act.” And I just went, Ugh! And then she amended it by saying, “You need to learn how to act for the camera. You’re doing everything for the Broadway stage, to hit the back row, and you have to make everything more intimate.” It took me weeks to realize she’d given me a gift. Once I started doing plays, I got what she was talking about. But that was my worst nightmare, because I thought I was good then, and she was telling me, “You’re good, but you’re not good enough.”
What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a role?
I walked in to audition for “Good Morning Vietnam” or something with Oliver Stone. I’d gone to the Army and Navy surplus store on Fifth Avenue and 19th Street—it’s probably not there anymore—and got a whole camouflage outfit, bandana, dog tags, fake tattoos, blacked out one of my teeth, and I went in there hard–frickin’–core! I sat down and read the scene twice, and Oliver was a little freaked out. He looked at me and said, “Can you just take some of that shit off?”
That led me to another moment that was even more dramatic: a film with Haskell Wexler. I walked in to audition for him, had a really fierce character, and I made a decision in the moment—because he wasn’t in the casting room; he was in his office. He was reading across from me, which is pretty rare, and my character gets very angry. I swiped his desk. I cleared his actual desk. He didn’t hire me.
What performance should every actor see and why?
Robin Williams in “The Fisher King.” Robin’s story is being a comedian and then working his way to being a more dramatic actor. His performance in this is the perfect blend of comedy and drama—sadness, truth, desire. I saw that performance when I was making a movie called “Bob Roberts,” and I was really sorry I did. That probably was a turning point in my career, because now, when I’m working on television, film, theater, I don’t see any other entertainment, because I feel like it’s going to make me impure. I’m gonna see something I like—we naturally borrow, and I don’t want to borrow from anyone. I want to be original. But I was so inspired by his performance in that movie that I just wanted to get out of my head.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Write. Write for yourself. Create. I waited. I knew I was going to be where I’m getting to, always in my heart and soul. I knew it would take perseverance. I knew it would take sacrifice, doing a lot of other jobs like bartending and dishwashing. But in those other arenas, I always observed. If I had it to do all over again, I would be writing at 25.
Ready to get back to work? Check out Backstage’s TV audition listings!