Giancarlo Esposito Talks About How ‘Breaking Bad’ Literally Saved His Life
We have recently revealed that fans on Ranker have voted Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul as the best TV villain of all time, which is something we have agreed with. Played by Giancarlo Esposito, Gustavo Fring turned out to be a formidable villain and a character with amazing development, which is why he remains one of the most popular characters from the whole franchise despite being the series’ major villain.
But, as it turns out, actor Giancarlo Esposito had been in a very bad place just before he was cast in Breaking Bad, and as it turns out – the series literally saved his life, which is an interesting revelation in light of the fact that Esposito is today one of the most popular TV actors overall.
As part of his promotion of the show Parish, Giancarlo Esposito appeared on SiriusXM’s Jim & Sam Show, where he talked about the show, but also about his life and his career, revealing that before he got the role of Fring, he was in a very bad place and was even pondering death! Here is what the actor said:
“She had no idea why I was asking her this stuff. I started scheming. If I got somebody to knock me off, death by misadventure, [my kids] would get the insurance. I had four kids. I wanted them to have a life. It was a hard moment in time. I literally thought of self-annihilation so they could survive. That’s how low I was.
That was the first inkling that there was a way out, but I wouldn’t be here to be available to my kids. Then I started to think that’s not viable, because the pain I would cause them would be lifelong, and there’d be lifelong trauma that would just extend the generational trauma I’m trying to move away from.”
Source: Jim & Sam Show
As you can see, Breaking Bad literally saved Esposito’s life, as the series not only brought him substantial funds but also launched him into the stars and enabled him to land numerous roles in the future. As you know, Giancarlo Esposito is today an enormously popular name in Hollywood and while he has specialized himself for villainous roles, he is a name that everyone knows and loves.
This is why this story is all the more interesting and why we are actually happy for him. If you ponder your own murder so that your children can survive, it means you are in a really dark place, but we’re happy that Esposito managed to get out of it and that he is here with us, making us happy with his brilliant performances.
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