How ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Mandalorian’ star Giancarlo Esposito is embracing ‘Parish’ – Orange County Register

In “Do The Right Thing,” one of the great American films, the catalyst for the plot is the loud, angry and hyperkinetic ball of energy known as Buggin’ Out. In “Breaking Bad,” one of the greatest American television dramas, the catalyst for much of the story is the tightly coiled, quietly menacing meth kingpin Gustavo Fring. 

These two characters have only one thing in common: Giancarlo Esposito.

Esposito, 65, has been nominated for Emmys on three shows (“Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul” and “The Mandalorian”) and these days is best known for villains and criminals, following “Saul” with “The Boys,” “Kaleidoscope,” “The Gentleman” and now as a leading man in “Parish,” in which he plays a getaway driver gone legit who gets dragged back into the underworld and quickly gets in over his head. The show premieres on AMC March 31.

But even before teaming up with Spike Lee (for whom he also appeared in “School Daze,” “Mo’ Better Blues” and “Malcolm X”), Esposito demonstrated a versatility that would serve him well in decades of supporting roles – he began his career in Broadway musicals at age 10 (in a show called “Maggie Flynn”), appearing on stage regularly for 20 years before his film career took off. 

Like Gray Parish, Esposito is more voluble and animated than Fring but much more in control than Buggin’ Out. He spoke recently about his life and career by video. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Q. Many of your post-Fring projects are crime stories. What is the appeal?

I like to operate in an unpredictable world because our world is unpredictable. We want order and we want to feel like things don’t change, but our world today is the antithesis of that. I’m a fan of old noir movies because it was similar and there’s a desperation within that world so the audience is looking for a way out just as the central character is.

I’m also drawn to the story of origin within whatever world the story is placed in. My story of origin is complicated and convoluted and I’m still trying to find my home. I was born in Copenhagen and initially raised in Rome to an Italian father and a Black mother. Then coming to New York I wondered, “Is this my home? Am I welcome here? Do I see my people here?”

Q. “Parish” is another crime story but the role feels like it gives you a chance to try something new, to carry a show and to show emotional vulnerability, especially in the scenes with his family..

When I saw “The Driver” [the BBC One series this is based on], I recognized the character. I’ve been through bankruptcy and I have a failed marriage and I have four daughters I’m raising along with my former wife. And that was crushing for me when I was going through all this, so the story resounded. But yes, there’s a wider range of emotion – in part, because Parish is the central character – and he’s a character you’ve never seen me play before, a character who’s not in control. 

In my life, I can walk into a room and control the chaos. I have the power of reading people, of getting what I want from people who may not want to give it to me. That’s something I’ve developed in my life, not only through playing the characters I’ve played, but understanding what I have. So I wanted to play someone who walked into a room and was flying by the seat of his pants, who’s unsure of himself. It’s showing another part of myself that hasn’t been seen.

Q. Does your ability to control the chaos and control a room stem from your years of meditation and yoga?

Quite a bit of it. It used to be just false bravado, and my really powerful voice – I did nine Broadway musicals, and my father used his voice to control the situation, but my voice is even more powerful than my father’s. Your voice can control the chaos, put the mannerisms with it and it can be overpowering. 

My father was a bit of a bully. My brother was a bully. I got bullied a lot, so I learned about bullies and probably part of me became a bully myself because how can you help that until you really acknowledge it and then be able to let it go? The yoga and the meditation focused all of my energy inward so that I could be aware.

Q. You were on Broadway as a child and did nine musicals. How did that influence you? 

It made me the actor I am. The musical work was my foundation. But then I made a clear choice in my career – I wanted to be a dramatic actor, and I knew it was a different technique, a different style. I went that route because I wanted to affect more people. I had hung in the Village hearing jazz musicians like Erroll Garner and Miles Davis. They were my color and they were the cool cats so that’s my image of what I wanted to be as an actor, I wanted to bring the cool cat vibe to it.

So I worked diligently at it and started to get really good at it.  My mother always said to me, “No one can take away what’s between your ears.” But they also take away what’s in your heart or your soul. If I had a craft, it would extend beyond the judgment that people might have of me for being Black.

Q. How did growing up in Harlem and being biracial shape you as a person and an actor?

There are many cultures in Manhattan but most people stay in their neighborhoods. I was shaped by wanting to relate to my Italian heritage and my African American heritage so I floated around. People would tell me, “You look Ethiopian,” or “You look Spanish,” or “You look this,” or “You look that.” I could put on a Spanish accent and go to Spanish Harlem. I morph into different people and take on their idioms to express myself as an actor. Why can’t I do it in life? So that’s what I did, moving in and out of neighborhoods. And it honed my acting skills.