Giancarlo Esposito once planned to get himself killed to get insurance money

Giancarlo Esposito may be a familiar face and a seasoned actor, but he’s had his share of financial struggles. On Jim and Sam Show, the actor said he was so broke in 2008 that he contemplated his own “accidental” murder so his family of four kids could claim the insurance money. (Also Read: This Professor X-Magneto fan-casting just got approved by Giancarlo Esposito)
“My way out in my brain was: ‘Hey, do you get life insurance if someone commits suicide? Do they get the bread?’ My wife had no idea why I was asking 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,” Giancarlo said.
However, he soon saw how that wasn’t a wise solution. “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. The light at the end of the tunnel was Breaking Bad,” he added.
Taylor Swift is everywhere you look right now. Wonder what’s the big deal about her? Read our special story, a primer on everything Swift.
The 65-year-old Esposito, a six-decade acting veteran who was first introduced to wide audiences through his work in Spike Lee Joints, is most recognised for his villainous, sinister roles like the iconic drug kingpin Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad and its spinoff, Better Call Saul. More recently, he’s appeared in popular series like The Mandalorian, Godfather of Harlem, The Boys, Kaleidoscope, and The Gentlemen.
He plays the lead role for the first time in the new show Parish. Based on the BBC One series The Driver, it follows Gracian “Gray” Parish, a New Orleans-based former getaway driver-turned successful law-abiding taxi entrepreneur whose life unravels after his son’s murder. Facing financial hardships, he entangles himself with a local Zimbabwe gang that deals in human trafficking and ending that working relationship won’t be easy.
He’ll be next seen in the films Abigail, MaXXXine, Russo Brothers’ sci-fi adventure The Electric State, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalapolis, and James Franco’s The Long Home. He’ll also star in Netflix mystery show The Residence.