Giancarlo Esposito on Why Gustavo Fring is the Most Intimidating Villain He’s Played | GalaxyCon

Giancarlo Esposito took the stage at GalaxyCon Raleigh this weekend to discuss his career with an enthusiastic crowd.  

Esposito, of course, is well-known for his role as Gustavo Fring on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, along with his roles on The Mandalorian, The Boys, and Once Upon a Time. He answered questions from the crowd about some of his most popular roles and his career in general.

Of all of the roles he’s played, Esposito said the most intimidating villain was Gustavo Fring.

“He has a face that you don’t see — a face that’s hidden,” Esposito said. “He has an agenda that you don’t know, and that’s very frightening when someone’s hiding who they really are.”

Esposito recalled a stage direction from the first episode of Breaking Bad that he ever did. That stage direction went a long way to inform his character. “It described Gustavo Fring as hiding in plain sight. And it just moved me,” he said. “I started to develop all of the in-between emotional life of Gustavo Fring from that line.”

He also made it clear how much this role, which has spanned the course of many years now between both series, has meant to him. “I’ve so enjoyed playing Gustavo Fring. It’s been a highlight of my life,” Esposito said.

And when asked if he’d ever be willing to do a movie centered on Gustavo Fring, similar to that of El-Camino, his answer was simple. “In a heartbeat,” he said.

Esposito also talked about his role on The Mandalorian and why it’s a show that we so enjoy watching. 

“What we love about this particular show, we love its return to the mythology that belonged and existed so deeply and so seamlessly in the original movies. And that mythology, in case you don’t realize it, and you probably do, many probably do, is the hero’s journey. It harkens back to George Lucas’s friendship with Joseph Campbell,” Esposito said.

“It’s the hero and heroine’s journey that we relate to. Because we want that journey to be ours. We all want to have that kind of courage.”

As for his career overall, Esposito remains humble. 

“I never imagined I’d be in this position. Two years ago I was doing five different television shows. All of them were somewhat of a hit, some larger than others. This year I’m doing four. I’m reminded that I always want to work with people I really like, and then happy accidents happen. I’ve made great choices in my career that haven’t been guided by money or the size of a role.”

“I still feel like a young actor,” he continued. “I still feel like I’m learning every day I go to the set, and I think that’s the key. Because you never stop learning in your life.”

“When people come to me and they tell me that one of my performances really moved them at a very low point in their life, it’s the best thing for me because it means that I’m having some kind of an effect on another human being that I care about. It means the world to me”

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