Giancarlo Esposito Shares His Perfect Villain Formula
It may be challenging to make the audience root for the villain, but Giancarlo Esposito knows how to do it.
Playing a memorable villain is a huge challenge for any actor. Many have tried and many have failed, but one of the most successful professionals in the field is undoubtedly Giancarlo Esposito.
Born to Giovanni "John" C. Esposito, an Italian stagehand and carpenter from Naples, and Elizabeth "Leesa" Foster, an African-American opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito made his Broadway debut in 1968 at the age of ten.
His first break out role on the big screen was the role of Zooman, a young criminal who accidentally kills a little girl in a shootout with a rival gang in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Zooman and the Sign", which earned him an Obie Award.
However, his true fame came after he portrayed Gustavo (Gus) Fring in the second season of Breaking Bad, an American crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan.
A smiling and pleasant owner of the Los Pollos Hermanos fast food chain by day and a ruthless, intelligent and cunning drug lord by night, Gus quickly managed to earn an undying love from the show's fans.
The epitome of corporate sociopathy, he is perfect in both roles. Many believe that his ironic edge is what makes the character so intriguing.
As Giancarlo says in an interview to The New Yorker, "it was Vince that inspired me by writing in the stage directions, "hiding in plain sight" [...] That gnawed at my guts".
His appeal is multi-dimensional, from his perpetual poise and almost never losing his cool to an almost darkly comedic immigrant success story.
Much of this has carried over to Giancarlo's portrayal of Stan Edgar, a secondary villain from the Amazon Prime Video superhero TV series The Boys.
Quiet but menacing, Stan exudes an incredible strength of character that easily puts an all-powerful Homelander in his place.
Another character masterfully brought to life by Giancarlo is Moff Gideon from Disney 's The Mandalorian.
Moving away from simple "good" and "bad" categories, the actor portrays Gideon as all shades of gray, attempting to restore order to a lawless galaxy through questionable means.
The show's third season premiered on March 1 with Giancarlo reprising his role, and fans are eager to see what fate finally awaits their favorite villain.