Giancarlo Esposito might be a recognizable actor now, but before his role as Gus Fring, he dealt with dire struggles
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Getting his big break in Breaking Bad was life changing for Giancarlo Esposito for a number of reasons as he revealed that he’d considered arranging his own murder after going bankrupt.
You might not know his name off the top of your head, but you will recognize him at this point if you have been playing games, watching movies or TV shows.
But before The Boys, Abigail or The Mandalorian, Esposito first became popular amongst viewers when he played the now-iconic role of Gus Fring in Breaking Bad.
However, Esposito was in some serious financial trouble before landing the role in the AMC show.
Giancarlo Esposito shot to stardom as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad (AMC)
The actor opened up about his life before Breaking Bad in an interview on the Jim and Sam Show earlier this year in April.
Esposito recalled his own experience as an ‘everyman’, revealing his accountant at one point told him he had ‘maybe about eight months’ before he went bankrupt.
The actor, who also experienced a foreclosure on his home, said that at his lowest point in 2008, he considered ending his life in pursuit of a life insurance payout for his family.
Discussing how he looked for a ‘way out’ of his financial troubles, Esposito recalled: “The first thing that had me think there was a way out, was my wife’s father — God rest his soul — Pops McManigal was in insurance.
“So I asked [my ex-wife], I started poking around [asking], ‘How much am I insured for?’ And then she told me.
“My way out, in my brain, was, I said, ‘Hey, do you get life insurance, if someone commits suicide, do they get the bread?’ And my wife said, ‘Well, that’s kind of tricky’.”
From that point, Esposito said he ‘started scheming’ about having someone kill him.
Esposito said he considered ending his own life for the sake of his family (Rich Polk/Deadline via Getty Images)
“If I got somebody to knock me off, death through misadventure, they would get the insurance,” he said. “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 that they could survive. That’s how low I was.”
As he thought more about the idea, however, Esposito realized that he couldn’t put his family through the pain of that loss.
He continued to say: “I started to think, that’s not viable because the pain I would cause them would be lifelong, and lifelong trauma that would just extend the generational trauma with which I’m trying to move away from.
“The light at the end of the tunnel was Breaking Bad. I had a few little things before to start to recover, but Breaking Bad was the light.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741
Featured Image Credit: AMC
