Esposito kicked off his career on the small screen with a number of episodes of Sesame Street, in 1982. What followed was an appearance in soap opera The Guiding Light, which aired in the United States until 2009, and Another World, also a soap opera on the other side of the ocean. It was 1984 when a more famous name appeared on his list of achievements for the first time. Esposito guest stars in Miami Vice - the television series.
American Playhouse and The Equalizer (1985) follow, as well as guest appearances in Spenser: For Hire and Leg Work. Esposito has also appeared in more than twenty other film and video productions. When the '90s start, Esposito is anything but sitting still. We kick off with a guest role in Lifestories and in American Experience. In Bakersfield P.D. he is playing a role for the first time for a longer period. Detective Paul Gigante can be labeled as his first leading role in a series.
The crime genre of Bakersfield P.D. will come back a lot later. That actually starts in New York Undercover. Other projects Esposito has appeared in include Fallen Angels, Chicago Hope, Living Single, Swift Justice and Nash Bridges. At the end of the years before the turn of the century, Esposito lets loose for a while. He guest stars as a vampire in The Hunger, is a werewolf in Creature and shows off his acting skills in NYPD Blue. Finally, he plays in the final season of Homicide: Life On The Streets, a series that concludes with a film.
The new century then begins where the other ended: with series in which Esposito makes an appearance. Touched by an Angel is the first achievement. In the drama series The $treet, a woman comes to spoil the fun of Esposito and his colleagues at work - for just one season. Esposito doesn't care, he also plays in Strong Medicine, 100 Center Street, The Practice, Third Watch and A Nero Wolf Mystery.
Drama series Girls Club is a series that Esposito wants to commit to for a longer period of time, but which also only manages to last one season. Perhaps due to that premature end, we also see him appear briefly in The Division, Lucky and Street Time during that period.
With his dry humor and expressive face, Esposito is increasingly venturing into the comedy genre. Half & Half is an example of this. 5ive Days to Midnight and Soul Food are very different projects.
Halfway through the zeroes, Esposito's focus shifts for a while to procedural crime, police and court dramas. With Law & Order, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Bones, Dr. Vegas, Las Vegas, Kidnapped, New Amsterdam and CSI: Miami are a large part of what is currently available within these genres. In between he flashes by in Ghost Whisperer.
The role for which Esposito really became world famous follows only then. In 2009 he made his entrance in the immensely popular Breaking Bad. His portrayal of bad guy Gus Fring is fantastic and is greatly appreciated by almost all fans of the series. Fring is genuinely a man to be frightened of, although he does seem to have a conscience somewhere.
Is Breaking Bad all he did during that period? Not for Esposito. He also added guest roles in many other series. Crime, police and courts remain central. Leverage, Lie to Me, Detroit 1-8-7 and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior welcome him to the set.
Yet Esposito makes a turn afterwards. He accepts the role of Sidney Glass in the fairy tale series Once Upon a Time and goes on a fantasy tour in Revolution. He also appears briefly in the then-critically acclaimed comedy Community. Familiar within well-known genres are Revolution: Enemies of the State and Ax Cop.
Espostio will then increasingly appear in series, sought after as the best man is now. It will be busy with performances in Allegiance, Drunk History and The Get Down. After a few appearances in Rebel, he is also present in Breaking Bad's well-known spin off: Better Call Saul. From that series he makes a great miniseries: Better Call Saul: Employee Training. We also hear Esposito as narrator in Dear White People, while he himself can be seen in Westworld, Dallas & Robo, JETT and Creepshow.
It will be 2019 when Esposito will really capitalize on the success of Breaking Bad. Regular, major roles start for him in three series: The Mandalorian, Godfather of Harlem and The Boys. During this period he does voice work in the new DuckTales, Harley Quinn, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
Kaleidoscope is a somewhat poorly received miniseries in which Esposito stars, after which he picks up the thread with well-appreciated series with the recently published, successful The Gentlemen - where he stars alongside, among others, Kaya Scoledario. Esposito, however, happily continues again. Crime series Parish will start in April 2024, in which he plays the title hero of the same name. That again bodes well.
Giancarlo Esposito is impossible to get rid of. Some series are missing from the above list, supplemented with his complete oeuvre on the big screen. Whether you like it or not, you've seen something that featured this acting canon. And with the quality he delivers, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Will you grab the new popcorn?
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