Actor Giancarlo Esposito recently appeared on the SiriusXM “Jim & Sam” show to promote his new AMC drama series “Parish.” During the interview, he revealed that he was so broke before landing his famous role as Gus Fring on “Breaking Bad” that he once considered arranging his own murder so his children could receive money from his life insurance policy.
Esposito considered this idea around 2008, one year before “Breaking Bad” changed his career path and led to roles in shows like “The Mandalorian” and “The Boys.”
When asked how he got out of near bankruptcy in 2008, Esposito said, “My way out in my brain was: ‘Hey, do you get life insurance if someone commits suicide? Do they get the money?’ My wife had no idea why I was asking this. I started scheming. If I got somebody to kill me, 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. I literally thought of self-annihilation so they could survive. That’s how low I was.”
“That was the first idea that there was a way out, but I wouldn’t be here for my kids,” Esposito added. “Then I thought that’s not viable because the pain I would cause them would be lifelong trauma that would just extend the generational trauma I’m trying to move away from. The light was ‘Breaking Bad.'”
Esposito played Gus Fring in 26 episodes of “Breaking Bad” and 34 episodes of the prequel “Better Call Saul.” He has expressed interest in portraying Gus again in a potential prequel series about the character’s origins.