All posts tagged: Giancarlo Esposito

Spike Lee and Giancarlo Esposito Reunite for National Fiat Campaign

Spike Lee and Giancarlo Esposito Reunite for National Fiat Campaign

Published by Sam

It’s a Saturday afternoon in February and Spike Lee and Giancarlo Esposito are sitting side-by-side in a golf cart on a studio lot in Los Angeles. The two, friends for 40 years, have worked together many times over the years on such Lee joints as 1988’s School Daze, 1989’s Do the Right Thing, 1990’s Mo’ Better Blues and 1992’s Malcolm X. They are back together and collaborating once again, this time for Fiat on behalf of the Italian automaker’s brand new, all-electric Fiat 500e. Lee directs and stars in the “Italy in America” spot opposite his Emmy-nominated friend in what marks their first national advertising campaign together. As the story goes, Esposito helps Lee find his inner Italian as they discover how their urban commute becomes more “dolce” in the 2024 Fiat 500e. “The all-electric Fiat 500e captures the essence of the Italian lifestyle. This new campaign brings together an iconic duo of diverse heritage, legendary Brooklyn director Spike Lee and actor Giancarlo Esposito, who shares the virtues of his Italian ancestry with Spike to …

Was So Broke He Considered Arranging Own Murder

Was So Broke He Considered Arranging Own Murder

Published by Sam

Giancarlo Esposito looked back at his financial struggles this week, recalling a time when he considered ordering his own murder in pursuit of a life insurance payout for his family. During an appearance on SiriusXM’s Jim & Sam show, Esposito said he went through two bankruptcies before landing Breaking Bad, as well as a foreclosure on his home. At his lowest, he told the hosts, he considered suicide. “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,” Esposito said. “So I asked [my ex-wife], I started poking around, ‘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.’” Esposito said from there, he “just started scheming.” “If I got somebody to knock me off, death through misadventure, they would get the insurance,” he …

Giancarlo Esposito Takes Over for Andre Braugher in The Residence

Giancarlo Esposito Takes Over for Andre Braugher in The Residence

Published by Sam

Giancarlo Esposito is taking over the male lead in Netflix’s Shondaland drama The Residence following the passing of Andre Braugher. Braugher, who died Dec. 11 following a battle with lung cancer, was tapped last February to be the male lead on Netflix’s Shonda Rhimes drama The Residence, starring opposite Uzo Aduba. The White House murder-mystery started production before shutting down amid Hollywood’s dual strikes. Braugher had already completed filming a lot of his scenes on the series, which was scheduled to resume filming last month January. Esposito’s casting means the scenes Braugher had filmed will be reshot on the drama from showrunner Paul William Davies (Scandal), which has continued production amid the recasting. Here’s the official logline for The Residence, per Netflix: “132 rooms. 157 suspects. One dead body. One wildly eccentric detective. One disastrous State Dinner. The Residence is a screwball whodunnit set in the upstairs, downstairs and backstairs of the White House, among the eclectic staff of the world’s most famous mansion.” The drama uses Kate Andersen Brower’s book, The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, as a jumping-off …