Breaking Bad Star Details How Show Saved His Life: "The Light At The End Of The Tunnel"

Summary Actor Giancarlo Esposito credits his role as Gus in Breaking Bad for saving him from trying to stage his death to give life insurance money to his family.

Esposito's portrayal of Gus led to critical acclaim, numerous awards, and new opportunities in TV and film.

Despite his successful career post Breaking Bad, Esposito still holds a deep connection to his iconic role.

Actor Giancarlo Esposito, who portrayed Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, has opened up about how the show saved his life, pulling him out of a very dark place he was in before getting the role. Esposito portrayed the notorious drug kingpin as a series regular during seasons 3 and 4 of the show. He later reprised the role for the prequel series Better Call Saul, becoming the most recognizable villain from the franchise.

However, Variety reports that, on an episode of Jim & Sam on SiriusXM, Esposito opened up about how his role as Gus in Breaking Bad saved his life. The actor opened up about his monetary struggles before landing the role, saying he seriously considered staging his own death so his family would get his life insurance money. Check out what Esposito had to say below:

My way out in my brain was: ‘Hey, do you get life insurance if someone commits suicide? Do they get the bread?’ My wife had no idea why I was asking this stuff. I started scheming. If I got somebody to knock me off, 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 in time. I literally thought of self-annihilation so they could survive. That’s how low I was. That was the first inkling that there was a way out, but I wouldn’t be here to be available to my kids. Then I started to think that’s not viable because the pain I would cause them would be lifelong, and there’d be lifelong trauma that would just extend the generational trauma I’m trying to move away from. The light at the end of the tunnel was ‘Breaking Bad.'

How Breaking Bad's Gus Became Giancarlo Esposito's Breakout Role

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Esposito has received critical acclaim for his role as Gus in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, being nominated for and winning multiple awards during his time on the show. His role in the series led to even more recognizable roles in the future, such as Stan Edgar in The Boys and Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian. He also branched out into video games, using both his voice and his likeness to bring "The Dentist" in Payday 2 and Anton Castillo in Far Cry 6 to life.

Even after the ending of Better Call Saul, Esposito has still been finding work in TV shows, such as his titular role in AMC's Parish, which is currently airing as of writing. He is also scheduled to appear in four movies across 2024, those being Abigail, The Electric State, Megaopolis, and MaXXXine. The opportunities the actor now has clearly stem from his breakout role as Gus Fring, a clear indicator of just how important the role was for his life - and how prolific an actor he's been ever since.

While he's branched out very far since his time as the criminal mastermind, Esposito has expressed interest in returning for a Gus prequel to Breaking Bad. His enthusiasm about the idea over the years shows that, despite how massive his career has grown since his time on the show, he still has a deep connection to the character that saved his life. Although it's unclear if a prequel could ever happen, it's apparent just how important the show was for him, and how deeply impacted his life was by his role.

Esposito's other forthcoming roles include the movie The Long Home and the TV series The Residence.

Source: Variety