Actor Giancarlo Esposito filled nearly every seat in Edwards Auditorium and attracted several different generations of people on Monday.
Esposito had an unorthodox upbringing that shaped him into the man he is today. During the event, the actor brought up how he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian stagehand and carpenter father and an southern African American mother who worked as an opera singer. From an early age, he was surrounded by performance, he told the audience.
In his childhood, he moved to Manhattan, which would later be the setting of some of his characters like Lance in “King of New York” and Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in “Godfather of Harlem.”
Esposito is well known for portraying Gus Fring in the Emmy Award winning show, “Breaking Bad,” and its prequel “Better Call Saul . ” In the TV world, he has recently continued his portrayal of Stan Egdar in “The Boys” and of Moff Gideon in “The Mandalorian.” Esposito is the main antagonist in each of these respective series making him well known for playing the villain. In his movie realm, he has played a diverse set of characters, from the comedic Buggin Out in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” to FBI Special Agent Jack Baer in “The Usual Suspects.”
As a teenager, he started acting to help out his struggling parents pay the bills and put food on the table. He took to the theater and has stayed in the storytelling industry ever since.
The event was structured as a set of questions, half prepared by a moderator, URI professor film and media Keith Brown. The second half of the event was then opened to students to ask questions of their own.
One of the first things Brown asked Esposito was a series of questions about his upcoming films, “Megalopolis” and “MaXXXine.”
“I hope when you see MaXXXine, you won’t even recognize me,” Esposito said. “It was really fun to work with Kevin Bacon and Mia Goth. I think it is going to be a great film.”
“Megalopolis” is an upcoming science-fiction epic film directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
“I love Francis Ford Coppola,” Esposito said. “I think he is a real artist. He is a very different director.”
Esposito noted that the script for “Megalopolis” is distinct and futuristic.
Esposito talked at length on his current directing prospects. Since his first directed work “Gospel Hill,” was released in 2008, he has gained more experience. He stressed to the audience how his role as both an actor and as a director makes him better at both. Esposito believes it is a relationship that must be respected.
The event was much more personable then perhaps some people were expecting, according to students in the audience.
Towards the end of the audience question he wrapped up a question by telling everyone to breathe and hear the space.
“That’s a space that’s inside you, that’s a space to listen to, that’s where inspiration comes from,” Esposito said.
“He spoke to us, not at us,” first-year Alex Velleca said. “We could understand what he was saying. Now that I know who he is, I want to start watching ‘Breaking Bad.’ I have to start watching more movies he was in.”
“A Conversation With Actor Giancarlo Esposito” was organized by the URI Student Entertainment Committee VIP subcommittee.
President of the SEC VIP committee and third-year student, Jayda Ives-Williams, was very excited for this event on Nov. 30.
“I’m interested in hearing the speaker,” Ives Williams said. “He has such a great following.”
There was a lot of excitement with this event at the SEC according to Ives-Williams.
“A lot of the subcommittee members have seen his work and really wanted him to come,” she said.
“For a lot of the VIP events, we are very interested in picking talent that the school committee is engaged in,” Ives-Williams said.
She wants to see more student involvement with the SEC subcommittees because, “Ultimately, the people in the subcommittee meetings decide what events we try to put on,” Ives-Williams said.
More information about future events can be found at @urisec on Instagram.