Giancarlo Esposito is just as lively and energetic as he was playing Buggin’ Out in Spike Lee’s hit film “Do the Right Thing,” and as reserved and focused as his stunning performance as Gustavo Fring in the heavy-hitting AMC series “Breaking Bad.” With over 50 years in the acting game, a slew of notable and ever so quotable characters under his belt and now four Emmy nominations, Esposito told TheWrap he still feels like a kid in a candy store looking through shelves upon shelves of opportunity.
“It’s like playing in a sandbox,” Esposito said of acting while discussing his Primetime Emmy nomination for Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as Stan Edgar in “The Boys.” “The more mature I get in this business, the more child-like wonder I have for what we do … So, to get that phone call is great. It used to be really great for my ego, now it’s really great for my heart.”
Just like his previous roles as Gustavo, Moff Gideon in Disney+’s “The Mandalorian” or even Lex Luthor in the animated series “Harley Quinn,” Esposito once again takes on the role of a meticulous antagonist, who, of course, is the head honcho in charge in “The Boys.” Stan Edgar, the longtime CEO of Vought International, who has since been forced out of his position, is the one person Homelander can’t intimidate. After a deal with Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) to obtain a Vought-crafted virus that reverses the effects of Compound V flops, Stan Edgar is sent back to prison but is then rescued by his daughter Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit).
While Stan’s whereabouts are unknown at the moment, Esposito suspects the disgraced exec’s storyline in “The Boys” universe isn’t done, and there might even be room and board for him on “The Boys” college-based spinoff series “Gen V.”
“I think they have some plans for Edgar — hint, hint,” Esposito said with a smile.
And in the meantime, Esposito is busier than ever. During his conversation with TheWrap, he opened up about his hopes to star in a romantic comedy centered on a mature man’s attempts to find love, his daughter Ruby Esposito becoming Spike Lee Joint alum through her work on Lee’s newest film “Highest 2 Lowest,” his desire to return to theater and more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You’re nominated for Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series for your performance as Stan Edgar in “The Boys.” While this isn’t your first, second, or third time being nominated, what does it feel like for your work to be consistently recognized and applauded at this level?
Esposito: It’s an honor every time. Every time it’s fresh and new for me because I’m never waiting for that phone call to happen — I just do the work. The acknowledgement alone is a win for me. It just makes me feel like I’m where I need to be with the best of all those in TV, working with the best showrunners, the best writers, the best acting and scene partners, and so it’s really elation. I’m elated.
What other part/area of your craft would you like to play around with? I know you’ve mentioned wanting to do a romantic comedy before.
I’ve been talking about a romantic comedy for people of a certain age. I’m a little bit more mature now, but I’m in some of the best shape of my life, because I’m getting ready for an action picture of which I’ll produce and star in and so I run into old friends who may be around the same age as I am, and they go, “Oh, hey, we’re doing great for old men.” And I say, “Speak for yourself. I’m not old at all.” I had this idea, because I’m a divorced man, a mature man, with four daughters who’s still open to having that right someone come into their life. Have we ever seen that story, you know? Where you’re not meeting someone who’s over the hill and ready to die and looking for a partner to hold them up on their cane, but someone who actually has a very young mindset, who’s looking for an equal. But, he also has four daughters who are very protective of him, who want the right person for him. That would be a great kind of romantic comedy.
Is there anyone you’ve yet to collaborate with that you’d like to?
I had the blessing of being able to collaborate recently with Stephen King on a short story in his latest novel called [“You Like It Darker.”] It’s a short story within that, and I’m working with [television screenwriter] Guy Busick (“Ready or Not” franchise,” “Scream 7”) to write the script for a feature film, because I wanted to explore the horror genre after working on “Abigail” with the two lovely, lovely directors of “Scream.” There’s also another story I’m cultivating about [the] end of life [about an] older couple who are going through the veil, their final evolution. [It’s] a very interesting story about a child that they have lost touch with and have to find who went the wrong way. [A] story about how we evolve as we start to accept the fact that we’re going to transition and move on.
I’m writing a memoir. I have a publisher with Crown [Publishing Group], and I’m also doing a graphic novel which also has a publisher, with Simon & Schuster, which explores the all of who I am, so without bifurcating who I am. I’m part Italian and part African American, but I label myself as a Black man in America, that’s a whole different layer. So how do we embrace and allow people to know all of who I am? When I go to Italy, I’m an Italian. I’m trying to figure out, and have plied a story about an Italian who left there early and then went back, and how he finds himself in these two worlds.
So we’ve got to get into “The Boys”: How do you feel about it coming to an end?
I feel like it’s gone too fast. I love what the creators of “The Boys,” especially Eric Kripke, does with the show. It’s such a very satirical look at the world we’re in today. I’ve always loved the show because it’s felt like superheroes with human emotions … So I’m sad. Every season I think Eric’s assumption is that, ‘Oh, I probably won’t be able to get him back, which leads me to another story. [I was] with my daughter during Season 3, I’m watching that episode that’s so outrageous, you know which one I’m talking about (Episode 6: “Herogasm”), and she pauses the TV to go to the bathroom. She comes back, and I’m texting. She’s like, “What are you doing?” I said, “I’m texting Kripke.” She said, “What? What are you saying?” I’m saying, “Don’t forget me in Season 4, because I got to come back” and and she said, “That’s how you do it? I said, “Well, yeah, I like the show, I like him, I want to be a part of it.” Three seconds later, text comes back, “What, would you?” And I said, “Yeah, I would. And that’s how it happened.
Is that advice you’d give to actors or even people in general when it comes to going after what they want?
That’s exactly right. I tell my kids: Ask for what you want. You can think it, but the universe is not getting that. If you ask it out loud and you just make the call — look when I got the Stephen King piece, you know how I did that? I emailed him. “Stephen. I got a galley copy of your book. This story resounds for me. Can I have the rights?” I think we as human beings, especially actors, we’re insecure. We have to go after roles, wait for the phone to ring — I don’t do that. I ask for what I want. I say, “Hey, I really admire this piece. I would like to develop it. If you can find a place for me to do that.” Or, “I’d like to develop with you.” Or, “I want to talk to you about producing this with you.” I think you know when we are empowering ourselves to ask that question, not out of ego or out of glory, but out of desire and want. And again, that word inspiration, then the universe gives it to us.
Absolutely. Well, is the universe going to give us Stan Edgar in “Gen V”? How much of Stan will we get to see?
I would like Stan Edgar to be in a lot more of “Gen V.” I think they have some plans for Edgar — hint, hint. I do what they ask because I really enjoyed “Gen V.” All of a sudden, I’m working with people my own age. I like working with adults, but I’m just a kid, and these young actors tear it up! We’re going to say that there’s a place for Stan Edgar in this world. The dank world of “The Boys” is coming to an end. It’s sad to me, but power has to get toppled. I think we have to understand what side of that priority of power we have stood one and what we’ve traded off in the mix of it because that was what we thought was right for the right now, but that’s all going to change. It’s all going to go away, just like what’s happening right now [in the U.S.]. It’s all going to go away if you and I can stand our ground and facilitate what’s right for all of us as human beings.
And as far as Season 5 of “The Boys”?
Season 5 of “The Boys” is going to be a torrent coming down, but Stan, Stan is someone who understands what people need. You know, he’s not only the company man who explains to Homelander that you are not a god, “you’re simply bad product.” He also explains to him that it’s a pharmaceutical company, and we got to understand this about America, like he breaks it down. This is about money, it’s about controlling people. I think Stan is onto something, because it places him outside of it, understanding it, running it. We don’t know who for he’s running for some other folks, but he’s certainly gotten rich from it. It certainly aggrandized him, but he’s able to be personal enough to know that you need to be empowered. That’s why Homelander can’t take him out, because he knows Homelander needs a father figure. He needs to be approved. I tell my girls, don’t get your approval from no man. Don’t get your approval from nobody. Validate yourself. And so Stan Edgar is all about that, so we need to see some more of him.
Speaking of your daughters, how does it feel for your daughter Ruby Esposito to now be part of Spike Lee’s filmography just like you? I know she working in the camera department for his new film “Highest 2 Lowest.”
You are so on it. Tears are coming to my eyes; I’m so proud of this girl. We’re sitting there are the premiere and her name is up in the credits. Spike adored her. She did a great job. She went on to be his assistant for a couple of months and she learned even more from that. It’s time, because she is a filmmaker. She’s been a filmmaker since she was 10, put a camera in her hand when she was 8. Papa bear has been telling her for two years now to write your script. I will produce it — $2 million; that’s in my wheelhouse. And I’ll play a small part in it. I could not be more proud to empower her at her own pace, but it’s time. She got somebody she work with on [“Highest 2 Lowest”] who she really likes. They’ve been meeting, cooking up that idea. So Spike is the through line.
You know what he said to me at the “Highest 2 Lowest” premiere? He said, “Hey, they love us at Fiat. They love the Fiat commercial.” I’m like, “Well, Spike, let’s go to Italy and make another one. He’s like, “Bet, set it up.” I’m like, “I’m making a call.” He’s like, family. He’s empowered so many young filmmakers, not only my daughter, also many people who have worked for him for more than a few years in the office are getting some deals now, they’re going to leave him. He teaches them, he lets them go. He’s hard on them sometimes, tough love. I got them phone calls [about Ruby]. I’m like, “Girlfriend, you need to stick that out. I don’t care what he did, it’s Spike Lee. You’re there to learn, right?” So it’s really great. At the premiere, I saw Malcolm Washington, John David [Washington]. Malcolm said, “Oh man, where’s my alumni, where’s my girl?” He had never met my daughter. He said I was with Spike too, just that long, and I was gone. Our kids all coming through Spike. It’s beautiful thing. It’s about those relationships.
And speaking of the Washingtons. Denzel Washington and a few other actors who come from theater, like yourself, are returning to the stage. Could we see that from you at some point in your career?
Without a doubt. I’ve been plying a couple of different things, which are a little bit on hold right now until we re-envision them. One is [William Shakespeare’s] “King Lear.” We had been working on that at the [Park Avenue] Armory. Then, unfortunately, Pierre, the head of the Armory, passed away this year. So that’s kind of changing; I was working on that with [theatre director] Daniel Fish. We put it on hold for a minute, but that’s something that in our sights. [I’m] also talking to the Atlantic Theater Company about something else there with Neil Pepe, and we have to see if that is going to work. I’m all about theater theater, and I want to come back — not for my ego, but for the story. It’s got to be for the right reason. And to me, it’s coming soon. You’ll see me back there soon.
