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How Giancarlo Esposito made Gus Fring one of TV’s most complex villains — with just one direction
The secret behind Gus Fring’s quiet terror in Breaking Bad, according to Giancarlo Esposito.
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Gus Fring is one of the most interesting and nuanced villains in recent history. The Breaking Bad drug kingpin (and chicken restauranter) might not look as scary as Darth Vader or Pennywise, but he brings his own menacing energy. Gus Fring is quiet, sophisticated, and collected, and he immediately takes control of every room he walks into. A lot of this can be credited to Giancarlo Esposito, who brought an interesting sense of danger, mystery, and charisma to the role. According to Esposito, most of that came from one note.
“I think a lot of what I do is defined by not defining a villain as a stereotype,” Esposito says during a panel at Space Con 2025. “I believe that we have light and dark in us. It’s the struggle between the light and the dark that determines who you are. That could be an everyday struggle. It could be something that you move through and you’re consciously able to always be on the right side of you.”
“We as viewers determine that there are villains who are stereotypical, because it’s easy in film and television to define who that is like that. But if you see the character who’s a little more cultured, a little more refined, cares about the people, like Gustavo Fring, who he’s serving in his restaurant, then you’re like is he good or is he bad. You don’t really know.”
“The thing that got me about Gustavo Fring was I saw a stage direction in the very first episode of Breaking Bad that I did. It said, 'hiding in plain sight.' So, I started thinking about all the people who we know in our neighborhood. You go take your garbage can to the curb, and I used to live in Austin, Texas. You take those big cans out, and you see the neighbor doing the exact same thing you’re doing.”
He continued, “Then one day I looked at my neighbor and I went, what does he really do? He has a little briefcase, he gets in his car and goes to work, but what does he really do? And I had this whole story about how people may not be what you think they are. You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
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About Spacecon
SPACECON is America’s newest comic con created by PMX Events. Attendees will see celebrity guests from the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek, Guardians of the Galaxy and other intergalactic movies and TV shows. Con goers will discover an immersive show experience to get up-close and personal with their favorite celebrities, voice artists, and comic artists with hundreds of exhibitors and special attractions to exhilarate any fandom.
Dates
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Location
San Antonio
USA
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