Hi everyone and thank you for tuning in to the 290th episode of Awards Chatter, the Hollywood Reporters Awards Podcast.

I'm the host Scott Feinberg

and my guest today is one of the great character actors in show business.

A man who has excelled on the radio, the stage, and screens big and small for over a half century,

and who is best known for his four film collaboration with Spike Lee, including 1989's Do the Right Thing, and his two TV series collaboration with

Vince Gilligan, playing the creepy drug kingpin Gus Fring on Breaking Bad from 2009 through

2011 and on Better Call Saul from 2017 through the present

earning Best Supporting Actor Emmy nominations in 2012 for the former and this month for the latter, which makes him one of only a handful

of people ever nominated for multiple shows on which they played the same character.

The great John Carlo Esposeto.

Over the course of our conversation at the Offices of the Hollywood reporter, the 61-year-old and I

discussed the identity crisis he experienced growing up as the son of an African American mother and an Italian father.

How he got into acting at such a young age and how a theatrical production first brought him

to the attention of Spike Lee, with whom he has always enjoyed a close but contentious relationship.

Why not long before being invited to audition for Breaking Bad, he was so low that he seriously

contemplated suicide. How he rebounded, crafted the character of

Gus Fring for that show, and then adapted him for its prequel, plus much more.

So without further ado, let's go to that conversation.

Mr. Esposito, thank you so much for joining.

It's great to have you on the podcast.

We always begin with just a few basics.

Where were you born and raised and what did your folks do for a living?

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