Maximum Overdrive (1986)
Breaking Bad wasn’t the first dramatic on screen death for Esposito. In Maximum Overdrive, the Stephen King directed film about machines coming to life to kill all of mankind, he played a greedy video game player.
When the video games start spilling out their quarters, Esposito fills his pockets before getting hypnotised by the Star Castle machine and getting electrocuted by the evil game. Though Maximum Overdrive probably wasn’t the highlight of his career, it’s one of those weird cameos that prove we’ve all seen Esposito a million times before the AMC show ever hit the air.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Esposito got his biggest break yet in the Spike Lee’s classic Do the Right Thing. Playing the fast talking Buggin’ Out, Esposito finally got the opportunity to show off his skills. His character work is so thorough and grounded and miles apart from Gus Fring.
Do the Right Thing was their second time working together and Lee and Esposito continued to collaborate many more times throughout the early ’90s. In Mo’ Better Blues Esposito played Left Hand Lacey, a suave piano player with an excellent pencil thin mustache and joined up with Lee and Denzel Washington again in Malcolm X. Esposito’s work with Lee showed off his dramatic range and amazing character skills.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
While you were trying to solve the mystery of Kaiser Sose, you probably missed another Giancarlo Esposito appearance. Playing FBI agent Jack Baer, he’s the one who first introduces the tale of Sose to the detectives.
Esposito enjoyed making the film and especially loved Benicio Del Toro’s strange but genius performance. The actor said, “I really believe that in order to succeed, you have to be willing to fail, and to go to the ultimate level. When Benicio del Toro came on the set of The Usual Suspects after our first reading of the piece, the first day, he comes out and speaks that gibberish language that he was speaking, and I was like, ‘Benicio, that’s brilliant!’ And everybody else said, ‘Are you really gonna do that?’ I said, ‘F*** yeah, he’s gonna do that! Because he’s brave!'”