– A man provides.
The audience erupts into claps and awe!
Giancarlo Esposito is no stranger to crowds. He is better known to some as Gustavo Fring from the series Breaking Bad or Stan Edgar on The Boys. He has been a performer for decades, going through many eras and today is held up as one of the meanest sons of guns you will ever see on your screen. But did you know that Giancarlo Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark? “I was born weighing around 13 Danish pounds, according to my mother!” he says.
Welcome back home!
Last week Giancarlo Esposito was visiting Copenhagen. You may have most likely seen him at Comic Con Denmark: One of Denmark’s biggest annual pop culture events! I was fortunate to also attend last Saturday, November 7th. Until this point, the actor’s connection to Denmark was mostly trivia: Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1958. What makes this visit so special was that for the first time Esposito opened up to Danish society on how he was born in Denmark and shares a strong attachment to Europe as an international.
“The man who greeted me at the airport was really nice to me, ‘you came home’ he said,” explained Esposito. Hailing from a family of performers, it happened that Esposito’s mother, opera singer Elizabeth Foster, was touring Europe at the time. Elizabeth Foster was among several black American women performing as a part of Josephine Baker‘s entourage, touring throughout Europe in the 1950’s and during the Civil Rights Movement era in the US.
In spite of her pregnancy, Foster continued performing- wearing hoop dresses to conceal her belly. Then she went into labor! “The country doctor had advised her to ‘eat what you want,’ so I was born weighing around 13 Danish pounds, according to my mother,” he humorously recounts.
A European Immigrant to the US
Esposito was born in Denmark, but didn’t stay for very long. The Esposito family kept traveling through Europe: Hamburg, Genoa… In his early years the Esposito family was mostly settled in Italy. After all, Neapolitan father Giovanni Esposito was an Italian. Giovanni was a stagehand, and according to Esposito what brought him and his mother together was opera. “I always remember opera playing on the record in our house,” he says alluding to what drew him to sing, to perform and to finally act!
It was also in Italy that Esposito’s brother Vincent was born in Rome. They lived together in Italy for many years. It was not until Esposito turned 8 years old, that the family would travel across the Atlantic to move to New York, USA!
“I’m somehow a blend of both my parents,” thinks Esposito. When he thinks of his mother, he is reminded of her encouraging him to sing, motivating him to train. And when he thinks of his father, he remembers that he is an Italian! “We are a people who enjoy acting, being someone bigger than life,” he says, connecting memories from his formative years with his identity through the large characters he portrays on the screen today.
🎵Buenos amigos, ¡alo mama!, ¡alo papa!, alo anglish is what we don’t know.
🎵¡Ama como, ama como!🎵 Spanglish is language we know, Spanglish is expressiv-o~🎵
Esposito breaks into song, as he sings “Spanglish” from the musical Seesaw, recalling his early roles in musical theater when he was just 15 years old. It’s a song representing a blend of two cultures, neither Spanish nor English but Spanglish! Esposito radiates this biculturalism as a big part of his personal identity.
What Made Giancarlo Esposito Get into Acting?
When asked about what made him “get into acting”, Esposito came with a challenge. “I don’t believe in ‘making it big’ or ‘getting into something’. We start with small experiences and then build them up into a tower,” he explained.
He was born into a family of performers. He grew up with opera music and singing. His child’s play matured into adult play and acting. He sang on Broadway. And then he moved into being a dramatic actor. And that’s what we know him as today, the most dramatic villain you can cast! As for his current aspirations, he wants to support his daughter through film school and shift into production himself!
At the same time Esposito answered this question through his admiration for the convention and just being at Comic Con Denmark. “When we are comfortable with each other and have creative freedom, then we grow! And the atmosphere here with costumes, artists and so on is not so different from the family I grew up in,” he explained.
Time will tell if we will again see Giancarlo Esposito in Denmark. Esposito admitted that this was only the second time in his life he came back to Denmark. So for the first time after birth, decades later at the age of 68! Between the lines Esposito also mentioned having met with I/O Interactive, the game studio behind the Hitman series and the new 007 First Light, perhaps alluding to a future project…
More About Comic Con Denmark
Comic Con Denmark is one of Denmark’s biggest annual pop culture events, celebrating film, television, and fandom! Held in Copenhagen, the festival brings together fans, nerds, geeks, cosplayers, tinkerers, makers, local artists, community figures, influencers, international guests and so much more! We would like to thank Comic Con Denmark for allowing us to attend as Last Week in Denmark and cover their event.
In case you missed this year’s convention, mark your calendar for November 2027 at Bella Center! You can learn more about Comic Con Denmark on their website: https://www.comiccondenmark.com/
