Giancarlo Esposito nearly arranged his own murder for heartbreaking reason

Though he might be an A-list actor now, it wasn’t always easy for Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito. So much so that he nearly arranged his own murder, and the reason is heartbreaking. 

Esposito, who appears in horror movie Abigail and is the main character of AMC’s new series Parish, gave the candid interview on the Jim and Sam Show podcast. 

Before landing the role of Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, the actor explained that he went through two bankruptcies and a foreclosure on his home. 

Things came to a head in 2008. While financially struggling and trying to look after his wife and four kids, Esposito considered arranging a hit on himself so that his family would get the life insurance payout. 

When asked about what first gave him hope of a way out of the situation, Esposito said he started asking his now ex-wife Joy McManigal how much he was insured for, knowing that her father worked in the industry. 

“My way out in my brain was: ‘Hey, do you get life insurance if someone commits suicide? Do they get the bread?’ My wife… had no idea why I was asking this stuff,” he explained.  

“I just started scheming. If I got somebody to knock me off, death through misadventure, they [my family] would get the insurance. I had four kids. I wanted them to have a life. It was a hard moment in time. I literally thought of self-annihilation so they could survive. That’s how low I was.”

However, Esposito’s mindset started to change when he thought about how much damage and trauma it would cause to his family. 

“I started to think that’s not viable because the pain I would cause them would be lifelong, and lifelong trauma that would just extend the generational trauma I’m trying to move away from,” he said. 

The actor confirmed that “the light at the end of the tunnel was Breaking Bad,” which led to Better Call Saul, and that led to The Boys, The Mandalorian, and now Abigail and Parish. 

Abigail is out in cinemas now, while Parish is currently airing on AMC. You can find more TV shows to watch this month here.