W&L’s Contact Committee Presents an Evening with Award-Winning Actor and Director Giancarlo Esposito The “Breaking Bad” actor will speak on March 14 at 7 p.m. in the University Chapel.

By Emily Innes
February 21, 2024

Washington and Lee University’s Contact Committee is excited to welcome the award-winning actor and director Giancarlo Esposito to campus on March 14 at 7 p.m. in the University Chapel.

The event is free and open to the W&L community, and tickets are required. Tickets are available online here.

Esposito is a celebrated actor, director and producer with a career spanning nearly five decades, and is an arts and education advocate. In his talk, he will share his journey to become a quality thespian while confronting the hurdles many people of color face when breaking into the industry. Speaking candidly about learning to embrace his racial identity as part of his acting identity, Esposito’s talk will be thought-provoking and inspiring as he redefines success and encourages the audience to pursue what they love.

Esposito is well known by television audiences for his portrayal of drug kingpin Gustavo “Gus” Fring in AMC’s critically acclaimed award-winning series “Breaking Bad,” for which he won the 2012 Critics Choice Award and received a 2012 Emmy nomination. He reprised his role in the series’s prequel “Better Call Saul.”

Esposito appeared in the second and third installments of the action franchise “The Maze Runner,” and other film credits include “Okja,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Waiting to Exhale,” “The Gift,” “King of New York” and “Cotton Club.” He made his directorial debut with the film “Gospel Hill,” in which he co-starred, and he also directed and starred in “The Show.” An actor of both stage and screen, Esposito’s Broadway credits include “Storefront Church,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Upcoming projects include starring in the film “Shriver” alongside Thomas Haden Church and directing and producing the independent historical drama “Patriotic Treason,” in which he will also star as Frederick Douglass.

Esposito is a yoga enthusiast and spends his free time riding his motorcycle and practicing the saxophone. He also contributes to various charitable organizations that support the arts and education, including the Waterkeeper Alliance, Kids for Peace and World Merit USA.