Giancarlo Esposito Movies
Versatile American actor Giancarlo Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, but grew up in Manhattan from the age of six. His mother was an African-American nightclub singer (who once shared a bill with Josephine Baker) and his father was an Italian stagehand. In show business most of his life, Esposito made his Broadway debut in a 1966 production of Maggie Flynn. His other stage credits include Sacrilege, Miss Moffatt, and Balm in Gilead. He won a 1981 Theatre World Award for his performance in Zooman and the Sign.On the big screen, Esposito started appearing in Spike Lee films during the late '80s in a wide range of roles with great character names. He was the frat leader Julian "Big Brother Almighty" in School Daze, the outspoken reactionary Buggin' Out in Do the Right Thing, the dandy pianist Left Hand Lacey in Mo' Better Blues, and the criminal Thomas Hayer in Malcolm X. Esposito's other film roles include an investigative journalist in Bob Roberts, an activist in Amos & Andrew, and a game show host in Reckless. In 1995, he earned an Independent Spirit award nomination for his supporting role of doting drug dealer Esteban in Boaz Yakin's debut drama Fresh. Esposito also appeared in Wayne Wang and Paul Auster's Smoke, along with the sequel Blue in the Face. The next year, he turned briefly to producing with the independent prison film The Keeper, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
On television, Esposito appeared on NYPD Blue, Law & Order, and the short-lived Fox comedy Bakersfield, P.D. In 1999, he earned an Image award nomination for his role as FBI Agent Michael Giardello on Homicide: Life on the Street. He also has contributed to the Fox television dramas The $treet and girls club. While teaching at the Atlantic Theatre Company, Esposito found time to portray real-life figures in the biopics Ali (as Cassius Clay Sr.) and Piñero (as Miguel Algarin). Projects for 2004 included James Hunter's feature Back in the Day and the television movie NYPD 2069. He played a detective in the thriller Derailed, and appeared in the indie drama SherryBaby. In 2008 he directed, starred in, and helped write the drama Gospel Hill. In 2010 he joined the cast of the highly-respected AMC drama series Breaking Bad, and appeared in the 2012 big-screen thriller Alex Cross. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
Adapted for the screen by David Lindsay-Abaire from his own Pulitzer Prize-winning play, director John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole stars Oscar winner Nicole Kidman and Golden Globe-nominated Aaron Eckhart as a married couple who find their relationship on life support following the devastating loss of their young child. The further their relationship deteriorates, the harder the grieving parents fight to keep it alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, (more)
Danny Glover, Angela Bassett, Julia Stiles, and Samuel L. Jackson headline actor-turned-director Giancarlo Esposito's ensemble drama about a small southern town still haunted by a racially motivated murder that occurred there thirty years prior. Civil rights activist Peter Malcolm (Jackson) was at the peak of his popularity when he was ruthlessly gunned down in the streets of Gospel Hill. Thirty years later, no one has ever been accused of the crime, and Peter's brother John (Glover) has withdrawn from the community to ponder the full weight of his brother's unfulfilled mission in solitude. As John sinks ever deeper into a bottomless sea of despair, his wife Sarah (Bassett), an outspoken community activist, campaigns tirelessly against a ruthless band of developers seeking to transform Gospel Hill into a golfer's paradise. Realizing the futility of convincing her listless husband to help fight such an arduous battle, Sarah instead turns to newly arrived Gospel Hill schoolteacher Rosie (Stiles) for support. Later, as Rosie's budding romance with the son of Gospel Hill's notoriously bigoted sheriff thrusts her right into the middle of the town's long-running dispute, the developer's plan to pave over the past forces the locals to finally confront the ghosts that have haunted them for the past three decades. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Angela Bassett, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
Suspecting that thieves have stashed millions in stolen bills in a nondescript Los Angeles home, a disgraced LAPD detective leads an invasion that quickly goes awry. Later, as two homicide detectives (Gabrielle Union and Giancarlo Esposito) interrogate the survivors - a fearless thief and a shell-shocked victim - it's gradually revealed that the detective's motives are clouded in mystery. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yul Vázquez, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
A 21-year-old aspiring hip-hop star from the Bronx is forced to put his career on hold when a gang of local thugs threatens his life and he is forced to seek refuge with his estranged father in Puerto Rico in this musical drama from producer Jennifer Lopez. Rob (Omarion Grandberry) is a New York City rapper who has gotten into hot water in his hometown, and now must flee to Puerto Rico. Upon arriving at his father's home in the Caribbean commonwealth, Rob immediately forms a bond with his half-brother, Javi, who introduces his distant sibling to the seductive sounds of Reggaeton. Rob and Javi's outwardly divergent musical tastes ultimately blend to form a unique new brand of hip-hop-flavored reggae, and they soon begin to gain a loyal following that ultimately leads them both back to New York City. Yet despite Rob's growing popularity in the music industry, the gangsters back in the Bronx are still hell-bent on revenge, and willing to gun him down at the first chance they get. Is Rob's newfound status as a high-profile musical innovator enough to make him bulletproof, or could it be that he's more vulnerable than ever now that he's up on-stage for all the world to see? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Omarion Grandberry, Zulay Henao, (more)
A talented young pianist named Rain finds her future as a musician thrown into question due after an unfortunate encounter with a vicious street gang in a musical drama adapted from the book by V.C. Andrews and starring Robert Loggia, Faye Dunaway, and Brooklyn Sudano. When Rain witnesses her sister being killed by a murderous street gang, the thugs who pulled the trigger quickly set out to ensure that she never has a chance to turn them in. Subsequently placed in the care of a nurturing woman who seems determined to protect Rain by any means necessary, the frightened pianist gradually comes to realize that her benevolent guardian is in fact her long lost mother. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brooklyn Sudano, Faye Dunaway, (more)
An emotionally stunted ex-convict whose recent release from prison finds her attempting to form a relationship with her young daughter finds that redemption doesn't come easy in this emotional family drama, the feature debut of award-winning documentary filmmaker Laurie Collyer. When Sherry Swanson (Maggie Gyllenhaal) was sentenced to three years in prison on a drug-related robbery conviction at the age of 22, she had just given birth to a daughter named Alexis (Ryan Simpkins). Placed in the care of Sherry's brother, Bobby (Brad William Henke), and sister-in-law, Lynette (Bridget Barkan), while her mother was behind bars, young Alexis has grown into an affectionate young girl eager to reconnect with the mother she has never met. Though Sherry at first seems determined to stay on the straight and narrow, increasingly infrequent visits to Alexis and a troubling revelation about her family past soon begin to lead the protective Lynette to take a stand in protecting the vulnerable youngster. Later, when compassionate 12-step veteran Dean (Danny Trejo) makes an effort to help Sherry become the mother she longs to be, the troubled ex-con is faced with the choice of truly living up to her word or potentially losing her daughter forever. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brad William Henke, (more)
A woman learns to love life when she finds out she won't be around long in this comedy. Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) lives in New Orleans, where she works in the cookware department of an upscale gourmet supply shop. While Georgia carries a torch for Sean (LL Cool J), one of her co-workers, she doesn't have the nerve to tell him, and despite her estimable skills in the kitchen, she lives frugally and doesn't put her talent to use. Georgia's good friend Rochelle (Jane Adams) often tells her that life is short and she needs to live a little, but she doesn't pay her much mind until a visit to the doctor reveals that Georgia has a very rare medical condition, and only has three weeks to live. Throwing caution to the wind, Georgia cashes out her life savings and heads to Europe for a last bit of revelry. She checks into a four-star hotel, trades her drab clothes for haute couture, finds herself flirting with a handsome and powerful politician (Giancarlo Esposito), convinces the head of a cooking supplies firm (Timothy Hutton) that she's a high-powered executive from a rival company, and makes friends with a four-star chef (Gérard Depardieu). But when Sean learns the truth about Georgia's condition, he sets out to find her before their chance at romance has passed. Directed by Wayne Wang, Last Holiday is a remake of a 1950 British comedy, which starred Alec Guinness as a salesman with a few weeks to live. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, (more)
- 2006
Characterized by many observers as a somewhat down-and-dirtier The O.C., the weekly, hour-long drama series South Beach starred Marcus Coloma as Matt and Chris Johnson as Vincent, two Brooklyn buddies who relocated to South Beach, Miami in hopes of bettering their prospects. Matt was running away from family problems, while Vince seemed to be running away from life itself. Through the auspices of Matt's ruthlessly ambitious former girlfriend Arielle (Odette Yustman), our two heroes get themselves enmeshed in the cutthroat world of professional modeling. Much of the action took place in the upscale Hotel Soleil, owned by Elizabeth Bauer (Vanessa L. Williams), the somewhat contentious mother of Alex Bauer (Lee Thompson Young), who ran the trendy Nocturnal club where Matt and Vincent hung out. Also oiling his way through the proceedings was Robert Fuentes (Giancarlo Esposito), a self-styled "venture capitalist" with strong mob ties. South Beach premiered January 11, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vanessa Williams, Marcus Coloma, (more)
A clandestine love affair may claim a terrible price from two desperate people in this psychological thriller. Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is an advertising executive who is married to Deanna (Melissa George) and has a young diabetic daughter whose third kidney operation has just failed. Charles' life turns a most unexpected corner when he meets Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston) on a commuter train. Lucinda, who is also married with a daughter, keeps bumping into Charles on the train, and they strike up a friendship that soon grows into something deeper. Eventually Charles and Lucinda meet for lunch, then dinner, then check into a posh hotel, but the consequences turn out to be greater than they imagined; the dangerous criminal Philippe LaRoche (Vincent Cassel) breaks into the couple's hotel room, beats Charles nearly unconscious, and rapes Lucinda. The problem doesn't end there, however; LaRoche soon unveils both his certainty that the couple avoided calling the police, and -- more troublingly -- his possession of Charles' personal information. When he makes the ill-advised attempt to blackmail the couple, Charles turns to a rough-cut friend from his workplace, who offers to help out -- for a small commission.Derailed was the first American project for Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, (more)
In this belated prequel to director Brian De Palma's 1993 crime drama, gangster Carlito Brigante (Jay Hernandez) rises through the ranks of the New York underworld to establish himself as Spanish Harlem's most powerful kingpin. As the intoxication of ultimate power tightens its firm grip on the rising heroin czar, he soon learns that greed and deception are the unspoken laws of the street. With no one to trust except for his two brothers in crime, Carlito begins building an empire founded on supplying the city's addicts with the one product that is always in demand. His dreams of ruling the city finally becoming a reality, Carlito soon learns that the only way to sustain his power is through loyalty and respect. Adapted from author Edwin Torres' acclaimed novel, Carlito's Way: Rise to Power also stars Mario Van Peebles, Luis Guzmán, and Sean Combs. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jay Hernandez, Mario Van Peebles, (more)
In this made-for-cable horror story, Dr. Peña (Giancarlo Esposito) is a scientist with a passionate interest in the chupacabra, a South American creature similar to the North American Bigfoot or Yeti. While many believe the chupacabra is a myth, Peña is convinced the beast truly exists, and he sets out to find it. Peña succeeds in capturing a living chupacabra in the Caribbean, but discovers the animal is stronger and more dangerous than he expected -- it's strong, has a violent nature, and can withstand tremendous punishment. Nevertheless, Peña goes ahead with his plan to take the chupacabra to the United States, and sneaks the beast on board an ocean liner headed for America. As bad luck would have it, the monster escapes from its cage, and begins killing the passengers at a feverish pace. Now Randolph (John Rhys-Davies), the ship's captain, is seemingly the only one who can subdue the chupacabra and bring the ship home. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Rhys-Davies, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
A quiet community reveals an ugly underside in the wake of a horrible crime in this independent drama. Robbie Levinson (Seth Peterson) and Trey McCoy (Brian J. Smith) are a gay couple who've been together for six years; they've been sharing a comfortable home in suburban Dallas most of that time, and are planning to get married once the legalities work themselves. Robbie and Trey are good neighbors who get along well with the other folks in the community until Chris Boyd (Chad Donella) moves in next door. Chris is a youth pastor at a church run by his father (Bruce Davison), a fundamentalist Christian who preaches often and with great vehemence about the evils of homosexuality. Chris doesn't keep his feelings about gays to himself, and when Trey is found dead in a nearby park, the victim of a sadistic beating with a baseball bat, Robbie believes Chris may be involved. However, Chris' father and mother provide an alibi for him, and the police hand the case from Detective Fisher (Farah White), who investigates hate crimes, to Sgt. Esposito (Giancarlo Esposito) in the homicide department. Robbie is appalled to discover he's now the leading suspect in the murder, and begins making his own investigation into Trey's death. Hate Crime was the first feature film from writer and director Tommy Stovall. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Seth Peterson, Chad E. Donella, (more)
A man with no memory struggles to make sense of the troubling details that are still stuck in his mind in this psychological thriller. Frank (Val Kilmer) wakes up in a small town in the New Mexico desert with a severe head wound and most of his memory wiped away. However, Frank is somehow convinced that someone is planning to assassinate the President of the United States, and that Chloe (Neve Campbell), the woman who is claiming to be his girlfriend, is some sort of imposter. When Frank learns that the president is indeed passing through town that day, he tries to warn Sheriff Kolb (Sam Shepard) that something sinister if afoot; as it happens, Kolb believes him, though he's more than a bit busy dealing with a hard-fought election campaign against former Deputy Cash (Noble Willingham). Blind Horizon was screened at the 2004 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Neve Campbell, (more)
When Dallas attorney Addison Terrill (C. Thomas Howell) arrives home late one night to discover his wife savagely murdered and the words "we're even now" crudely scrawled across the bedroom wall, his nightmare is only beginning in this taut tale of suspense from first-time filmmaker Brad Heller. Hunted as a suspect by police, Addison enlists the aid of his old friend Sam in seeking out the true killer in the seamy underbelly of the city. As the bitter ex-cop who's no stranger to street justice begins to discover that there's more to the story than meets the eye, Sam becomes a crucial ally to Addision and may be able to help him find the killer before time runs out and the law closes in. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Sean Young, (more)
A beautiful divorced young woman moves into a new apartment in New York City only to find out her upstairs neighbor is slowly driving her stark raving mad. Joyce Chandler (Trish Goff) is a successful newspaper copy editor that is still mourning the recent split from her husband when she moves into her swank Manhattan apartment building. Soon after, she begins to get annoyed with her upstairs neighbor Charlotte Bancroft's (Ally Sheedy) constant blaring of music and general stomping around. Despite repeated requests to soften the noise, the disturbances continue, and Joyce finds her grasp on reality threatened as she sinks deeper into insomnia and addiction. At her wits end, she pulls a desperate prank on Charlotte that leads to dire consequences for both of them. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Trish Goff, Ally Sheedy, (more)
A man turns to crime in the name of justice in this hard-hitting drama. Michael (Boris Kodjoe) was a good father and a law-abiding citizen until the day his seven-year-old son was accidentally killed in an exchange of gunfire between two gangs of drug dealers. Michael became obsessed with seeing the gunmen brought to justice, but when the murder charges were dropped and the shooters were given a short sentence for drug possession, Michael decided to take matters into his own hands. Michael commits a crime so that he will be placed in the same prison as the men who took his son's life; once there, he can take their lives in exchange for the life they took. But Michael seriously underestimates the ruthlessness of the prison population and must fight for his own survival before he can carry out his plan. Doing Hard Time also stars Giancarlo Esposito, Steven Bauer, and Sticky Fingaz. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
In the tradition of such elliptical thrillers as The Dead Zone and Memento, prolific television director Michael Watkins' tense tale of murder and intrigue is certain to have viewers firmly planted on the edge of their seats. Physics professor J.T. Neumeyer (Timothy Hutton) is well-renowned for his extensive knowledge and exceptional teaching skills. When J.T. receives a police file detailing his own murder, he notes that the report is dated five days into the future -- triggering a frantic race against the clock to solve the time-bending mystery and escape death's ever-tightening grip. If he had any doubts of the report's validity, any questions are soon put to rest when events in his life begin to mirror those of the ominous report. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Timothy Hutton, Randy Quaid, (more)
A young man is torn by divided loyalty in this hard-edged urban drama. Reggie (Ja Rule) was raised by his father (Giancarlo Esposito) after a violent incident in the neighborhood where he lived with his mother (Pam Grier). While Reggie has been encouraged to take up a life of crime by his older friend and street mentor J-Bone (Ving Rhames), his father thinks Reggie has a good head for business and urges him to use his smarts rather than his gun. When Reggie's father is murdered, J-Bone takes the young man under his wing, but as a consequence of their friendship, Reggie is linked to the killing of a local preacher -- whose daughter (Tatyana Ali) is Reggie's girlfriend. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ja Rule, Ving Rhames, (more)
A handful of New Yorkers struggle to tie together the loose ends of their lives following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in this drama. It has been several weeks since the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell, and Liz (Janeane Garofalo), a writer who watched as one of the jets sailed past her window and into the skyscraper, has refused to leave her apartment since the disaster. However, an eccentric but street-smart poet named Karl (Giancarlo Esposito) carries a torch for Liz and is determined to bring her back to the land of the living. Judy (Nicole Hansen) suffers through an unpleasant one-night stand with Billy (Dov Davidoff) before waking up in the apartment of Punch (Tony Spiridakis), a fellow lost soul whose car is covered with the dust left by the falling towers...only now, some of his neighbors claim they can see a holy apparition in the dirt, so it's hard for him to move. And Samantha (Jennifer Carpenter), who has been observing the neighborhood from behind the bar at a local watering hole, finds some much-needed comfort in the arms of renegade would-be rock singer Gina Mascara (Pauley Perrette). Screened at film festivals as Ash Tuesday, Beyond the Ashes was written by Tony Spiridakis, who also plays Punch. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2002
Created and produced by the seemingly unstoppable David E. Kelley, the weekly 60-minute series girls club played like a cross between Kelley's Ally McBeal and Aaron Spelling's Charlie's Angels. The emphasis was on three young and attractive female lawyers who were best friends and roomies at Stanford Law School and shared a North Beach loft apartment while enduring their rookie year at the prestigious San Francisco firm of Myers, Berry, Cherry and Fitch. The dramatis personae included ambitious blonde Lynne (Gretchen Mol), sassy brunette Sarah (Chyler Leigh), reserved redhead Jeannie (Kathleen Robertson), and the girls' genially chauvinistic boss, Nicholas Hahn (Giancarlo Esposito). girls club posted poor ratings and garnered terrible reviews when it debuted over the Fox Network on October 21, 2002, leading industry wags to predict that the series' first telecast would also be its last. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gretchen Mol, Chyler Leigh, (more)
Miguel Pinero became a leading figure in New York's art scene during the 1970s as a poet, actor, and playwright whose vibrant, often pointed, work spoke directly to the lower classes and to disenfranchised minorities. As a founder of the influential Nuyorican Poets Cafe, his poetry soon became recognized as a forerunner to rap and hip-hop music. TV screenwriter turned director Leon Ichaso spins this impressionistic biographical look at this artist. Raised in an abusive family, Pinero (Benjamin Bratt) turns to streets for solace. Soon he is engaging in petty crime, drug dealing, and addiction. When he finds himself in Sing-Sing, he turns his experiences in prison into the play Short Eyes, which eventually garners him seven Tony awards in 1974. Uncomfortable with his new fame, he clings to his girlfriend, Sugar (Talisa Soto), and his childhood buddy, Miguel Algarin (Giancarlo Esposito), who is a literature professor and who co-founded the Nuyorican Cafe. Though Pinero makes cameos on such shows as Kojak, his art begins to suffer as he starts to succumb to his drug addictions. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
Notoriously obsessive director Michael Mann and star Will Smith devoted nearly two years and over 100 million dollars from the coffers of Columbia Pictures and other financiers to creating this biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife (Jada Pinkett-Smith), converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight champion title thus stripped from him entirely for political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary unification bout against George Foreman (Charles Shufford) in Zaire, dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle." In his travels, Ali becomes a symbol of power to disenfranchised African-Americans everywhere and meets such luminaries as Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles), Martin Luther King Jr. (LeVar Burton) and Maya Angelou (Martha Edgerton). Ali features an all-star supporting cast that includes Jon Voight, Giancarlo Esposito, Jamie Foxx, Nona Gaye, Michael Michele, Joe Morton, Paul Rodriguez, Ron Silver, Mykelti Williamson, and Jeffrey Wright. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, (more)
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