Giancarlo Esposito’s prolific Hollywood career spans decades, but at 68, the actor is learning to make more room for simply enjoying himself.
Speaking with PEOPLE at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) while promoting his new crime thriller “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” Esposito revealed, “I’m learning how to enjoy myself.”
It’s a realization that carries particular weight considering the financial and professional pressures Esposito has previously revealed he faced while raising four daughters.
A Movie Moment That Hit Close to Home
According to Esposito via PEOPLE, one scene in the new thriller, which stars John Turturro as aging pickpocket Harry, has stayed with him. In the scene, Harry dances with his wife, who is incapacitated in a chair. Esposito described it as “a moment of true joy.”
“That moment really helps me because I’ve worked so hard all my life and now I’m raising kids,” Esposito explained. The actor said he had spent much of his life feeling overwhelmed by the need to accomplish the next thing.
“I always thought I was overwhelmed, to get something done, to do something, but now I’m learning how to enjoy myself,” he said. For Esposito, the scene served as a simple reminder: “Oh, don’t forget to have fun.”
The Hard Years Behind the Lesson
Esposito’s latest comments carry additional weight because of what he has previously revealed about one particularly difficult period before “Breaking Bad” transformed his career.
Around 2008, Esposito was experiencing such severe financial problems that he considered arranging his own death so his four children could receive money from his life insurance.
Speaking on SiriusXM’s “Jim & Sam” in 2024, Esposito recalled wondering whether his family would receive the insurance payout if someone else killed him. “I had four kids. I wanted them to have a life,” he said, according to Variety.
He ultimately rejected the idea after considering what his absence would mean for his children. Esposito said he realized he wouldn’t be there for them and that his death would leave behind lifelong pain and trauma.
By 2009, Esposito had landed the role of Gus Fring on “Breaking Bad,” a performance that dramatically changed the trajectory of his career. He later described the series as the “light at the end of the tunnel.”
That history gives his new comments about learning to enjoy himself another dimension. Esposito has experienced a period when providing for his family and finding a way through serious financial trouble occupied much of his attention. Nearly two decades later, he’s talking about remembering to leave room for joy alongside work and responsibility.
Fatherhood Has Reshaped Giancarlo Esposito
Fatherhood has also played a major role in changing Esposito’s outlook. The actor shares four daughters, Shayne, Kale, Syr and Ruby, with his ex-wife, Joy McManigal. During a 2024 appearance on “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” Esposito discussed the honesty that helped strengthen his relationship with them.
He explained that part of his evolution as a father involved allowing his daughters to see who he really was rather than hiding behind the version of himself he thought they needed. His daughters are still teaching him things.
“I have four daughters and I love the experience of each and every one of them,” Esposito told PEOPLE. “And they taught me to listen and to love in a different way and to see the world in a different way. A lot of it is through their eyes.”
They’ve even introduced their father to some unfamiliar slang. Esposito recalled one daughter telling him, “Papa, you’re fire,” leaving him wondering what exactly she meant. At the same time, his career hasn’t slowed down.
Esposito has had a busy 2026 across television and film, with appearances in “The Boys” and “The Gentlemen,” as well as movies including “Kill Me,” “7 Dogs,” “By Any Means” and “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.” “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” arrives in theaters October 16.
After decades of focusing on work, fatherhood and whatever needed to be accomplished next, Esposito isn’t suggesting that he’s finished working hard. Instead, he’s learning something new alongside it: remembering to have fun.
