Breaking Bad Actor Giancarlo Esposito Planned To Get Himself Killed For An Insurance Payout

Essaying the stoic yet menacing Gus Fring on Breaking Bad, has been the crowning moment in Giancarlo Esposito's decades long career. However, things were not always smooth. The actor recently opened up about the time he almost ended up orchestrating his own death to be able to provide his family with financial aid.

Giancarlo Esposito recalls the time he planned out his own death

Giancarlo Esposito's recent appearance on the Jim and Sam Show, saw the actor revisit a dark time from his past. The actor revealed how in a bid to make ends meet, he had been seriously considering orchestrating his own death back in 2008. As a matter of fact, he had already begun doing the research needed to go through with it. He said, "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. I started scheming. If I got somebody to knock me off, death by misadventure, (my kids) would get the insurance."

The actor went onto reflect how the impetus behind the painful consideration, was that the insurance payout from his death would be able to help his children financially. For the unversed, Esposito shares four children with his now-divorced wife Joy McManigal. He added, "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."

What made Giancarlo Esposito rethink his approach?

The actor's shocking revelation also saw him reflect on why he ultimately did not go through with his plan. The primary reason behind the same was him factoring in the unimaginable trauma he would be causing his children in a bid to financially secure them. Incidentally, the very next year, he marked his appearance on Breaking Bad as Gus Fringe, and the rest is history. 

He said, "Then I started to think that’s not viable because the pain I would cause them would be lifelong, and there’d be lifelong trauma that would just extend the generational trauma I’m trying to move away from. The light at the end of the tunnel was Breaking Bad."