The best Giancarlo Esposito movies and TV shows feature some incredibly popular TV series among a career of smaller movie roles. Esposito got his start in acting on Broadway in 1968 when he was only 10. He went on to have a successful theater career before he got a chance to start appearing in some movies in the 1980s, including the Stephen King adaptation of Maximum Overdrive and the Abel Ferrara neo-noir King of New York.

He caught Spike Lee’s attention and appeared in several of his movies, including Do the Right Thing, School Daze, and Malcolm X. However, Giancarlo Esposito’s career really took off when he started taking more TV roles, including featured roles in Homicide: Life on the Streets, Girls Club, Breaking Bad, Once Upon a Time, Revolution, and Better Call Saul. It was his television roles that began to reward him with awards and acclaim and even helped him land a role in the The Mandalorian.

10 Okja (2017)

Frank Dawson

In 2017, Giancarlo Esposito took on a role in the science fiction film Okja, directed by future Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho. The film is an environmental action-adventure story about a dystopian society that has genetically engineered giant “super pigs.” The pigs are then given to farmers to raise until they bring in all the pigs and determine which is the biggest. However, when one pig, Okja, is taken to the United States, a young girl sets out to save it from the meat industry.

Giancarlo Esposito stars in the film as Frank Dawson, an executive at the Mirando Corporation, the company who breeds the “super pigs.” While much of the movie follows the protestors and the group setting out to save the pigs and bring down Mirando, Frank is one of the faces of the corporation who puts money ahead of the value of lives. He is a secondary antagonist in the film, which has a high 86% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

9 Malcolm X (1992)

Thomas Hagan

In 1992, Giancarlo Esposito ed the cast of Spike Lee’s Malcom X biopic. The movie starred Denzel Washington as Malcolm X and followed the activist’s life from his rough childhood to his petty criminal days, to his journey to become a spiritual advisor and activist, to his eventual assassination. The cast was top-notch, with Angela Bassett starring as Betty Shabazz and names like Delroy Lindo, Christopher Plummer, and Giancarlo Esposito in ing roles.

Esposito starred as Talmadge X. Hayer, an NOI member who is part of the five-man group that assassinates Malcolm. The film was a minor box office success and received mostly positive reviews for its story and the cast’s performances. It also picked up two Oscar nominations, including one for Denzel Washington. It has a great legacy as well, as the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 2010.

8 Dear White People (2017-2019)

Dr. Edward Ruskins

Dear White People is a Netflix series based on the 2014 movie of the same name about several Black students in college at an Ivy League institution. The entire purpose of the series (and movie) is to touch on the issues surrounding race relations from a progressive perspective. Justin Simien, who made the film, was who returned to create the series, which ran for four seasons and 40 episodes.

Esposito says in the opening lines of Dear White People...

Giancarlo Esposito not only starred in the recurring role of Dr. Edward Ruskins for the first three seasons, but he also narrated the series. Esposito says in the opening lines of Dear White People, “The writers of this program are depending on my ethnic but non-threatening voice to explain things they are too lazy to set up traditionally.” This is almost more important than his role as Ruskins, a former professor at the university.

7 School Daze (1988)

Julian "Dean Big Brother Almighty" Eaves

Giancarlo Esposito got his first major notice when Spike Lee cast him in his movie School Daze in 1988. In the film, Esposito plays Julian "Dean Big Brother Almighty" Eaves, the president of Mission College's Gamma Phi Gamma Fraternity chapter. When his old friend Dap (Laurence Fishburne) wants to start an anti-apartheid protest, Julian opposes it, which leads to a fight between them. This is all to set up the story of the clashing of views at a historically Black college.

The movie was very different at the time. Since Lee based it at an HBCU, he was able to show the mixture of views and values without mixing in the white experience, allowing a unique look at colorism, classism, elitism, sexism, and more. School Daze received mixed reviews, with praise going to the story and the cast, which also included Tisha Campbell, Ossie Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, and many more.

6 The Boys (2019-)

Stan Edgar

The Boys is the Prime Video anti-superhero series based on the comic books by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. In this show, the superheroes are mostly all villains, using their powers to make money and influence politics. The heroes are a group of men setting out to take out the heroes they feel have gotten out of control. The main conflict is between the superpowered Homelander (Anthony Starr) and The Boys' leader, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban).

Esposito brought silent confidence and intensity to the role, especially when opposite the terrifying Homelander.

However, the politicians are involved, as they have use of the evil heroes to do their bidding in exchange for their protection. The company that owns the rights to The Seven and mediates with the government is Vought Industries, and Giancarlo Esposito’s Stan Edgar is one of the characters who sits at the top. He replaced Madelyn Stillwell as The Seven’s handler after she died. Esposito brought silent confidence and intensity to the role, especially when opposite the terrifying Homelander.

5 Homicide: Life On The Streets (1998-1999)

Federal Agent Mike Giardello

Based on the book by David Simon, Homicide: Life on the Streets presents a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department. The series ran on NBC from 1993 to 1999 and it was the breakout role for Andre Braugher. It was also the first drama series to ever win three Peabody Awards for Drama (1993, 1995, 1998). That last year was when Giancarlo Esposito ed the cast as Federal Agent Mike Giardello.

Esposito earned an NAA Image Award nomination for his role.

While he was only on the series for its final season and the movie that followed it, his character remains memorable, an FBI agent who is also the son of Baltimore Police Lieutenant Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto). His story was a tragic one, as he was unable to save a child while working as a hostage negotiator and resigned from the FBI when they let a mobster arrested for murder to get a leaner plea deal. Esposito earned an NAA Image Award nomination for his role.

4 The Mandalorian (2019-2023)

Moff Gideon

In 2019, Giancarlo Esposito ed the cast of the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian. In the series, he plays Moff Gideon, the main antagonist for the first three seasons of the show. He is the leader of the remnant of the fallen Galactic Empire and possesses the Darksaber that he used for the Purge of Mandalore. He is also leading the forces to attempt to capture the Force-sensitive Grogu with the intent of using Grogu’s blood to create clones with Force sensitivity.

Esposito earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the first season.

While he spent most of the first season working behind the scenes, he showed up in the penultimate episode and then was a key player all the way through the second season. Esposito was praised as one of the best villains of the Disney+ shows, with many comparing him to Darth Vader in his appearance and behavior. Esposito earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the first season and a nomination for Outstanding ing Actor in a Drama Series for the second.

3 Godfather Of Harlem (2019-)

Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

In 2019, Giancarlo Esposito ed the Epix crime drama series Godfather of Harlem. The show is based on the life of Bumpy Johnson, a New York City gangster from the 1960s. A fictionalized version of his life, this follows Bumpy as he returns from prison after a ten-year sentence to find the neighborhood he once ruled over in shambles, controlled by the Italian mob. He then determines he will take over again to help the people in the neighborhood.

Giancarlo Esposito plays Adam Calyton Powell Jr., and he has a main role in season one and a recurring role in the subsequent seasons. He is a politician who represented Harlem in Congress from 1945 until 1971. He was also the first African American man to ever be elected to Congress from any state in the Northeast. The series has received several awards, with Esposito nominated for an NAA Image Award in 2020 and 2022. He also won a Black Reel Award for Television in 2020.

2 Do The Right Thing (1989)

Buggin' Out

When Spike Lee discovered Giancarlo Esposito and cast him in his movies, it really helped launch the young actor’s career. This was no more evident in Do the Right Thing, the film that many consider to be Lee’s masterpiece. The movie takes place on a very hot day in a New York neighborhood, where the high temperatures lead to an escalation of violence. Much of this was spurred on by Esposito’s Buggin’ Out, a young man who demanded that Black celebrities be added to the wall of the pizzeria.

It is when Sal, the pizzeria’s owner, rejects this and lashes out at Buggin’ Out and his friend Radio Raheem that the riots start, which leads to Raheem’s tragic murder at the hands of the police. The film was a masterpiece detailing the racial tension of these small neighborhoods, and Esposito’s character was the catalyst. “The riot stuff at the end was scary,” Esposito said (via The Guardian). “When you have to get physical, something takes over. There were some intense moments, with people getting in touch with how they really felt.”

1 Better Call Saul (2017-2022)

Gus Fring

The best character that Giancarlo Esposito ever played was Gus Fring. He first appeared in Breaking Bad, and many consider it to be the best show to ever air on TV. However, Esposito reprised the role on Better Call Saul, which showed his road to becoming the man who eventually got his face blown off when he showed up to kill Hector, only to see too late there was a boobytrap set up to kill anyone in the room if he tried.

However, while he was one of Walter White’s most dangerous adversaries in Breaking Bad, he was even more important in Better Call Saul, where he came into conflict with Hector Salamanca for the first time. Giancarlo Esposito earned seven awards nominations for his role on Breaking Bad but received eight for Better Call Saul, including in 2020, where he was nominated for both this show and The Mandalorian in two different categories. Esposito even won an NAA Image Award for directing an episode in 2023.