Giancarlo Esposito talks villains and Marvel at MegaCon Orlando
MegaCon opened with an A-list celebrity panel on Thursday, with Giancarlo Esposito of “Breaking Bad,” “The Mandalorian” and, most recently, “Better Call Saul” taking fan questions at a Q&A panel shortly following the opening of the convention.
The star arrived a little after 7 p.m. to a packed theater on the third floor of the convention center with dozens of fans lining up behind a pair of microphones placed in the aisles of the theater to ask questions.
However, before things got started, Esposito had a little chat with the moderator about his life experiences, offering some advice to the audience from his own life about the value of being passionate about things.
“You’re always learning,” Esposito said, “because it comes out of a passion, of desire. And if you desire something and have a passion for it, no matter what it is, and you get it and you sacrifice your time to further your experience, then you win.”
Esposito also shared some of his beliefs on mindfulness, saying “10 minutes that you spend today can change your tomorrow and that’s what I do every day. I change my tomorrow, and I make it better now.”
Esposito concluded his opening remarks by challenging the audience to value themselves.
“When you love yourself beyond all measure, “he said, “You then learn how to accept yourself for who you are, and then you [understand] that you have something to offer. Each and every one of you in this room has something very special to offer. And the only thing that might be standing in your way, is you.”
After some applause, Esposito answered questions about some of his most memorable roles, including several about “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” villain Gustavo “Gus” Fring.
When asked specifically about the acting choices he made playing this iconic villain, Esposito had an interesting answer: “Gustavo Fring completely came out of my yoga practice, because I found my yoga practice or any kind of prayer and meditation sort of drops you into a place where you’re listening.” he said before taking a long pause to demonstrate. “The fact that we can be out of our own brain and we can hear space … that’s the kind of space and honoring that I gave to Gustavo Fring.”
When it comes to taking on villainous roles in a broader sense, Esposito says that he tries to avoid playing any character as simply evil, saying, “I don’t want to play anything stereotypical. I want to build to be a complete character, which means I have to wrestle with the philosophy of what I [personally] think: that I believe that people are intrinsically good. I believe that villains are good guys. Not bad. So I try to give them those good qualities and allow them to have a goodness about them that just went astray so that you’re able to like them as well.”
Though Esposito mentioned during that he will be appearing in the upcoming season of “The Mandalorian,” when a fan asked if there was any other franchise he really wanted to be a part of, his answer came quickly and enthusiastically: “I want to work with these guys at Marvel!” he shouted, to cheers from the audience.
“We are trying to figure something out but nothing has come up. But I know I’ll get a chance,” he said, adding with a leading tone, “I know there’s Magneto.”
Esposito will be at MegaCon to meet fans and take photos through Saturday.