Giancarlo Esposito Admits Wanting to Hire a Hitman Before Fame for This Honorable Reason

While Giancarlo Esposito may be a household name now, starring in hit shows like Better Call Saul and Kaleidoscope, his success in the industry has been quite a whirlwind. Speaking of the rocky times in his career, he recently looked back at the extreme ideas he had when he was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2008.

With his ex-wife Joy McManigal ​and his four daughters to support at the time, Esposito said in a recent episode of SiriusXM’s Jim & Sam that he began to question is they could survive on his life insurance.

“My way out in my brain was: ‘Hey, do you get life insurance if someone commits suicide? Do they get the bread?’” Esposito remembered asking his ex, per Variety. “My wife had no idea why I was asking this stuff. I started scheming.”

With suicide being a “tricky” option to guarantee them insurance, according to his wife, Esposito thought of another option: hiring a hitman.

“If I got somebody to knock me off, death by misadventure, [my kids] would get the insurance,” he explained. “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.”

After some more reflection, however, Esposito shied away from that option too. “That was the first inkling that there was a way out, but I wouldn’t be here to be available to my kids,” Esposito 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.”

Luckily for him, Esposito’s big break back into the industry was right around the corner. “The light at the end of the tunnel wasBreaking Bad,” he said.

Esposito went on to guest-star in the show for a total of 26 episodes as Gus Firing, a villainous powerful drug kingpin. Since then, his career has been more successful than ever, starring in many hit shows and movies, from Better Call Saul to Maze Runner.

So while Esposito’s worst-case-scenario plan might never have happened, we’re glad he got the chance we so deserved.

If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Before you go, click here to see more celeb moms who put their careers on hold to stay home with their kids.