GIANCARLO ESPOSITO
BIRTHDATE: April 26, 1958
BIRTHPLACE: Copenhagen, Denmark
MARITAL STATUS: Married, two children
WHY HE DESERVES HIS BIG BREAK:
Like his counterpart Don Cheadle, Giancarlo Esposito has chosen the high road for African-American actors, taking roles in such films as The Usual Suspects and Twilight instead of stuff like Booty Call and I Got the Hookup.  His intensity and consistently strong performances rank him in the same level as Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson.

Born in Denmark to an Italian father and an African-American mother (similar to his character on TV's
Homicide), Giancarlo Esposito has actually been acting in film as early as 1979, appearing as an extra in the Michael Douglas film Running.  He knocked around in numerous TV movies and low budget features for several years (even playing the victim of a crazed video game in Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive), until Spike Lee cast him as Julian, a snobbish college student who looks down upon his darker-skinned classmates in 1988's School Daze.  He appeared in four Spike Lee films, including Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, and Malcolm X.

Esposito's most memorable roles have included playing police detectives in
The Usual Suspects and Twilight, but he really hit his stride playing Baltimore detective Mike Giardello on TV's Homicide.  Though he only joined the cast of television's greatest drama series of all time for the last two seasons, Esposito made an amazing impact as the intense, hot-headed son of police captain Al Giardello (played by Yaphet Kotto).  Sadly, Homicide went off the air in 1999, but Giancarlo Esposito has been working steady since then, appearing in the bizarre fantasy Monkeybone and in the biography Miguel Pinero.
Homicide: Life on the Street
Giancarlo off-screen
The Usual Suspects
Giancarlo as my ex-boyfriend
FILMOGRAPHY
Films highlighted in yellow present Giancarlo at his best
Piņero (2001)--Miguel Algarin
Ali (2001)--Cassius Clay Sr.
Monkey Bone
(2001)--Hypnos
Cadillac Tramps
(2000)--????
Josephine
(2000)--Spike
Speak Truth to Power
(2000)--????
"The $treet"
(TV Series--2000)--Tom Divack
Homicide: The Movie (TV Movie--2000)--Mike Giardello
"Touched by an Angel"
(2000)--Antonio (TV guest appearance)
Big City Blues
(1999)--Georgie
Where's Marlowe?
(1999)--Blind Man
"Nash Bridges"
(1999)--Arnold & Gordon Keller (TV guest appearance)
Naked City: Justice with a Bullet
(TV Movie--1998)--Chaz
Stardust
(1998)--Mr. Peavey
Thirst
(TV Movie--1998)--Dr. Lawrence Carver
Phoenix
(1998)--Louie
Creature
(TV Movie--1998)--Thomas Peniston/Werewolf
Twilight (1998)--Reuben Escobar
"Homicide: Life on the Street" (TV Series--1998)--Mike Giardello
"NYPD Blue" (1998)--Jamaal (TV guest appearance)
The Maze
(1997)--Henry Kunitz
The People
(1997)--Anthony Rivera
Trouble on the Corner
(1997)--Darryl
Five Desperate Hours
(TV Movie--1997)--Joseph Grange
Nothing to Lose
(1997)--Charlie Dunt
California
(1996)--????
Loose Women
(1996)--Gay Hairdresser
The Tomorrow Man
(TV Movie--1996)--????
"Law & Order" (1996)--Mr. Baylor (TV guest appearance)
"Living Single" (1996)--Jackson Turner (TV guest appearance)
"NYPD Blue" (1996)--Ferdinand Hollie (TV guest appearance)
"Chicago Hope" (1996)--???? (TV guest appearance)
Kla$h
(1995)--Stoney
Blue in the
Face (1995)--Tommy Finelli
The Keeper
(1995)--Paul Lamont
Reckless
(1995)--Fast Tim Timko
The Usual Suspects
(1995)--Jack Baer
Smoke
(1995)--1st OTB Man Tommy
Waiting to Exhale
(1995)--David Johnson
"New York Undercover" (1995)--Adofo Guzman (TV guest appearance)
F
resh (1994)--Esteban
Amos & Andrew
(1993)--The Reverend Fenton Brunch
Seven Songs for Malcolm X
(1993)--Narrator
"Bakersfield P
.D." (TV Series--1993)--Detective Paul Gigante
Simple Jus
tice (TV Movie--1993)--????
Relentless: Mind of a Killer
(TV Movie--1993)--Arthur Sistrunk
Bob Roberts
(1992)--Bugs Raplin
Malcolm X
(1992)--Thomas Hayer
Night on Earth
(1991)--YoYo
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro
Man (1991)--Jimmy Jiles
Mo' Better B
lues (1990)--Left Hand Lacey
King of New York
(1990)--Lance
Do the Right Thing
(1989)--Buggin' Out
School Daze
(1988)--Julian
Heartbeat
(1987)--Gang Member #1
Sweet Lorraine
(1987)--Howie
"Leg Work"
(1987)--Tyson (TV guest appearance)
"Spenser: For Hire" (1987)--Ramos (TV guest appearance)
Roanoak
(TV Movie--1986)--????
Maximum Overdrive
(1986)--Videoplayer
Rockabye
(TV Movie--1986)--Marcus
Desperately Seeking Susan
(1985)--Street Vendor
Finnegan Begin Again
(TV Movie--1985)--Intruder
"Miami Vice"
(1985)--Adonis Jackson (TV guest appearance)
The Cotton
Club (1984)--Bumpy Hood
Go Tell It On the Mountain
(TV Movie--1984)--Elisha
"Miami Vice"
(1984)--Luther (TV guest appearance)
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
(1983)--Julio
Trading Places
(1983)--Cellmate #2
Taps (1981)--J.C. Pierce
The Gentleman Bandit
(TV Movie--1981)--Jamie
Running
(1979)--Puerto Rican Teenager



OTHER GIANCARLO ESPOSITO WEBSITES
Uh-oh! Anybody out there interested in creating the first Giancarlo Esposito website in existence?
Giancarlo off-screen
Homicide: Life on the Streets
The Usual Suspects
Monkey Bone