Giancarlo Esposito Talks Revisiting His ‘Breaking Bad’ Character Gus Fring

On the latest episode of Complex’s Watch Less, actor Giancarlo Esposito spoke about what it was like to revisit his iconic Breaking Bad character Gus Fring. As of the third season of the prequel series Better Call Saul, Esposito has reprised his role as Los Pollos Hermanos owner and drug lord Fring. Ahead of the final season of the show, he’s now reflected on what it was like to revisit the role, and finally saying goodbye to the character.

“It is very weird, because I thought I was done,” he said at the 47:20 mark of the podcast. While he was initially hesitant to reprise the role for Better Call Saul, he eventually agreed to join the cast. “It wasn’t a ploy for money or anything else, when I had that moment in time where I was… Do I really wanna go back and do this again? I think about a lot of things, do I want this character to define my whole career?” Despite those fears, he’s since played a variety of roles that has included appearances in everything from The Mandalorian and Godfather of Harlem, to DuckTales and Dear White People.

“I feel like… Yeah I’m ready to be finished, let him go,” he said of Fring, who he first portrayed in the second season of Breaking Bad. “The blessing for me with the advent of cable television, 13 episodes… It’s not like the 26 or 22 in network TV where you’re that character all year long every year,” he added. “But it would be nice to finally release Gus into the ether.” He also remarked that at times he’s had other productions request that he “sprinkle a little more Gus” into his performances, which is something he’s avoided since his performance as Fring pushed him back into the spotlight. “That’s reserved for Gus, I’m sorry,” he joked.