Giancarlo Esposito keen on bringing ‘Breaking Bad”s Gus to ‘Better Call Saul’

TORONTO – Add Giancarlo Esposito to the list of “Breaking Bad” alumni itching to join the drama’s upcoming prequel “Better Call Saul.”

Esposito says he believes there’s room for his drug kingpin character Gustavo Fring in the hotly anticipated spin-off, which centres on the dealings of sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman before he hooks up with meth-maker Walter White.

“I don’t know how much room but certainly it takes place pre-Walt so there is that space in that moment of time to have Gustavo realized in that show, it certainly is completely possible,” Esposito said in a recent phone interview to promote an appearance at Toronto Comicon this weekend.

Speaking from the set of his current series “Revolution” in Austin, Tex., the veteran actor says he considers the ruthless Fring to be one of the best roles of his career, and credits “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan with the opportunity.

He would love for their TV partnership to continue.

“My people have talked to his people,” Esposito says of Gilligan, listed as a co-creator on “Better Call Saul.”

“They’re in the writers’ room now so they have to formulate exactly what the show is but they’ve asked if there would be any interest if they were able to figure it out. I always would love to return to them because I think Vince is brilliant at what he does and I love the cast that he put together. To be back with the ‘Breaking Bad’ family is a very specific and very wonderful way to work.”

The Emmy-winning “Breaking Bad” ended last year after five seasons.

Gilligan has said he’d welcome cameos from “Breaking Bad” actors in “Better Call Saul,” which returns Bob Odenkirk to the role of an Albuquerque attorney whose bread-and-butter is defending low-level criminals.

“Breaking Bad” co-star Aaron Paul, who played Walt’s student-turned-sidekick, has said he’s game for revisiting Jesse Pinkman and has been in talks about bringing his character on board.

But it isn’t clear if there’s room for “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston, whose science-teacher-turned-dealer Walter White relied on Saul’s money-laundering schemes as his empire grew.

One character that has reportedly been confirmed is Saul’s trusted private investigator/fixer Mike Ehrmantraut, played by Jonathan Banks. And that may be Gus’ avenue into the show.

Fans of “Breaking Bad” know that Mike also worked as security chief at Los Pollos Hermanos, the chicken chain Gus used to launder his drug spoils, and was an enforcer in Gus’s drug operation.

If Gus is ever brought into the show, Esposito says he’s confident it would be a natural fit to the overall “Breaking Bad” story.

“These writers are really good and they have a great way to be able to truthfully bring someone back,” he says.

Esposito, who’s been acting for 47 years, says “Breaking Bad” came at an especially busy time in his career. At the same time he worked on the AMC drama he was also on the fantasy series “Once Upon a Time” and the sitcom “Community,” with each appealing to radically different audiences.

He credits that array of roles with helping him land his current heavyweight part, as Tom Neville on the sci-fi bent “Revolution.”

“My joke is the career exploded again and now I’m a star once again but I think it’s different this time because … more people realize that I’m not just Gus, that I’m also Sidney (from ‘Once Upon a Time’); that I’m not just Buggin’ Out from ‘Do the Right Thing’ but I’m also Mike Giardello (from ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’),” he said. “So then they start to say, ‘Oh, maybe the guy does have some talent’.”

Esposito will be discussing his varied career at Toronto Comicon, a three-day pop culture festival that promises “full frontal nerdity” when it kicks off Friday.

Other celebs slated for the comic, sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming show include Brandon Routh of “Superman Returns,” IronE Singleton of “The Walking Dead,” Jon Heder of “Napoleon Dynamite” and Eliza Dushku of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Dollhouse.”

Esposito expects fans will seek him out for his turn in “Breaking Bad” more than his other roles, and looks forward to seeing — and signing — several Los Pollos Hermanos T-shirts.

“I always have probably as good, or better, a time than they do because I just take a thousand pictures of people who come up to me,” he says of fan events.

“They’ve committed to dress up, to look great, to have fun. There’s something to be said about that.”

Toronto Comicon runs through Sunday.

___

Online: www.comicontoronto.com