Why Giancarlo Esposito Almost Turned Down Better Call Saul Return

Giancarlo Esposito says he almost turned down his Better Call Saul return as Breaking Bad villain Gus Fring, being uncertain about playing him again.

Despite having garnered two Emmy nominations for his performance in the series, Giancarlo Esposito reveals he nearly turned down his Better Call Saul return. The recently concluded AMC series acted as a prequel to Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad, now focused on Bob Odenkirk’s titular character in his formative years as quick-witted defense attorney Jimmy McGill before he becomes quick-talking attorney to New Mexico’s underworld, Saul Goodman. Set six years before the events of its predecessor, Better Call Saul explored Jimmy’s first interactions with the various drug cartels in Albuquerque, including Salamanca family representative Gus Fring.

While appearing on GQ‘s “Iconic Characters” series, Giancarlo Esposito reflected on his time in the Breaking Bad universe as drug kingpin Gustavo Fring.

When looking at his franchise return in Better Call Saul, Esposito revealed he almost turned down the opportunity to bring Gus back to the screen, feeling afraid of ruining the character after setting a high bar with his run in Breaking Bad. See what Esposito shared below:

Big decision for me to make. I felt like I was going through the same dance, and I hope I didn’t stress anyone out at Buena Vista Productions of Vince. But, I felt like, I didn’t wanna go back. In my brain, I was like, ‘I can’t mess with that guy. That guy is done, man. He’s history. He’s iconic. I don’t wanna mess with him anymore.’ I went, ‘No, don’t choose that. Choose to surpass that.’ So, what are your obstacles? All of this was in my decision-making process. What can you do differently? How can you create a different Gus? It is before the time period of Breaking Bad. Okay, so he’s more volatile, he’s less controlled. All these things went into the basket and I said, ‘Yes.’

Related: 1 Better Call Saul Character Made It Better Than Breaking Bad

Why Gus Was Key For Better Call Saul

Though Esposito may have been hesitant to return, Gus ultimately proved key for much of the plot of Better Call Saul. As indicated in Breaking Bad before it, Saul had some connections to the Salamanca family associate well before meeting Bryan Cranston’s Walter White and Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman that would help them expand their own industry. While it could have instead been explained that Saul’s ties were through Jonathan Banks’ Mike Ehrmantraut, this still would have necessitated Better Call Saul showing how the latter came into contact with Gus and became a trusted associate of his.

Even outside of bridging the gap between the two shows, Gus offered plenty of his own unique lore expansion through Better Call Saul‘s run. Those who fell in love with the character in Breaking Bad had been clamoring for more insight into the character’s backstory, which the prequel show offered some of, but still left just enough up in the air to keep the antagonist an intriguing enigma. While some may be eager to see Gus further explored at some point in the future, his return in Better Call Saul not only surpassed Esposito’s own expectations, but audiences’ as well.

Breaking Bad’s Potential Future Explained

With Better Call Saul now at an end, the question swirling is what the future of the Breaking Bad future holds. Following his acclaimed return in the hit AMC prequel, Esposito has frequently expressed his hopes to get his own spinoff entitled The Rise of Gus to further explore his character, while creator Vince Gilligan has indicated no interest in expanding the universe. Fans of the franchise can take some consolation in knowing Gilligan is bringing back Cranston, Paul and Tuco Salamanca actor Raymond Cruz for a Breaking Bad Super Bowl LVII ad on February 12, in which they recreate an iconic scene from “4 Days Out”.

More: 15 Years Later – Why Breaking Bad Has Aged So WellSource: GQ