Giancarlo Esposito (full name Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito) was born on April 26, 1958, in Copenhagen, Denmark. His heritage is both Italian and American; his father, Giovanni Esposito, was a carpenter from Naples, Italy, and his mother, Elizabeth Foster, was an African-American opera and nightclub singer from Alabama. The family initially lived in Europe before relocating to the United States. When Giancarlo was six years old, the Esposito family moved to Manhattan, New York City. After completing high school, he attended Elizabeth Seton College, where he earned a two-year degree in radio and television communications.

Early Acting Career

Esposito began acting at the age of eight, making his Broadway debut in the musical Maggie Flynn, where he portrayed a slave child opposite Shirley Jones. This early role marked the beginning of a prolific acting career. His film debut came in 1979 with a small part in Steven Hilliard Stern’s drama Running, playing a Puerto Rican teenager. In 1982, he made his television debut on the children's educational series Sesame Street, appearing in the role of Mickey.

Breakthrough and Film Roles

Over the years, Esposito built a diverse filmography, appearing in numerous films across genres. Notable among these were his performances in Spike Lee’s biopic Malcolm X (1992) and the crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995), in which he played FBI agent Jack Baer. His versatility also extended to voice acting; he voiced Ra's al Ghul in Son of Batman and Black Spider in Batman: Assault on Arkham. In 2015, he appeared in the dystopian science fiction film Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. Esposito was also cast as the voice of Akela in the live-action/CGI adaptation of The Jungle Book (2016).