Giancarlo Esposito is set to release a memoir with The Crown Publishing Group and Sugar23 Books after a heated bidding war.

Esposito’s memoir will reveal his unique background as the son of a black American opera singer and an Italian set builder. Born in Europe in the late 1950s, Esposito didn’t encounter racism until moving to the U.S., where his family lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Elmsford, New York. At eight years old, he became the family’s primary breadwinner after landing a role in a Broadway musical. Despite his success, Esposito faced financial ruin and personal hardships, living in a goat barn and struggling to support his family before his career-defining role in “Breaking Bad” changed everything.

In a candid interview on SiriusXM’s Jim & Sam, Esposito revealed just how desperate he was before landing the role of Gus Fring. “My way out in my brain was, ‘hey, do you get life insurance if someone commits suicide? Do they get the bread?’ My wife had no idea why I was asking this stuff,” recalled Esposito. “I started scheming. If I got somebody to knock me off, death by misadventure, [my family] would get the insurance. I had four kids. I wanted them to have a life. It was a hard moment in time. I literally thought of self-annihilation so they could survive. That’s how low I was.”

Esposito explained that he ultimately dismissed the idea, realizing the lasting trauma it would cause his family. “The light at the end of the tunnel was Breaking Bad,” he said.

Esposito’s career had been steady with roles in “Taps,” “The Cotton Club,” “Sesame Street,” and “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man,” as well as guest spots on various TV dramas. However, it was the role of Gus Fring in 2009 that brought him widespread acclaim, earning him three Emmy nominations—two for “Breaking Bad” and one for the spinoff, “Better Call Saul.”

Currently, Esposito stars in AMC’s “Parish,” playing a taxi driver whose life takes a turn when he starts working for a Zimbabwean gangster exploiting undocumented immigrants at U.S. ports. Esposito has been open about how his struggles before “Breaking Bad” influenced his performance in “Parish.”

The memoir deal was managed by Richard Pine of InkWell Management and Josh Kesselman of Sugar23, who also negotiated Esposito’s graphic novel “The Venetian.” The book will be edited by Crown’s Kevin Doughten.

Esposito is having a busy 2024, starring in and executive producing “Parish,” featuring in Netflix’s “The Gentlemen,” and appearing in films like “Abigail,” “Megalopolis,” and the upcoming release “MaXXXine.” He is represented by Sugar23, CAA, Jackoway Austen Tyerman, and imPRint.