“It Felt Like A Spiritual Journey.”
Giancarlo Esposito explains how a fan gift helped him create the MCU’s Sidewinder.
Giancarlo Esposito takes all his roles seriously. Whether he’s donning a mo-cap suit for a video game or pushing the envelope in an innovative Netflix heist series, he treats every character as a way to further his craft and hone his instrument. In recent years, he’s mainly played villains — chalk it up to his resonating voice or his reputation after playing Gus Fring in Breaking Bad — and this year alone, he’s played a foil in not one but two massive blockbusters.
In The Electric State, the upcoming Netflix sci-fi movie directed by Marvel veterans Joe and Anthony Russo, he plays Col. Marshall Bradbury, the merciless robot-slayer with a deep Southern drawl. But in Captain America: New World Order, he’s Sidewinder, the head of the Serpent Society. His character was a late addition to the movie after Seth Rollins’ King Cobra was edited out entirely. But even on short notice, he still underwent a long process to find out who Sidewinder really is — and found inspiration in the most unlikely of places.
“I was in Mexico City, and I got the call it was all going to work out,” Esposito tells Inverse. “I went to the Diego Rivera Museum. I went to his house that had all this snake iconography, and I understood that the snakes were sacred in Mexico and that they were the route to the underworld, to the next world... And I thought, ‘OK, Seth Voelker, head of the Serpent Society, oh, my gosh, this all makes sense.’ I felt like it was a spiritual journey.”
“He took something out of his pocket, and he put it in my hand. I opened my hand, and it was a serpent ring. I kid you not — a serpent ring.”
But no amount of preparation from even the most dedicated actor can replace a sign from the universe, and that’s exactly what happened to Esposito when leaving Mexico. “I got to the airport, and a young man stepped out of the crowd of people who were screaming for my autograph as I was leaving, and he took something out of his pocket, and he put it in my hand. I opened my hand, and it was a serpent ring. I kid you not — a serpent ring.”
It was a crystallizing moment. “I went, ‘Oh, my goodness. It’s all meant to be. You’re moving in the right direction by creating this character the right way,’” Esposito says.
That’s why he’s so excited to talk about his roles, because be they drone-piloting butchers or bazooka-toting villains, he finds inspiration everywhere: from the page, biology, and even the fans who love him. Inverse spoke with Giancarlo Esposito about these two roles, from the original plan for his Electric State character to his hopes and dreams for Sidewinder’s future.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and/or brevity.
Esposito plays Colonel Marshall Bradbury, the hired hand of Stanley Tucci’s villainous Ethan Skate, in The Electric State.
The Electric State is based on Simon Stalenhåg’s graphic novel of the same name, but the movie has a very different tone. Did you read the novel before production?
For once, I did not. I stayed away from it because I came to this very quickly, and I thought if I give myself that task, I might start wondering about what is inclusive in the script. So I had to trust that Anthony and Joe [Russo] really plucked out what they thought was the best story of it.
I understand that the novel’s a little bit darker, but because I’m so interested in this film, and just recently saw it for the first time at a private screening with my daughters, I went, “God, I want to read this writer.” So it’s on its way to me now. I’m always intrigued by how something comes to fruition. And this story is so good on film. I know it’s got to be displayed in even more depth in the novel.
Your character in The Electric State has a very distinct Southern accent, which I think is unlike anything I’ve heard you do before. What was behind that choice?
When I first got this script, this character was “The Marshal.” Of course, I was interested in knowing what that would look like and as it was shown to me, still a work in progress, it was a 6-foot guy with a cowboy hat and two six-guns, boots, vest [who] had that whole Western flare. That really appealed to me. So I wanted to give him somewhat of a colloquial kind of throwback, Western-ish Southern-ish kind of way of speaking.
It just felt right to me. To make a voice that would be, let’s say for example, more Gus Fring, or even Moff Gideon, or even Stan Edgar — very proper — it wouldn’t have felt right to me to play into the nefarious nature of what the name suggests. With The Marshal, the name always suggested someone who’s really fast with two six-guns and is a sheriff who is maintaining order, but it’s also comedically more playful and fun.
Giancarlo Esposito had a “warrior consciousness” on the set of Captain America: Brave New World.
How did you help develop the role of Sidewinder?
It was a very quick yes for me to join that particular cast of people and filmmakers. I knew it was a small brain trust, and I wanted to be a part of that. I jumped in very quickly and got information, and they gave me choices: I could be King Cobra, but Kevin [Feige] was like, “Well, we can’t use that name, but we can use the characteristics of King Cobra, or we can do Sidewinder.”
And Sidewinder had a history already laid out, so I went back to the comics. I got involved in how Sidewinder looked. I went, “Oh, he’s got powers. I want powers too.” They wanted me to be a grounded force in the movie. “OK, no powers here, maybe later.” But I took all those colors and ideas behind Seth Voelker, who happens to be my exact same height and exact same weight. I went, “This is the name of this guy. This is who he is.”
I got there, trained, did all my military mercenary training really quick, and learned the equipment. There I am on the set in Atlanta, hot on the street, and people are talking to me from all different angles. But I’m like a soldier; I have a warrior consciousness. People would be talking to me. I wouldn’t even hear ’em. They put a weapon in my hand. I knew my moves. I knew what I wanted to do. I knew my attitude.
The director had agreed to allow me to have sunglasses, but I said, “I got another one for you.” I took the glasses off and my eyes were blue. He went, “Oh, wow.” I said, “Seth Voelker has blue eyes.” I said, “Just trust me.” And I love Julius Onah. He eventually said to me, “I loved the choices you made. I’m so glad that you did that, and it works.”
Sidewinder’s blue contacts were all Giancarlo Esposito’s idea, to be more comics-accurate.
Part of it was playing catchup. I didn’t read the whole script. I didn’t have it; they were making changes. I was called in to do the part that I was to do, and I went in and I did it, and I kept feeling like this really weird feeling like they’re going to want more. I want to give more. I have more to give.
And then I get a call, a straightforward call from [Marvel executive] Nate Moore that said, “We tested the movie, and there’s a couple of different things we need to figure out. People want to know that you live, and we don’t know if you live or die.” I said, “It’s obvious I live.”
He said, “Well, we thought it was, but basically the bottom line is they want more of you.” I love Marvel because they honor their fans, and they do that so well. So I came back and added some more to it. And you have what you see, and I still want more.
What are the plans for Sidewinder’s future in the MCU?
I have no clue. It’s my wish and dream as an actor that I have a chance to expand the character forward. And I think there could be something interesting behind Sidewinder’s character in a series of movies or in a series itself, but I don’t know if they have any plans for that.
“There could be something interesting behind Sidewinder’s character in a series of movies or in a series itself, but I don’t know if they have any plans for that.”
In a way, I’m here to inspire and be inspired. So I’m inspired because of the history behind Voelker; as an economics engineer, he’s a guy who came from the light and went to the dark. And so, in my world, a possibility exists within this Marvel franchise.
Right now, he’s working for the dark, but because of the relationship I have to Sam Wilson, when they’re in this alley together talking, it’s like they’re all friends. They know each other. There’s a threat at the end and all that stuff, but I feel like he could move from the dark side to the light side. Would that be interesting?
