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Giancarlo Esposito reunites with his co-star from The Maze Runner Kaya Scodelario for Guy Ritchie’s gripping new series, The Gentlemen.
Express.co.uk had the chance to talk to the Breaking Bad star at the Netflix show’s London premiere, and he had high praise for Kaya’s development as an actress since they last worked together.
“I was really excited to work with Kaya,” he said. “I worked with her on Maze Runner, she was years younger.
“She’s more seasoned, she was always a dynamic and wonderful actress. Working with her in this just showed me once again how much I adore people who know what they’re doing.
“And people who connect. They know what their character is, they’re not afraid to connect.”
Giancarlo stars as Stanley Johnston in the new crime drama, a wealthy American who crosses paths with Eddie Horniman (played by Theo James) and his new business partner Susie Glass (Scodelario).
When Eddie’s aristocratic father dies and surprisingly leaves him his entire estate, snubbing his older brother Freddy (Daniel Ings), he discovers his family’s hidden ties to the underworld and has to fight to protect them from an intimidating Scouse crime syndicate.
“Kaya and I have some delicious work in this,” he teased. “And we’re friends!
“So it’s interesting to see her switch that switch and put me off a little bit. And I’m trying to keep going at her in a very delicate and very refined and very cordial way.”
The legendary Mandalorian star had never worked with The Gentlemen’s lead Theo, whom he called a “wonderful” co-star and praised his on-screen energy with Kaya.
“I had to give them both different vibrations, which was really, really phenomenal,” he said. “I enjoyed it a lot.”
Giancarlo also gave a shout-out to actor Alexis Rodney, who plays Stanley’s assistant, whom he described as an “overqualified” actor and “perfect” for The Gentlemen.
This is the first time the iconic screen star has worked with director Guy, who in turn is taking his first major plunge into the world of long-form TV drama.
“What I learned from him was that he’s always cultivating the script,” the actor said. “He’s willing to talk about it and willing to discuss it and willing to change it, even at the last minute.
“He has no fear, which is a wonderful thing. He knows what he wants visually.
“I think long-form television for him works because I think he has a lot in his brain and a lot of story he wants to tell.
“You can tell more story in long-form television than you can in a two-hour film, so in a way it loosens him up.”
Giancarlo highlighted Guy’s looser style on set, and revealed he often changed up dialogue and even entire scenes on the fly.
“I came in one day, had learned this whole thing, he said, ‘I’m gonna change it all. And we’re gonna use that later!’” he recalled.
“I went to him, ‘Do I trust him? That’s a great speech you wrote’. ‘We’re gonna use it later’.
“And I love that he has that kind of curiosity and courage. He knows what he’s doing, and I dig that.”
The Gentlemen is available to stream on Netflix.
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Source: NewsFinale
