Giancarlo Esposito Joins the Cast of Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix Drama ‘The Get Down’

You may know him as baddie Gus Fring from Breaking Bad, but Giancarlo Esposito is turning over a completely new leaf in his latest role in Baz Luhrmann’s new series The Get Down.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, who broke the news, Esposito has signed on to play Pastor Ramon Cruz, “the charismatic head of the local Pentecostal church who attracts a flock of followers with his fiery sermons and firm, steady leadership. Pastor Cruz is the father of Mylene Cruz (Herizen Guardiola), whose dreams of disco stardom often put her at odds with her dad. He is also the brother of Francisco Cruz aka “Papa Fuerte” (Jimmy Smits).”

“Continuing the high quality of our acting company in The Get Down, we’re very pleased to announce that Giancarlo Esposito will be joining us in the role of Pastor Ramon Cruz. Giancarlo has played such a variety of roles and he’s a tremendous asset to our production,” said Luhrmann in a statement .

You can read a description of the series, per Netflix, below:

The Get Down will focus on 1970s New York City – broken down and beaten up, violent, cash strapped – dying. Consigned to rubble, a rag-tag crew of South Bronx teenagers are nothings and nobodies with no one to shelter them – except each other, armed only with verbal games, improvised dance steps, some magic markers and spray cans. From Bronx tenements, to the SoHo art scene; from CBGBs to Studio 54 and even the glass towers of the just-built World Trade Center, The Get Down is a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco – told through the lives and music of the South Bronx kids who changed the city, and the world…forever

The network previously announced  the show’s young leads: Justice Smith (“Ezekiel”), Shameik Moore (“Shaolin Fantastic”), Skylan Brooks (“Ra Ra”) and Tremaine Brown, Jr. (“Boo Boo”) and female lead Herizen Guardiola (“Mylene Cruz”). Additional announced castmembers include Jimmy Smits (“Francisco Cruz” aka “Papa Fuerte”), Jaden Smith(“Marcus “Dizzee” Kipling”),  Yahya Abdul-Mateen (“Cadillac”) and Mamoudou Athie (“Grandmaster Flash”).

The Get Down is set to debut on Netflix in 2016.

We’ll be interviewing Giancarlo at next weekend’s Walker Stalker Convention, and will be sure to ask him about all the latest scoop from the series

Photo Credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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