Netflix’s new murder mystery, The Residence, stars Giancarlo Esposito as A.B. Wynter, Head Usher at the White House, but he wasn’t the original actor cast in the role.
When executive producer Shonda Rhimes and series creator Paul Williams Davies began casting for the screwball comedy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Andre Braugher was tapped for the role of A.B. Unfortunately, Andre passed away from lung cancer in 2023, and Giancarlo, 66, was cast in his absence. Paul opened up about how they landed on Giancarlo as the perfect replacement.
“Giancarlo joined the show after Andre’s tragic death. Giancarlo knew Andre, and that was really important and meaningful to all of us. Giancarlo came in and did his take on A.B. Wynter, and it’s very much his own, and it’s amazing,” Paul told Netflix in an interview ahead of The Residence’s premiere on Thursday, March 20. “And he was great with the other cast members, and I feel incredibly grateful to him, both on a personal level but also just because of what he did with that role.”
Paul continued, “A.B. has got a lot of depth. He’s a tough boss. But you also learn a lot about him and come to better understand him over the course of the show, and I think the character that Giancarlo created is really wonderful.”
Filming for The Residence had already begun when Andre died unexpectedly, and Giancarlo admitted that stepping into the role that originally belonged to The Mist star was difficult. The two men had previously worked together on Homicide: Life on the Street and were familiar with each other from New York City’s theater scene.
“It was a difficult decision for me to step into the shoes of Andre,” Giancarlo told Shondaland on Monday, March 17. “When you know someone who you admired and were friendly with, it’s a large task to go in and figure out how to reshoot what he did. That’s an emotional trigger.”
He continued, “I looked at it as a way of honoring Andre and what he gave to us. Coming into this project and finishing it [was a way of showing how] I deeply respected him and honored him.”
Even with his admiration for Andre, Giancarlo confessed that there were moments he found unsettling while taking over the role, specifically when he saw images of himself superimposed over Andre.
“There was a moment where I’d go, ‘Oh, there’s Andre!’ and I had to go, ‘No, he’s not a ghost; he’s part of me.’ He did visit with me. He was a friend,” Giancarlo added. “But it was particularly very odd to have to fill that space with someone that you honored and enjoyed and miss.”
Viewers likely recognize Giancarlo as cold-as-ice drug lord Gus Fring from Breaking Bad, and while the character of A.B. comes across just as calm and collected, it’s a far cry from Gus. However, The Boys actor felt like his past experience in the food industry as a waiter helped him bring an authenticity to the role of A.B.
“I felt like all my years of working in dinner theater as head waiter, working behind a reservations desk, all these things played into me knowing what A.B. Wynter’s job was,” Giancarlo explained.