-Giancarlo welcome to the show.
-Thank you, thank you. -Oh, my gosh.
I have so many questions to ask you.
I have so many things that I'm a fan of yours.
Thank you so much for coming on the show.
I'm honored to have you here.
I want to start off by saying -- "Mandalorian," we want it back.
[ Cheers and applause ]
You're fantastic in it. It is back in March.
Finally, it's coming. -"You have something I want."
-Aah! That's exactly -- [ Cheers and applause ]
-And you know what? I gotta tell you,
thank you so much for having me on the show.
I'm honored to be here. You are the king.
I've wanted to be here for many years.
And finally, you invited me! -Oh, yeah!
That's what I'm talking about. Come on, bud.
-"Mandalorian" is a great show. I really love doing that show.
-But you know how to do it. You know how to create
a character and make it a legendary character.
Here you are, though, acting opposite a very cute puppet.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I gotta tell you, I will squash that little big-eared bastard.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah, that's exactly right!
Yes. -Look, I walk by that puppet --
Jon Favreau, who called me and said,
"Do you want to be a part this show?"
He said, "I have good news, I have bad news."
I said, "Well, tell me the good news first."
"The good news is, I wrote a role for you
of Moff Gideon, in 'Mandalorian.'"
I said, "What's that?" He said, "it's a 'Star Wars.'
It's a new 'Star Wars' show that I'm doing."
I said, "Okay, great. What's the bad news?"
"The bad news is that all the money is going into the Volume."
And he started talking technically
and talking about the story and all these good things.
And I said to him, "Jon, I want to work with people I like.
That's the bottom line." I did not want to say --
came very close to saying -- "I would do it for free."
[ Laughter ]
No, you don't to say that.
-No, but you loved it that much. -I loved it that much.
And he said, "Are there any requests?"
I said, "I have one request.
Please, I must have a cape."
And he said, "Done deal!" -Wow!
-And that -- -That was you.
-It was me. It sold me on everything
that I could have a cape. Because, you know,
this show allowed me to feel like a kid again.
You know? It made me dream again.
It made me be in wonder again. It made me feel like I could
go any place in the universe, and carry my dreams,
my hopes, and my imagination with me.
-Wow. I kind of feel that way watching it.
That's a great way of putting it.
Really. It really is one of the most
creative shows to watch that.
And to actually watch Grogu come to life.
What did you call it before it had a name?
-Well, it was called The Child for a long time.
And it was sitting on a desk. And I'd walk by,
and Jon and I were chatting -- I think he's a genius.
He's written such a beautiful show.
David Filoni, his partner, is also fantastic.
This comes out of a relationship
with George Lucas and Joseph Campbell.
So, what we love about the show, you may not know, is that
it's the power of the mythology of the show
that you can see your hero and your heroine within Mando.
And we walk by a table, and he said, "Hey,"
just casually, "You want to take a look at The Child?"
I said, "Certainly." And he pulls the canvas off.
And I looked at this practical child.
And he explained to me it was gonna be this,
it was going to be that -- CGI.
I said, "No, this perfect."
And then the puppeteer walked by at that very moment.
And the puppeteer said, "Do you want to see and talk to him?"
[ Laughter ]
I went, "Okay." And The Child opened its eyes,
turned its head, wiggled its ears.
And I was -- you can't take your eyes off of this child.
Grogu is fascinating, mysterious, intelligent, smart.
And I looked at Jon, and I said, "Jon --"
I said, "Jon, this is the star of the show."
And he stood back, and he scratched his chin,
and he said, "You think so?" I said, "I know so.
And every scene that I'm in has to be with this child."
[ Laughter ]
Put it in the contract, baby!
[ Laughter ]
-Exactly. And you crush it.
But then, everyone loves you.
We love your character, even though you're the villain.
But just -- also, online, a lot of fans want you to be
in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
-I love what Marvel does. I love that the fans can see me
in this universe and are proposing not only
one character, possibly Magneto, possibly freeze.
And the biggest ask is Charles Xavier.
[ Cheers and applause ]
But, look, I want to play a good guy.
And Charles is smart. He's good.
But I feel as if there may be some mileage with me and Marvel.
I know I love what they do. I know I love creativity.
So, who knows what could happen. Keep putting it out there.
-Yeah. [ Cheers and applause ]
The fans love you.
I heard a rumor, and tell me if this is true or not.
That you may or may not have something to do with
Barack and Michelle Obama's relationship.
-Oh, my goodness. So, I love what Barack Obama
has done and continues to do to forward the human spirit
and also to exemplify someone
who has a wonderful morality and who is in service.
I believe that to be in service
is our best bet for our own life.
So, I was at the Democratic convention.
And I was standing about from here to the monitor
from Barack when he made his speech.
And I was so very impressed.
I was with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. We walked out.
He said, "I'm gonna get the car."
And I said, "Okay, I'll wait for you."
And I'm walking, and I hear, "Yo!"
And I'm like, "Who is yo'ing me?"
-You're like, "Sylvester Stallone is here."
-You know what I mean? I'm not in the neighborhood.
-Yeah. -You know, "Yo!" again.
And I turn, and I see these two gentlemen.
And as they start coming towards me,
I realize one is Barack Obama.
I'm like, "Well, you've to be kidding me."
He's like, "I just gotta talk to you, I gotta talk to you.
'Do the Right Thing' is one of my favorite movies."
Tells me a whole story about how he bought Michelle ice cream
and how they went to see "Do the Right Thing"
for their very first date.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And so, I saw the future.
And I saw that he was just a beautiful human being
and knew who he'd be. I finally got a chance
to tell him, "You're gonna be
the president of the United States one day.
Just stay the course." -You said that to him?
-Of course I did. -Yeah, of course you did.
That's exactly the way to do it. That's exactly right.
You knew it! -I knew it!
-I want to talk about this new series, "Kaleidoscope."
Before we can get into what it's about,
I like the idea that's on top of the idea, that --
and tell me if I've got this correct.
Every Netflix account is set up differently.
Some have different algorithms or whatever that.
So when I watch "Kaleidoscope," I will start
at a different episode than if you watch "Kaleidoscope."
It's just -- the episodes are all different.
-Correct. Correct.
One of the fascinating things about "Kaleidoscope,"
which I'm very, very proud of, is that the delivery system
is that you can choose how you watch it,
which means you're choosing how the story unfolds.
There are no numbers -- one, two, three, four, five.
There are only colors -- orange, blue, green, yellow, white.
It is violet. And so, it's fascinating.
It's a kaleidoscope of color, thus the title that ties us in,
but the most wonderful thing is that the story is connected
via character and event.
One event surrounds all eight episodes.
You should watch white last, I suggest.
And it spans 25 years.
And I play a character named Ray Vernon in the beginning,
who is a master thief.
And if I told you how I prepared for this role,
you'd be excited, too. Mm.
So, I play this master thief, who gives up one life,
gives up one identity, and becomes another
through circumstance and events of the show.
What really drew me to the show, was that you, as an audience,
I, as an audience, would have a choice
as to how I wanted to see it happen.
And there are all these Easter eggs and clues
throughout all that connect every story.
So, you can see one complete heist.
It's about a heist that took place during a hurricane
back in the late '70s, early '80s,
of $70 billion in unsecured bearer bonds.
And because of this particular heist
that happened in history -- we're loosely based on that --
the U.S. government changed the law.
There can be no more unsecured bonds.
So, since then, all bonds have to be registered
so you can't use them for illicit means,
i.e, buying arms or drugs or jewelry.
So, this particular heist is an exciting one.
But it's more exciting because it pits a ne'er-do-well
group of thieves against a large industry,
a private firm, that will hold your money and your jewelry.
And it's also a revenge story. It's a fabulous piece.
I had a chance to really excel in,
physically and also mentally, my preparation.
I was in an airport, and I thought to myself,
"I'm gonna play a thief. How do I sneak --"
No, come on, no kidding! How do I sneak up on somebody
stealthily -- be behind them without them knowing."
This really happened.
I'll tell you the truth about me.
I am a bad man. [ Laughter ]
So, I sneak up on a lady. She's walking.
And everyone's on their cellphone.
No one's paying attention anymore anyway.
And she had a pen in her coat pocket.
And her coat was open, and it was flapping a little bit,
and I thought, "Let's see how good I am.
If I can just get to that pen with two fingers..."
And so I snuck up on her.
I was over her right shoulder, and I trailed her.
And I got my fingers in her pocket,
very much like this patch pocket.
And I took the pen, and I slid it up,
and then I dropped it on the ground.
-Yes. -I didn't want to steal it.
-No, point proven. -Point proven! I did it!
-Point made! I can do this! -And you know what I did?
-What? Oh, wait.
I think I know what you did. -I made the "Malcolm X" move.
What did I do? Tell me what I did.
-You told her, "Excuse me, miss, you dropped your pen."
-That's right, baby! -That's exactly --
[ Cheers and applause ]
That's exactly -- Come on, bud.
-I was so proud of myself! [ Cheers and applause ]
Oh, man. -I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Giancarlo Esposito in "Kaleidoscope."
Take a look at this.
♪♪
[ Metal clatter ]
♪♪
-♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
-No one can pinpoint the exact moment it all fell apart.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Giancarlo Esposito!
"Kaleidoscope" is streaming now on Netflix.
We'll be right back with a performance from Alvvays.
Stick around, everybody.