Pop Culture Planet Podcast: Jennifer Esposito Talks Fresh Kills and Underestimating Women In Hollywood
In a new episode of the Pop Culture Planet podcast, Jennifer Esposito joins Kristen Maldonado to talk about her directorial debut with Fresh Kills, being underestimated as a woman in Hollywood, and the original ending to her film. Fresh Kills, which follows the daughters of the Larusso family as they deal with the unspoken code of the women behind the men in the world of organized crime, is available now on VOD.
Episode Quotes
Jennifer Esposito on the inspiration behind Fresh Kills: “When I got out into the world, I went to take on my career. Just being female and [being] told I was too this, not enough of that, or too ethnic or not ethnic enough. I was too New York. Whatever it was. That rage that I saw on these young women [I grew up with in Staten Island] started to feel like my own and it made me realize that it was less about who their families were but more about that they didn't have a choice in the matter. I thought choice is something that really rings true for me as far as the roles were put in in society. We're all pushed into something and told who we are or who we're supposed to be as women. We're supposed to be sugar and spice and all the nonsense were told and I just don't agree with it. It's very difficult to find a voice in a world that keeps telling you to stay quiet and that's really the essence of what the movie is about.”
Esposito on tackling a traditionally male-centric genre of film: “It has not been easy. I'm just going to be honest. To all the film lovers out there and the film makers and anyone striving to be, when you're a female, to do this kind of thing is already hard. We all know that. If you saw recent reports that just came out, the numbers are abysmal of male to female ratio of behind the camera. Take the fact that I was a first-time writer-director, which again goes to those boxes, ‘Oh, she's this actress that we know from X Y and Z so we know what she can do.’ No you don't. Then you take on the fact that I was the first female to step my foot into this very masculine male genre of the mafia. I don't know many how many more hurdles I could have jumped to get this.”
Esposito on a new point of view: “We are the first to take a look at the mafia from the females and the young females point of view. Odessa A’Zion and Emily Bader, who play these sisters so perfectly, I mean they leave their hearts on the screen.”
Esposito kept coming back to her Emily Bader’s audition until she ultimately landed the role: “I kept looking through all the like the piles that were discarded and um I kept coming back to her and kept coming back to her. I thought, this kid she's got something so special about her.”
Esposito knew Odessa A’Zion was the perfect fit for Connie: “A friend of mine read the script and saw her in a show that she played this Italian teenage kid in Brooklyn and I was blown away. I was like, I just love this kid and no one could beat her in my mind. […] That's her. When I met her on a Zoom, I gave her the job instantly.”
Esposito on why bringing Fresh Kills to life was so important to her: “I have a really big problem with Injustice. Like I have a really big problem. The years of being told who and what I was and who I was and what I was capable of in this business and as a female really had hit a wall with me. What had happened for the last many years, I started to just shut down and just do work that my heart wasn't into. I really woke up extremely depressed one day and tired of hearing myself complain. It wasn't only for the industry, it was what I was seeing for females in society and how we're still fighting for better treatment and our rights and our healthcare. It pains me and I felt like, ‘Stop complaining.’ I can do the picketing, I can write the notes, I can vote, I can complain to my agent, but it was doing nothing. If you wait for the world to change, you are waiting on the wrong people to do anything. It's just not happening, so how are you going to change it? What are you going to do? […] To tell the whole story, I just knew that this was going going to connect with men and women because underneath the family story dynamic, underneath the sister story dynamic, underneath the mother and daughter and the father and daughter dynamic, what was left is finding a voice in a world that tells you not to have one. I guarantee 9 out of 10 people know what that feels.”
Esposito’s advice to other creatives: “Do not listen to other people's negativity and their limited perception. That's their idea about what they think I'm capable of that has nothing to do with me.”
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Hosted by TV and film critic Kristen Maldonado, Pop Culture Planet is a video podcast featuring analytical pop culture discussions and interviews with diverse voices in the entertainment space. Watch episodes on youtube.com/kaymaldo or listen on your favorite podcast platforms, from Spotify to Apple Podcasts and beyond.
