Who is Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito’s ex-wife, Joy McManigal? The Stanford graduate and ‘great mama’ was married to the Hollywood actor for 20 years and has 4 daughters with him

Jan 8 , 2025

Joy McManigal, ex-wife of actor Giancarlo Esposito, boasts an impressive career in education, philanthropy and authorship, alongside raising four daughters. Photo: Getty Images

Her career spans education, entertainment and philanthropy – and she has written 2 books aimed at empowering young adults; at one point in her own youth, she managed a pub in Ireland

Though renowned for his role as drug overlord and antagonist Gustavo Fring in the vastly popular and critically acclaimed TV series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Giancarlo Esposito, 66, is more than just an accomplished film and television actor with five decades of work under his belt.

Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo Fring in crime drama series Better Call Saul. Photo: Sony Pictures Television

He has also acted in theatre productions and held the roles of director and producer with his own company, Quiet Hand Productions. The Megalopolis star, whose full name is Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to an Italian father and American mother.

When he was a child the family moved to the United States, settling in New York; by the age of eight he was appearing in theatre productions on Broadway. With more than 200 acting credits on his IMDB page, the Homicide: Life on the Street mainstay has enjoyed a career as long as it is varied.

Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Adam Driver, director Francis Ford Coppola, Nathalie Emmanuel and Giancarlo Esposito pose for photographers at the premiere of Megalopolis at the 77th Cannes Film Festival last May. Photo: AP

Besides his undeniably impressive catalogue of work in show business, The Show director and star is father to four daughters with ex-wife Joy McManigal. Married to Esposito for 20 years, McManigal – apparently born on the same day as her ex-husband – is accomplished in her own right. Per BlackPast, McManigal and Esposito married in 1995, but divorced in 2015.

So what do we know about Joy McManigal, who reportedly convinced Esposito to audition for Breaking Bad?

Joy McManigal holds two degrees

Giancarlo Esposito and then wife Joy McManigal arrive at the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation Annual Gala, New York, in 2004. Photo: Getty Images

According to Cooper Magazine, from her childhood McManigal’s family fostered in her a strong work ethic and a sense of the importance of education. She studied at prestigious Stanford University, earning a bachelor of arts degree in political science.

McManigal then took her master of arts in international relations and economics at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.