Jennifer Esposito is opening up about the pitfalls of self-financing an indie movie.
The Fresh Kills writer, director, producer and star revealed that her gamble in making the 2023 mafia film didn’t quite pay off after she took out a mortgage on her home to bring the movie to the screen.
“Yeah, I’m looking like ass right now ‘cuz I’ve been crying ‘cuz I’m moving out of my home that I mortgaged to make my film,” she prefaced in an Instagram video.
“And then have people who are in the spotlight not be able to just throw one back and say, ‘Hey, thanks, watch this film.’ And then I said to myself, ‘You know what? Nobody owes anybody anything,’” added Esposito. “And then I thought, ‘Do we? Do we as human beings?’ Maybe that’s why we’re in this problem right now, where we are. I think actually, we do owe each other something. We owe each other decency as human beings. That’s what we owe each other.”
Esposito helms and stars in Fresh Kills as Francine, the wife of an organized crime boss in 1980s New York City. Marking her first time writing and directing a film, the actress previously revealed to KTLA that she mortgaged her own home to make the movie.
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“This town tells you what you can be and what you can’t be for so many years. I was just so over that and I thought, ‘Why am I asking the world to believe in me, I have to believe in me,’” she explained in June 2024. “So I’m going to put my money down. At the end of my life, am I going to be so happy that my house was paid off? Or am I going to be so happy that I gave myself the opportunity that I’ve been waiting for for far too long? So I thought I’m going.”
Fresh Kills brings late 1980s Staten Island to life through the lens of Rose Larusso (Emily Bader), an inquisitive young girl who discovers her father (Domenick Lombardozzi) is an emerging mafia kingpin. Rose’s growing desire to break free from the path set before her soon threatens her existence and alienates her from her closest allies: her mother Francine (Esposito), her sister Connie (Odessa A’zion), and her aunt Christine (Annabella Sciorra).
Meanwhile, Esposito has signed on to direct female-centric crime drama Shake, written by Ryan Binaco.
