Giancarlo Esposito and John Turturro Share the Screen Again in New York Pickpocket Film

Giancarlo Esposito and John Turturro are working together again, decades after their first films side by side. The two reunite in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, a film written and directed by Noah Segan, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which published its report on 28 October 2026.

Esposito plays Detective Warren. Turturro plays Harry Lehman, a master pickpocket. The Hollywood Reporter says the role is Turturro's first lead part on the big screen in more than 20 years. Will Price and Tatiana Maslany also co-star, as The New York Times noted in its review of the film.

The pair first worked together on Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, and they later appeared in Mo' Better Blues (1990) and Jungle Fever (1991). Esposito told The Hollywood Reporter that he hated Turturro on Do the Right Thing. Their new film brings them back into the same scenes.

One moment from the shoot stood out to Esposito. During filming, Turturro stopped in the middle of a take to tell him, "You're my uncle. You're my father. You're my family." Esposito said the words brought tears to his eyes.

Esposito is also known to fans of Breaking Bad, where he played the drug boss Gus Fring. He has talked before about a prequel that would follow the character's early life. Indiewire reported in 2020 that the proposed project was called Rise of Gus and would explore the character's backstory in depth.

For now, the news is a new film with two actors who have a long shared history. Esposito's detective and Turturro's pickpocket meet on screen in a story written and directed by Segan.