Gus Fring
Gustavo "Gus" Fring is a fictional character portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito in the Breaking Bad crime drama franchise. He serves as one of the main antagonists in the original series, and is also a major character in its spinoff Better Call Saul. He is a Chilean-American businessman and major narcotics distributor in the Southwestern United States who uses several legitimate businesses, including a chain of successful fast food restaurants called Los Pollos Hermanos and an industrial laundry facility called Lavandería Brillante, as fronts to launder money for a vast drug operation.
Though Gus outwardly works with a Mexican cartel to distribute cocaine, he secretly plots revenge against its members over the death of his business associate and romantic partner Maximino "Max" Arciniega at the hands of his sworn archenemy Hector Salamanca, the patriarch of the cartel-backed drug trade in the Southwest. To become independent of the cartel, he constructs a secret lab under his industrial laundry to manufacture methamphetamine.
Gus was created as a character to replace that of Tuco Salamanca during the second season of Breaking Bad. Gus, as a stoic businessman, was created to be opposite to the chaotic Tuco and act as a foil to protagonist Walter White. The character has received high acclaim, with critics hailing Gus as one of the best villains in television; as such, Esposito's performance in the role has earned him several nominations and awards.
Character development
Gustavo Fring is named after the former German international footballer Torsten Frings.When Raymond Cruz was unable to continue as Tuco Salamanca in Breaking Bad season 2 due to his commitment to appear in The Closer, the Breaking Bad writers wrote Tuco out of the series and created the character of Gus to be his opposite. While Tuco was a meth user and "a screaming lunatic", Gus would be "a bit of a buttoned-down, cold-blooded, soft-spoken businessman".
Initially, Giancarlo Esposito was offered a character that was described to him as "very admirable, very polite", and he decided to play that character as if he had "some kind of a secret". Without knowing what that secret was, Esposito understood the potential Gus had as a growing character, therefore rejecting offers for guest appearances as originally intended for the character and insisting on becoming a series regular. To achieve Gus's trademark calmness, Esposito used yoga techniques, which allowed him to convey the character as being "a very good listener".
The humanity of Gus's personality played an integral role in his development. The loss of Max, his partner, contributed to Gus's evolution into a ruthless criminal; he stops at nothing to avenge Max's death, including the gradual killing of Hector's entire family. The loss of Max also cultivated Gus's desire to create a new "family" by empowering his meth empire, as well as the chicken restaurants. Moments before dying, Gus manages to calmly adjust his tie even after having half his face blown off. Esposito saw it as an important gesture of "when a person goes to what they've always done ... to be complete in his leaving this world".
Gus's popularity, as well as his importance to the series' development, made room for possible "flashback"-type appearances in future episodes, but that idea did not come to fruition until 2017 when Gus was brought back for the third season of Better Call Saul. When conceiving the story for El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Gilligan considered including Gus in the story, but ultimately desisted from the idea due to his feelings that the film should focus only on the most important characters in Jesse Pinkman's life, which Gus was not.
Character overview
Gus has a mysterious background; his name is likely an alias, since neither the Drug Enforcement Administration nor his own enforcer Mike Ehrmantraut could find any record of him prior to his arrival in Mexico. He is supposedly a native of Chile, and is sometimes referred to by cartel members as "The Chilean". In the Better Call Saul episode "Piñata", he tells a comatose Hector a story about a coati that ate the fruit from a lúcuma tree which he tended during his childhood in Chile. In the Better Call Saul episode "Magic Man", Lalo Salamanca refers to a mysterious incident involving Gus which took place in Santiago.Gus emigrated to Mexico in the 1980s during the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. In a flashback during the Breaking Bad episode "One Minute", Hector mockingly refers to him as "Big Generalissimo", implying that Gus had a connection to the Pinochet regime. As mentioned in the Better Call Saul episode "JMM", Gus and Peter Schuler had a shared experience in Santiago, which Gus mentions to Peter to calm him down when he panics over Lalo's attacks on Gus's business. In "Hermanos", Don Eladio Vuente says that when he ordered Max killed, he spared Gus because of his unstated but apparently powerful connection to Chile. Vince Gilligan has stated that he purposely left Gus's origins ambiguous, comparing them to the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.
Gus runs at least two legitimate businesses: a chain of successful fried chicken restaurants called Los Pollos Hermanos and an industrial laundry facility called Lavandería Brillante in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Gus's restaurants are located across the southwestern United States, with his flagship restaurant in Albuquerque, and the firm's chicken farm and distribution center on the outskirts of the city. The company is a subsidiary of Madrigal Electromotive GmbH, a multinational company based in Germany that has ownership stakes in multiple subsidiaries.
While his restaurant chain is a legitimate business, it serves as a front for Gus to distribute cocaine for a Mexican cartel and later develop his own methamphetamine production and distribution business. Gus operates in partnership with two Madrigal executives: Peter Schuler, a German who serves as the company president, and Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, the company's Houston-based vice president of global logistics.
Gus maintains a positive public image: he is a booster for Albuquerque civic causes, including the local DEA office. In addition to befriending the special agent in charge, Gus makes large donations to the office's charitable events. Underneath this outwardly pleasant front, he is ruthlessly cruel and Machiavellian in managing his vast drug empire. He employs a number of enforcers and has personally killed both rivals and allies.
Sexuality
Much of Gus's motives are driven by revenge for the death of his partner Maximino "Max" Arciniega by the Mexican cartel. Gus and Max's relationship was long implied to be more than business before their confirmation as lovers by showrunner Peter Gould in 2022. In the Better Call Saul episode "Sabrosito", Hector suggests that a better name for Los Pollos Hermanos might be "Los Culos Hermanos", insinuating that Gus and Max were gay. In "Magic Man", Lalo discusses Gus with Juan Bolsa and refers to Max as Gus's boyfriend. As shown in the Better Call Saul episode "Dedicado a Max", after arriving in Albuquerque, Gus acquired a small villa on the Mexican side of the Mexico–U.S. border. The villa serves as the residence for Dr. Barry Goodman, and contains a fountain which is dedicated to Max.Gus's homosexuality is touched on in the episode "Fun and Games", in which he relaxes after having eliminated Lalo as a threat to his plans by visiting a wine bar and conversing with David, his favorite sommelier. Gus drops hints of his interest in David before deciding to cut the visit short and depart. In 2020, Gilligan stated that "I personally think Max was more than just a friend to Gus. I think they probably were lovers." Gould later confirmed that Gus and Max were lovers on the Ringer podcast ''The Watch.''
Character biography
Background
The Breaking Bad episode "Hermanos" shows that Gus and his long-time business partner and associate Max Arciniega started Los Pollos Hermanos as a front to sell methamphetamine that Max "cooked". They approached Don Eladio Vuente, the leader of the Juárez Cartel, with an offer to expand their drug trade with cartel help. Eladio declined, as the cartel preferred to continue distributing cocaine. Instead, Eladio had Hector Salamanca kill Max for selling meth in cartel territory without permission. Eladio spared Gus, but forced him to co-operate with the cartel on Eladio's terms.For the next 20 years, Gus remains outwardly loyal to the cartel but nurses a grudge against Eladio, Juan Bolsa, and particularly Hector, waiting for his chance at revenge. After establishing himself in Albuquerque, Gus secretly looks to end his dependency on cartel cocaine by producing and distributing meth in the United States. Because the Salamanca family drug business controlled by Hector also includes Albuquerque, Gus is forced to deal with him but seeks to undermine the Salamancas.
''Better Call Saul''
Season 3
pays Mike to help remove Tuco Salamanca, Hector's nephew, from the day-to-day activities of the Salamanca family drug business. Instead of killing Tuco, Mike arranges for Tuco to assault him in view of the police, leading to Tuco's arrest. Mike fears Hector will learn that he arranged for Tuco's imprisonment and is concerned that Hector will retaliate against Stacey and Kaylee. Mike acts preemptively by preparing to assassinate Hector, but is interrupted at the last moment. Mike tracks this interruption to Gus, who explains that he wants to be the one to determine when Hector will die. However, Gus encourages Mike to continue to disrupt the trucks Hector uses to bring ice cream store supplies and drugs from Mexico and send cash back to the cartel.After Mike disrupts two shipments without revealing his identity, Hector demands that Gus temporarily use his Los Pollos Hermanos trucks to ship both Hector's and Gus's drugs. Gus, who had wanted this result from the start, appears to reluctantly agree. He later attempts to pay Mike, but Mike refuses the money. Instead, he asks for assistance laundering the $250,000 he stole from one of Hector's trucks, which Gus provides by arranging for Madrigal Electromotive to hire Mike as a contracted security expert and pay him monthly consulting fees.
With the new transport agreement in place, Nacho and Arturo Colon arrive at the Los Pollos Hermanos warehouse and farm to pick up a drug shipment, and Nacho attempts to strong-arm his way into taking six kilos instead of the agreed-upon five. When Gus's subordinate Tyrus Kitt calls Gus for guidance, Gus recognizes an opportunity to infiltrate the Salamanca organization and tells Tyrus to give Nacho the extra kilo. Nacho fears that Hector will learn of his role in Tuco's imprisonment and is concerned about Hector's intent to take over Nacho's father's upholstery store for use as a front business.
He secretly swaps Hector's angina medication for a placebo, hoping to induce a fatal heart attack. At a meeting between Juan Bolsa, Gus, Hector and Nacho, Bolsa informs them that the use of Gus's trucks to move the drugs and cash for both organizations will be a permanent arrangement. Hector's angry outburst leads to a stroke, and Gus calls for an ambulance while administering first aid that saves Hector's life, though he is comatose. Nacho follows Mike's previous advice to switch the placebos for Hector's real medication so that foul play will not be suspected. Gus appears to notice Nacho's actions, but says nothing.