Jennifer Esposito took to Instagram on Friday to share that she must move out of the house she mortgaged to finance her directorial debut, “Fresh Kills.”
“Yeah, I’m looking like ass right now because I’ve been crying because I’m moving out of my home that I mortgaged to make my film,” the actor said in a self-taped video.
Esposito went on to say, “And then to have people who are in the spotlight now not be able to just throw one back and say, ‘Hey, watch this film.’ I said to myself, ‘You know what? Nobody owes anybody anything.’ 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.”During the press tour for “Fresh Kills” in 2024, Esposito told KTLA that her passion for the project led her to mortgage her home.
“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 thought, ‘Why am I asking the world to believe in me, I have to believe in me,’ So I’m going to put my money down,” she said in an interview. “At the end of my life, am I going to be 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.”
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Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023, “Fresh Kills” is an indie drama set in the late 1980s and early 1990s about two sisters (Odessa A’zion and Emily Bader) whose mother (Esposito) tries to hold the family together when the girls’ mafia boss father (Domenick Lombardozzi) goes to prison. Esposito told Variety in 2023 that the script had been “percolating and marinating” since she was 16, and called the movie “[her] heart,” adding that she used to say, “I don’t think I’d be able to die unless I do this” — referring to making “Fresh Kills.”
Fans of the movie and fellow industry professionals showed their support for Esposito in the comment section of her Instagram post.
Don Cheadle said, “Here for you, kiddo! Ya’ll check Jennifer’s movie out. She put and puts it all on the line. A real artist in the pursuit of truth!”
Debra Messing chimed in, adding, “Jen, I am heartbroken for you. Your film was exquisite and I’m better for seeing it. The fact that you have to leave your home in order to give your Art to the world is maddening. Sending love and strength and appreciation.”
Jerry O’Connell added, “So sorry, Jen. I WILL BE ON THE LOOKOUT. Promise!”
In a new post on Wednesday, Esposito expressed her gratitude for the support and well-wishes she received since making the news public and clarified that her house was sold to pay off the mortgage, not seized by the bank. She also revealed she is currently crowd-funding for her upcoming film, “Mary Rides the F Train.”
“Betting on yourself is never wrong,” said Esposito in the new video. “I just wish art could be taken for art’s sake and viewed on its merit. That’s why it’s so important to get behind independent films.”
