Though having plenty of history before Francis Ford Coppola’s classic, The Godfather trilogy notably popularized the mafia genre for decades to come, with subsequent filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma keeping the genre alive and well. One of the biggest things the majority of these movies have been missing is a proper female perspective, which Esposito pulled from her own past in order to “flip the tables” on the genre:

Jennifer Esposito: Well, I grew up around families like this, seeing this, running from girls like Odessa [‘s character] Connie. It always stayed with me, like, “Why are they so angry?” The violence that I grew up around from the women was something that I really couldn’t explain, it was a lot more brutal than that of the guys, and it really did stay with me. So, it was all the way back then, and I had always wanted to be a filmmaker. I didn’t know what that actually meant when I was a kid, but I clock a lot of things, so I clocked it from back then.

And then, as I got out into the world and started my career and just being female, and then told in the business, “I was too this, I was too that, not enough of this, not this enough, not that enough,” I remember feeling a familiar rage that I saw in these young women as my own. And I thought, “Well, I thought they were just angry about their fathers being in the mafia, but actually, that wasn’t it.” It was about being trapped into a spot you didn’t choose, so they were born into this lifestyle, and that rage was something I understood, it’s something I started to understand.

Whether it’s generational trauma that you’re breaking, or abuse, or whatever it is that you’re born into, “Do you have the ability to get out of that and change that?” And that’s really the question of the movie, but it was also being an Italian-American and seeing mafia film after mafia film after mafia film, and they’re still making more mafia films, which, God bless, people love them, great. But we have never seen the story through the female’s point of view. Never.

And I thought, “Why is that?” These women, you usually see in these movies a woman comes in, and you’ll see her arm put something on the table, the guys all sitting doing business, or you’ll see some woman on the pole in the background, naked and dancing. [Chuckles] But you really never see it through her lens, and I just thought it was time to flip the tables a little bit.

Fresh Kills‘ Casting Process Was “Crazy” (But A’zion Was An Immediate Hiring For Esposito)

With Esposito putting so much of herself into writing both Rose and Connie, the casting process for Fresh Kills proved to be a “crazy” challenge for Esposito, recalling her concerns while writing the script about finding someone who could capture the “frightening” side of both. In looking at Bader and A’zion, the filmmaker recalls her unique meeting with the latter, which led to her landing the job “right there“:

Jennifer Esposito: Crazy. I knew when I wrote this, I was like, “Who on Earth is going to capture these girls that were frightening?” And I would try and tell my casting director, who was great, “Sweet in Staten Island is very different than sweet in like, Ohio. It’s a very different thing.” So, even Emily had to have this thing underneath, and what I always would tell the actresses is that, “You’re always afraid, and that’s how I grew up, always afraid.” And then with Odessa — the women, they’re just brilliant — a friend of mine knew that I was struggling. Again, wonderful actresses came in, but that kind of rage, you need to understand that from somewhere in your own world or psyche, or something needs to really hit that honestly to be able to portray that.

A friend of mine called me, and she said, “You have to watch this kid on some show,” and I went, and I thought I was gonna watch an episode, and I watched the whole thing, and by the end of the thing, I was like, “That’s her, I need a meeting with her immediately.” Great story, I met Odessa on Zoom. She was late to the meeting, she popped in and literally like this [jumps in from off-camera], “What the f–k, this script is great!” And I was like, “Oh my god, that’s Connie.” I was like, “That’s her,” and I literally gave her the job right there. And she was like, “Are you serious?” And I said, “Yes, I’m dead serious.” So, it was a journey to get them, but they’re brilliant.

Esposito Is Always Heartwarmed By Blue Bloods‘ Fandom (& Thinks The Show Is Ending At The Right Time)

In spite of leaving the show in 2012, Blue Bloods‘ Jackie remains one of Esposito’s best-known roles, with fans frequently approaching the star to express their admiration for her and their hopes for her return. Though she acknowledges some initial confusion at why viewers continue to ask over a decade later, she notes that it “really warms my heart” that people still approach her about the show, and feels that the team are “smart to end it now“:

Jennifer Esposito: Everything has to come to an end, and I think they’re smart to end it now, it’s been a long time. I had some great times, of course, I had some not fun times. But, I love Donnie, I met some great people there, and honestly, the fans — I still get asked, “Are you gonna go back to Blue Bloods?!” And it’s like, “That’s, like, 10 years ago!” [Chuckles] That really warms my heart, so I couldn’t be mad at it. It was nice to go back.

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