Jennifer Esposito said on Instagram Friday that she had to move out of the home she had mortgaged to finance her directorial debut, “Fresh Kills.”
“Yeah, I look terrible right now because I’m crying because I left the house I mortgaged to make the movie,” the actor said in a self-video.
Esposito continued, “And you can’t just throw back at the people who are getting attention right now and say, ‘Hey, watch this movie.'” I said to myself: No one owes anyone anything. ‘ And I thought, are we human? Perhaps that’s why we are facing this problem now. In fact, I think we owe each other something. We owe each other human decency. ”
During the press tour for 2024’s “Fresh Kills,” Esposito told KTLA that her passion for the project led her to mortgage her home.
“This town has been telling me for years what I can and can’t be. I just got stuck in it 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 because the mortgage is paid off? Or am I going to be so happy because I’ve given myself the opportunity that I’ve been waiting for for so long? So I thought, yeah.”
Fresh Kills, which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023, is an indie drama set in the late 1980s and early 1990s about two sisters (Odessa Azion and Emily Bader) whose mother (Esposito) tries to keep their family together while their mafia boss father (Domenic Lombardozzi) goes to prison. Esposito told Variety in 2023 that the script had been “percolating and marinating” since she was 16, calling the film “in[her]heart,” adding that she always said, “I don’t think I’ll die if I don’t do this,” referring to the making of “Fresh Kills.”
Fans of the film and industry insiders expressed their support for Esposito in the comments section of her Instagram post.
Don Cheadle said, “Come on over here, kid! Check out Jennifer’s movies. She risked it all. A true artist in search of truth!”
Debra Messing chimed in, adding, “Jen, my heart hurts for you. Your movie was amazing and I should have seen it. The fact that you have to leave home to share your art with the world is upsetting. Sending you love, strength, and gratitude.”
Jerry O’Connell added: “I’m so sorry, Jen. I’ll be watching. Promise!”
In a new post on Wednesday, Esposito expressed gratitude for the support and goodwill he has received since announcing the news, and clarified that his home was not foreclosed on by the bank, but instead was sold to pay off his mortgage. She also revealed that she is currently crowdfunding her new movie, “Mary Takes the F Train.”
“It’s never wrong to bet on yourself,” Esposito said in a new video. “I wish art could be seen for art’s sake and valued based on its merits. That’s why it’s so important to support independent films.”
