'I Mortgaged My Home': Jennifer Esposito Recalls Difficulties She Faced in Making Her Directorial Debut Fresh Kills

Jennifer Esposito appeared on Live with Kelly and Mark on July 3, 2024, where she opened up about the setbacks and issues she faced while making her cherished directorial debut, Fresh Kills. Read on.

By Sweta Choudhury

Published on Jul 05, 2024 | 12:22 PM IST | 66.6K

A still from Fresh KIll's official trailer - YouTube

Jennifer Esposito was up close and personal as she shared details about her difficulties while making her directorial debut Fresh Kills. The writer, director, and star of the recently released film appeared on Live with Kelly and Mark on July 3, where she admitted that she produced and paid for most of the film. "I mortgaged my home," she added.

Furthermore, the star revealed that she was determined to make the movie at any cost and kept returning to the script whenever she hit a roadblock. “No one wanted to make it. I couldn’t even get people to read it. And then when [they] did read it, it was like, ‘We’ll give you $5 million if you cast it with a big-name man. Because females don’t sell movies.’” she added.

Jennifer Esposito talks about the inspiration behind the film, Fresh Kills

Fresh Kills is the first film in the mafia genre through the point of view of the women. Esposito added that born in Brooklyn but raised in Staten Island, she came across many angry women whose families were surrounded by crime. This inspired her to make it a women-centric film.

The film was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2023. Later that year it was shown at the Red Sea International Film Festival. It was released in the United States on June 14, 2024, and is also available to purchase on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

More on Fresh Kills

The name of the film is derived from the Middle Dutch word kille, meaning riverbed or water channel. In fact, as per Daily Beast, for a great long time, Staten Island’s largest claim to fame was the Fresh Kills landfill, where the garbage of the most important city in the world was sent to rot.

Set in Staten Island, the new drama directed by Jennifer Esposito isn't one of those typical crime stories, It’s one of the summer’s biggest movie surprises. The plot revolves around Francine, a woman who is married into a Brooklyn organized crime family set in 1980's backdrop. They have just moved to the more spacious surroundings of Staten Island. However, for her and her daughters Rose and Connie, the effect of the mafia remains ever-present.

The film received mostly positive reviews, especially as a directorial debut it has been considered pretty good. from the hairstyles to the sofas to the music coming out of the cars every detail seemed on point as Esposito has lived every bit of it herself.

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