In spite of the often dark and grueling material of AMC’s seminal crime drama Breaking Bad, it’s nice to know stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul had a little fun on set — in the former’s case, perhaps a bit too much fun.
During a recent appearance on Sean Evans’ popular Hot Ones series, on which Cranston has previously appeared, Paul relayed a hilarious behind-the-scenes tidbit, a relentless hallmark of production in which his co-star would repeatedly prank him about his character’s death.
“He’s the hardest worker in the room, the most lovable — I mean, he’s my best friend, my son’s godfather, I adore him, I spoke to him for an hour on the phone last night. I really am obsessed with the guy, but he’s also the most immature person I’ve ever met in my life, and I say that with just love and respect,” the Ash star prefaced.
Paul then recalled an instance where The Studio actor came out of the production office and solemnly beckoned him to come over, a seeming harbinger of bad news.
“He goes, ‘Come here, it’s OK,’ and he gives me this long hug,” the Black Mirror actor recounted. “I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ He’s like, ‘At least you go out in a big way, huh?’ And I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He goes, ‘Did you read the latest script?’ I go, ‘No.’ He goes, ‘Oh, well, just read it, and I’m here if you need me.’”
As such, Paul said he “sprinted” into the office and asked to read the script — but upon perusing the final pages, he found his Jesse Pinkman alive and (mostly) well.
“He just made it seem like I died,” he said of his Dos Hombres Mezcal co-founder, “but he would not stop, and he would get everybody in on it, like the costume designers said, ‘Hey we gotta do your measurements for the casket, so if you could stay after work, that would be great.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
In fact, his character was originally scripted to die at the end of Season 1, but the writers opted to keep Jesse alive as a result of Paul’s chemistry with Cranston and the thematic foil his character offers Walter White; his character notably returns in the 2019 film El Camino. Paul certainly had the last laugh, turning to the camera and triumphantly declaring, “But I made it!” (And, as we all know, a certain former teacher of chemistry did not.)
A juggernaut of the prestige television era, Breaking Bad would go on to be nominated for 58 Emmys throughout its five-season run from 2008 through 2013, winning 16 statuettes, including three consecutive wins for Cranston (who also won a fourth as a producer on the show) and three total wins for Paul. The Vince Gilligan-created series also spawned the equally beloved Bob Odenkirk vehicle Better Call Saul, which clinched 53 Emmy nods but did not receive any awards during its run from 2015 to 2022.
Watch Paul’s episode of Hot Ones below:
