Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul reveals he was initially jealous of Better Call Saul when season 1 was made due to the family bonds between its cast. Paul starred in Vince Gilligan's original crime drama as Jesse Pinkman, a crystal meth cook and dealer who is enlisted by his former high school chemistry teacher Walter White to form a major drug operation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Paul's character was originally only set to be killed after the events of season 1, but with his performance receiving rave reviews from both Gilligan and critics, he would be kept for the entirety of the series and Paul would net three Primetime Emmy wins for his work.
Gilligan would reunite with Breaking Bad vet Peter Gould to create Better Call Saul, a prequel series revolving around Bob Odenkirk's titular character exploring his origins as a former scam artist trying to become an honest lawyer, only to slowly make his way back to a life of crime. Though yet to win any of its nominations, Better Call Saul has been critically acclaimed across its six seasons and earned 40 Emmy and four Golden Globe nods. As the Breaking Bad prequel enters its final chapter, fans can look forward to seeing more familiar faces return to the fold.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Aaron Paul opened up about the long-running Breaking Bad universe and its ending prequel series, Better Call Saul. The star revealed he was initially jealous of the latter show when it was first being made as the cast and crew formed their own little family and recalled the fun times had while making the original series. See what Paul shared below:
"Not watching it [wasn't hard], but I remember a lot of the Breaking Bad cast showed up to the season one premiere of Better Call Saul. And so much of the same crew is on Better Call Saul. So it was odd to see everyone come together and celebrate Bob’s [Odenkirk] new show. It was just such a family, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous. We all had the time of our lives out in Albuquerque, shooting Breaking Bad. But it’s just so cool to see what they’ve accomplished with [Better Call Saul], and I feel so blessed to be a very small part of it."
Paul's discussion of being initially jealous of Better Call Saul comes on the heels of the confirmation that both he and Bryan Cranston are reprising their Breaking Bad roles of Jesse and Walt for the show's season 6. The two were initially last seen in the original show's series finale as Walt helped free Jesse from Jack and his white supremacist gang, which seemingly killed off Walt and saw Jesse drive off laughing and crying in hysteria. Paul would return to the franchise for Netflix's El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie which picked up shortly after the events of the series finale and followed Jesse as he sought to escape the police and the demons of his past.
Though Paul was brought back for the Breaking Bad movie, it's understandable he would feel initially jealous of the Better Call Saul cast upon its initial production. As he notes, many of the cast and crew for season 1 were from the original series, namely Jonathan Banks' Mike Ehrmantraut and Raymond Cruz's Tuco Salamanca, with a number of other familiar faces returning as the prequel would continue its run. Luckily for both Paul and Breaking Bad fans, he is getting to reunite with his crime family as Jesse and Walt make their returns sometime in Better Call Saul season 6, which officially kicks off April 18.
Source: THR