Bryan Cranston has opened up about his experience filming one of the most iconic - and tragic - scenes in Breaking Bad, and the deep emotional impact it had on him personally. Cranston starred as Walter White in all five seasons of the AMC series, with Aaron Paul co-starring as White's partner-in-crime Jesse Pinkman. Other actors to feature prominently in the series included Krysten Ritter, Giancarlo Esposito, and Bob Odenkirk. Originally airing from 2008 to 2013, over which time it won 16 Primetime Emmys, the series told the story of a high school chemistry teacher who becomes a drug baron following a cancer diagnosis.
Cranston opened up about his time on the iconic crime drama during a guest appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show. In particular, he recalled the famous moment from Breaking Bad season 2 in which Walter chooses to let Jesse's girlfriend Jane Margolis (played by Ritter) choke to death.
The scene is widely considered to be one of the most powerful and heartbreaking in the entire series, and a pivotal step forward in Walter's dark journey. Check out Cranston's emotional recollection below:
"I did a scene on Breaking Bad where I was watching a woman die in the second season, and [despite] being prepared for that, all of a sudden, her face left and the face of my real daughter showed up, and I was watching my real daughter die. It choked me. I’m even getting a little choked up now. For about two or three seconds, I saw my daughter’s face and I [gasps], it choked me up, and that went away and Krysten Ritter’s face came back, and there she was, and it was like, 'Oh my god.' It is an emotional risk that actors go through, we have to put ourselves in a position of vulnerability for that to possibly happen, because you’re willing to go into the unknown."
How Jane's Death Was A Key Point In Walter's Story
Jane's tragic departure from Breaking Bad was a major threshold for Walter in discovering the lengths he was willing to go to protect his own self-interest. Although Walter had already taken the lives of drug dealers Emilio and Krazy-8 by this point in the series, both in situations where his own survival was at stake, Jane was not a part of any criminal underworld beyond simply being a drug user. In effect, Jane is Walter's first 'civilian casualty' on Breaking Bad.
However, Jane had previously threatened to expose his criminal activity if he did not release Jesse's share of the profits from a major drug deal they had secured (a deal that had forced Walter to miss the birth of his daughter). In choosing not to save her from choking, Walter removed a complication from his drug operation, one that not only threatened his own financial interests but, in his view, was distracting his business partner from their work. Walter's decision would go on to hang over the rest of the show, waiting until the final season's iconic episode, "Ozymandias", before revealing to Jesse the truth of Jane's death.
What's Next For The Breaking Bad Franchise
Since Breaking Bad concluded in 2013, its nefarious New Mexico world has lived on through a number of different projects, most prominently the spinoff series Better Call Saul which acts as both a prequel and sequel to the original (and which has received similar critical acclaim). In 2019, the Netflix film El Camino was released as a continuation of Jesse's story. Vince Gilligan, the creator of all three productions, has said that while he won't rule out another return to this universe of storytelling, currently he is focused on other projects.
Source: The Kelly Clarkson Show