I’m the first person to say that now is the best time for television that has ever been. But as good as it is, Breaking Bad is still as good as it gets.
It’s been more than a decade since the epic series first aired.
So to celebrate this incredible milestone, here are 10+ Breaking Bad behind the scenes secrets that fans didn’t know!
Vince Gilligan went to bat for Aaron Paul.
Absolutely no one wanted Aaron Paul to be Jesse Pinkman. Even after he screen-tested, the network wouldn’t budge.
In the end, Vince gave them an ultimatum : either Aaron would play Jesse or Vince would walk.
The writer’s strike saved Jesse Pinkman.
In the early drafts of the script, Jesse was supposed to be killed off before the end of season one. When the writers’ strike happened in 2007, everything was abruptly put on pause.
After some reflection, Vince Gilligan concluded that Aaron Paul was just too good to let go of.
Bryan Cranston wasn’t the first choice for Walter White.
He wasn’t the second choice either, for that matter. Initially, the network wanted to cast either John Cusack or Matthew Broderick in the role.
Can you even begin to imagine Ferris Bueller as Heisenberg? I sure can’t.
The science is sound but far from perfect.
That was by design!
Breaking Bad ‘s science consultant, Dr. Donna Nelson explained that the majority of the science seen on the show is accurate, but that the show was never meant or intended to be a science lesson.
Several major networks passed on the show.
Vince Gilligan had a difficult time finding a buyer for Breaking Bad . According to the show’s creator, HBO as well as TNT both not-so-kindly declined.
Vince called it the worst meeting of his life.
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Heisenberg’s Blue Sky was really just rock candy.
The candy was made by a local artisan named The Candy Lady . She has an entire line of Breaking Bad themed sweets that are as delightful as they are delicious.
I’ve heard it can be quite addicting, too.
The image of Hal Wilkerson was difficult to shake.
It’s what gave the network so much pause. They didn’t believe that an audience would be able to disassociate Bryan from his prior comedic roles.
Thank goodness they finally came to their senses!
At first, Giancarlo Esposito didn’t want to play Gus Fring.
Esposito had his fill of doing guest-spots and was anxious to build and develop a character of his own.
He was convinced to take on the part after his manager explained that Breaking Bad was his favorite TV show.
There was a serious amount of goofing-off on set.
As you can tell from the video, the cast was always joking around with one another.
My favorite part has to be when Bryan Cranston threatens to hit Aaron Paul with his Emmy!
There’s a *Breaking Bad* app — sort of.
It turns out that a shocking amount of people dream of Aaron Paul using Jesse’s favorite phrase on them. So what did the actor do? He released an app that does exactly that!
I’m not endorsing you spend your hard-earned money on this but the novelty is tasty.
There are two lost episodes of *Breaking Bad*.
Breaking Bad ‘s first season was always intended to be eight episodes — not six. When the writers’ strike happened, it forced Vince Gilligan to bring things to a conclusion earlier than he’d planned.
As a result, both episodes were completely thrown out .
Aaron Paul had a horrible audition.
You can see clear as day that a very young Aaron Paul is considerably nervous. Not only does he stumble through the majority of the dialogue but he even forgets his lines!
Clearly, Vince Gilligan saw something that no one else could.
The DEA consulted on the show!
Vince Gilligan and the entire production team reached out to the DEA in the hopes that they might want to be a part of the show.
They were incredibly receptive and even sent their own chemists to teach Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul how to cook crystal meth!
Heisenberg was a real person.
Walter White takes his alias Heisenberg from Werner Heisenberg . He was a German-born physicist who put forward monumental work in the field of quantum mechanics.
Heisenberg was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1932.
Die hard fans are still throwing pizza on Walter and Skyler’s roof.
Walt and Skyler’s house isn’t a set — it exists in real life. Over the years it’s become a bit of a pulp tourist attraction.
Vince Gilligan had to make an official statement urging fans to stop throwing pizzas onto the roof!
