Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston walks back his earlier comments about retiring the character of Walter White, suggesting that it’s still possible he could play the role again in the future. First airing in 2008 on AMC, creator Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad ran for five critically-acclaimed seasons before coming to an end in 2013. Since the show’s conclusion, both Cranston and Jesse Pinkman actor Aaron Paul have returned to their respective roles for El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, cameos in Better Call Saul, and for a PopCorners Super Bowl ad.
After suggesting earlier this year that he was done playing Breaking Bad‘s Walt for good, Cranston now reveals in an interview with Awards Radar that he would consider reprising the role again. The actor makes clear, however, that there’s a pretty high bar that would need to be met for that to happen. Check out Cranston’s full comment or watch the video interview below (relevant section begins at 37:51):
“I never underestimate Vince Gilligan. I thought when we were saying like on April 3, just a little while ago, that 10 years earlier was our last production day on Breaking Bad… 10 years ago. I thought when I was saying my tearful goodbyes to everybody that that was it. Then El Camino came up. ‘Oh, I guess I’m gonna be Walter White again. And then Better Call Saul came up, ‘Oh, I guess I’m gonna be on,”…and then Pop Corners commercial comes up. ‘You guys want to play it together?’ ‘Sure!’ It’s just fun.
“So now I’d be a fool to say, ‘Yeah, we’re done.’ I’ll just leave it at nothing’s on the horizon and I know that Vince would not want to do something where – he doesn’t need a paycheck and neither do I – and so let’s honor that. But IF there was something that he that he woke up from a dream, and went, ‘Oh my God,’ and he pitched me on it, and I too, had the ‘OH MY GOD’ reaction then I’d look at it.
“It’s not often that you get an ‘OH MY GOD’ reaction when you read or hear a pitch. If you’re stunned and astonished by something, you should pay attention. So, if that happens, I don’t assume that will – but if that ever did, I’d listen.”
Should Breaking Bad’s Walter White Return Again?
The Breaking Bad finale is widely regarded as one of the best and most satisfying TV show finales of all time. It was a risk, then, to bring Walt and Jesse back numerous times afterward. There’s always a chance that subsequent appearances, especially after both characters got such great sendoffs in the original show, would take away from their respective endings or tarnish Breaking Bad‘s legacy.
El Camino, however, ended up being a strong continuation of Jesse’s story, giving the character an even more fitting farewell than the original series did, with Cranston’s return further servicing Jesse’s journey. It was a similar story with Better Call Saul. The final few episodes of the spinoff show serve as an epilogue of sorts for Breaking Bad, and Walt and Jesse’s cameos enhance Saul’s (Bob Odenkirk) ending. Even the PopCorners ad was entertaining in its own way.
Walt and Jesse’s returns after Breaking Bad have all been surprisingly effective at best or charming at worst, but it does feel like Cranston’s earlier comments about retiring Walt for good may have been right on the money. The Better Call Saul finale accomplished the seemingly impossible feat of wrapping the story of its main character while also serving as a final note in the larger Breaking Bad saga. That being said, Cranston’s comments about Gilligan do ring true, and if anyone can make another appearance from these iconic characters satisfying, it’s him.
Source: Awards Radar
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
