Few television dramas have generated the kind of lasting fascination that Breaking Bad has. Beyond Walter White’s transformation from chemistry teacher to drug kingpin, the series produced its own collection of remarkable behind-the-scenes stories, from casting battles and on-set injuries to scientific advisers and scenes that succeeded through sheer luck.
Here are some of the most fascinating facts from the making of Breaking Bad.
1. Breaking Bad was originally going to be set in California
Vince Gilligan initially planned to set the story in Riverside, California. Sony suggested New Mexico because of its production incentives, and Albuquerque eventually became inseparable from the series. Its proximity to the Mexican border even influenced later storylines.
2. Breaking Bad helped turn Albuquerque into a television tourism destination
Fans began travelling to locations associated with the series, including Walter White’s house, Saul Goodman’s office and Twisters, the restaurant used for Los Pollos Hermanos.
3. Walter White’s filming location was listed for $4 million
Years of attention from tourists, including visitors taking rocks and throwing pizzas onto the roof, became frustrating for the owners of the three-bedroom Albuquerque property.
4. Several major networks rejected Breaking Bad
HBO, Showtime, TNT and FX all passed on the series before it found a home at AMC.
5. HBO gave Vince Gilligan a particularly miserable pitch meeting
Gilligan later described his HBO meeting as one of the worst pitches of his career, saying the executive hearing it showed virtually no interest.
6. Matthew Broderick and John Cusack were considered for Walter White
AMC was initially hesitant about Bryan Cranston because audiences strongly associated him with comedy.
7. The X-Files helped Cranston win the role
Gilligan had previously worked with Cranston on The X-Files. He used the actor’s performance there to convince executives that Cranston could be dramatic, frightening and sympathetic.
8. A story about someone cooking meth in an RV helped spark the premise
Writer Tom Schnauz mentioned a news article involving a man cooking methamphetamine inside an RV. The image stayed with Gilligan and helped inspire what became Breaking Bad.
9. The Japanese film Ikiru also influenced Gilligan
Gilligan cited Ikiru, which follows a man confronting a cancer diagnosis, as another creative influence on the series.
10. Heisenberg was named after a Nobel Prize-winning physicist
Walter White’s criminal alias is a reference to German physicist Werner Heisenberg, who developed the uncertainty principle.
11. Jesse Pinkman was originally supposed to die
Aaron Paul’s character was not initially intended to survive the first season.
12. The writers’ strike did not actually save Jesse
Gilligan later clarified that the creative team had realised by the second episode that killing Jesse would be a major mistake because of Paul’s performance.
13. The writers’ strike still changed Walter White’s transformation
The shortened first season forced two planned episodes to be abandoned. Those episodes would have pushed Walter toward Heisenberg much faster and more violently.
14. The DEA advised the production
DEA chemists worked as consultants and helped Cranston and Paul understand the drug-manufacturing process so their performances could appear convincing.
15. A chemistry professor corrected the show’s laboratory work
Cranston consulted the head of USC’s chemistry department, who noticed that some equipment was being used incorrectly. The production made changes after receiving the feedback.
16. The chemistry was deliberately prevented from becoming a working recipe
Science adviser Donna Nelson said essential details were intentionally omitted so viewers could not simply copy the process shown on television.
17. Walter White’s meth would not really be blue
Nelson said actual methamphetamine would be colourless rather than Walter’s distinctive blue.
18. The blue crystals on screen were rock candy
The famous prop came from The Candy Lady, an Albuquerque confectioner.
19. MythBusters tested the bathtub scene and found a different result
The programme tested hydrofluoric acid on pig tissue. It did not destroy the body, bathtub and surrounding structure in the dramatic way depicted in Breaking Bad.
20. Cranston landed the famous pizza throw on his first attempt
The production had reserved considerable time for Walter tossing a pizza onto his roof, but Cranston nailed the shot in one take.
21. The writers even explained why the pizza was unsliced
After anticipating that observant viewers would question it, the show introduced dialogue explaining that the fictional pizza shop deliberately did not cut its pizzas.
22. Fans kept throwing pizzas onto the real house
The behaviour became so persistent that Gilligan publicly asked viewers to stop doing it.
23. Gus Fring was originally a much smaller character
Giancarlo Esposito initially joined for a limited appearance, but negotiations and the character’s impact led to a significantly expanded role.
24. Edward James Olmos helped inspire Esposito’s Gus Fring
Esposito drew on Olmos’s understated portrayal of Lieutenant Martin Castillo in Miami Vice when developing Gus’s restrained manner.
25. The Walking Dead effects team helped create Gus Fring’s final look
Prosthetic specialists associated with The Walking Dead contributed to the gruesome effect, which was then combined with digital work.
26. Samuel L. Jackson wanted a Nick Fury cameo
While The Avengers was being filmed in New Mexico, Jackson wanted to enter Los Pollos Hermanos dressed as Nick Fury, order a three-piece meal and leave. The proposed cameo did not happen.
27. SaveWalterWhite.com became a real website
AMC created the fundraising website seen in the series, extending Walt Jr.’s fictional attempt to raise money for his father into the real world.
28. Aaron Paul suffered a real concussion while filming
During Jesse’s confrontation with Tuco, Paul was injured after going through a wooden screen door. He was knocked unconscious and later taken to hospital. The take in which he was injured appeared in the episode.
29. Jane’s death was Aaron Paul’s hardest scene
Paul said filming Jesse waking to discover Jane dead was particularly difficult because of the emotional state he had to inhabit.
30. The same sequence reduced Cranston to tears
Cranston said he imagined his own daughter while watching Krysten Ritter perform Jane’s death and described himself as a “weeping mess” after the scene.
31. Mike Ehrmantraut’s final scene was emotional for the crew
Jonathan Banks recalled crew members wearing black armbands on the day his final sequence was filmed.
32. Gilligan had one unusual regret about Jesse
Looking back, he felt Jesse’s teeth remained far too perfect considering the character’s drug use and repeated beatings.
33. Jesse said “bitch” 54 times, according to one count
The word became synonymous with Jesse Pinkman, although one tally put its use at 54 times across the entire series.
34. Aaron Paul even released a Yo, Bitch app
The actor launched the app in 2014, playing on the phrase so closely associated with his character.
35. Walter White’s car-wash boss was played by a real scientist
Marius Stan, who played Bogdan, holds a PhD in chemistry and worked as a computational energy scientist. Breaking Bad was also his acting debut.
36. Heisenberg’s famous hat began because Cranston’s head was cold
After shaving his head, Cranston repeatedly asked for a hat. Costume designer Kathleen Detoro said the practical request eventually became part of Walter’s transformation into Heisenberg.
37. Marie’s obsession with purple was intentional
Gilligan said Marie associated purple with royalty. Colour was regularly used to reflect characters’ states of mind, while Walter’s surname, White, was linked to blandness.
38. Bryan Cranston permanently marked the end of the series
On the final day of filming, Cranston had the show’s Br/Ba logo tattooed on the inside of his right ring finger.
39. Aaron Paul left the set with some extraordinary souvenirs
Paul said he kept Gus Fring’s faux severed head, the licence plate from Jesse’s first car and a Heisenberg hat.
40. Warren Buffett was a Breaking Bad fan
Buffett attended the fifth-season premiere and praised Walter White’s business instincts, calling him a great businessman.
41. Breaking Bad ended with 62 episodes
The number has an intriguing chemistry connection: samarium is element 62 on the periodic table and has medical uses that include the treatment of pain associated with some cancers.
42. One published count put the series’ death toll at 270
The figure reflects just how deadly Walter White’s five-season journey became.
43. A real man named Walter White appeared on a meth-related wanted list
A 55-year-old Walter White was reported among Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s most wanted in connection with manufacturing and selling methamphetamine.
44. Other real cases produced similarly strange parallels
The reporting also cited a chemistry teacher arrested for selling meth and a 74-year-old mathematics professor accused of operating a meth lab.
45. A Breaking Bad film was once produced under the working title Greenbrier
In 2018, the project was reported under the secretive working title Greenbrier, with a logline involving the escape of a kidnapped man. El Camino ultimately continued Jesse Pinkman’s story after the series.
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