“It just hit me”: the ‘Breaking Bad’ scene Bryan Cranston found difficult to film
Playing Walter White forced Bryan Cranston to go to some seriously dark places, but the results can’t be argued with when Breaking Bad is firmly cemented as one of the greatest TV shows ever made.
John Cusack and Matthew Broderick’s loss proved to be Cranston’s gain in a major way, with the questions asked over the affable dad from Malcolm in the Middle being cast as a terminally ill science teacher who turns to the drug business to secure his family’s future being blown away in an instant.
The transformation from mild-mannered educator to ruthless kingpin was a slow-burning one, but once Walt crossed the line, there was no turning back. Vince Gilligan can’t wrap his head around the opinion that the protagonist is a tragic antihero, with the creator and showrunner who steered the ship for five seasons and 62 episodes repeatedly voicing his belief that he’s the villain of the entire piece.
There was one moment in particular that pushed Walt to the point of no return, though, and it was the second season’s penultimate episode ‘Phoenix’. Growing increasingly frustrated with Aaron Paul’s Jesse succumbing to drug addiction alongside Krysten Ritter’s Jane Margolis, he makes a decision that alters him foundationally as a person.
Deciding to try and talk Jesse out of his heroin reliance, he instead discovers the pair passed out in bed. However, when Jane rolls over and starts to choke on her vomit, Walt decides to stand there and watch her die. He’s clearly and instantly wracked with guilt and emotion, but still, he could have saved her life had he wanted to.
Reflecting on shooting the scene, Cranston shared how “my real daughter’s face took her place, so it just hit me.” Ritter was equally affected, explaining to Entertainment Weekly that once her character had taken her dying breaths, her scene partner was left visibly emotional when the cameras stopped rolling
“It wasn’t really until we were shooting it that the whole death around the character hit me. So, I knew I was gonna die. I’m reading the script, I’m like, ‘Cool, rock and roll, she dies. So fun!,'” she said. “But then you’re doing it, you’re in this death makeup; they built a cast for my chest so that Aaron Paul can really be pounding on my chest. And then Bryan, after the take, you just see him sitting quietly in the corner. It was intense, and I will never forget it.”
It’s one of the most unforgettable and shocking moments in Breaking Bad, not to mention the exact moment it becomes clear beyond any reasonable doubt that no matter where the story goes from that point forward, redemption simply isn’t on the cards for Walt under any circumstances.
