Warning: This post contains spoilers forEl Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.
Jesse Pinkman rides again, figuratively and literally.
(Jesse also finally metthe disappearer, Ed, played by Robert Forster.
Ben Rothstein/Netflix
The 78-year-old actor died on Friday following a battle with brain cancer.
A true gentleman that loved to act.
I love you my friend.
Thank you for loving me.
You are and always will be a legend.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:Breaking Badended quite definitively six years ago, yet here we are with another adventure.
What was your first reaction when Vince pitched you on the idea of reviving Jesse Pinkman?
AARON PAUL:
In all honesty, it was shock, first of all.
But right after the shock it was just nothing but an enthusiastic yes.
Thats how much I trust Vince.
Yes, I think the wayBreaking Badended was perfect.
I think the show is perfect.
He just nailed it.
With that said, if Vince wants to continue this story, hes doing it for a reason.
He doesnt want to mess with his legacy.
Theres a legacy for him to uphold here withBreaking Bad.
And hes the last person that wants to tarnish that.
He told me in the first call, Look, I dont want to do this unless its perfect.
Theres no reason for me to.
And then seven months later, he finished the script and he told me, Its pretty damn good.
[Laughs] So I trusted him.
You used to live and breathe this character during the shows run.
What do you remember about that first day of slipping on that skin again after all these years?
I walked on set.
Matt Jones and Charles Baker were there.
And it was veryodd.
It was a very strange day for all of us, including the crew, including Vince.
But it was so beautiful.
It was a family reunion, jumping into characters that completely changed all of our lives.
Its pretty surreal, man.
It was so nice to be able to play Jesse in his happier days.
He was still very much in love with Jane.
It was before heroin came into the mix.
It was a simpler time.
It was really such a blessing.
There were not half butfullmeasures of secrecy employed to keepthis Walt-Jesse scenea secret.
Did it feel like an undercover mission?
It was pretty great.
I also thought thatmaybethose clothes drew a lot more attention to us?
[Laughs] But I dont know.
Obviously, it worked.
Obviously, we were never seen out in public together.
I couldnt go and hang out with Matt or Charles.
I could only see them on set.
But for me that was the easiest part to keep it a secret.
I mean, I love throwing surprises.
I love surprising my wife.
I love lying to people in an innocent way.
And this was just that on a big scale.
Is it true that the customers in the diner were crew members?
One hundred percent of those people were crew members or family of crew members.
We needed that diner to be filled with people who we could trust to not leak this information.
And also just to be a part of it, you know?
We wanted to be surrounded by loved ones, to be a part of this really cool day.
The day Bryan came on set with that bald cap and those loafers and that classic Mr. White outfit.
It was pretty cool to be a part of that.
Was that something you had always hoped to explore more during season 5?
We didnt get enough of Jesse in his days of meth captivity…
Yeah.
I was so happy to see that dynamic in the film.
I was always so curious what really went on when he was in that hole.
We definitely got a glimpse of that during this story.
Its a pretty messed-up thing that he was dealing with for a long time.
I loved seeing more of Todd.
I mean, I love just being creeped out and hating Todd, you know?
Yeah, its pretty wild, man.
I was hoping so.
I guess I just know this guy so well, you know?
So I was very pleased to see that he ran off into the final frontier.
As Mike tells him, though, he can never put things right.
I mean, hes done such terrible things.
But he has been through hell and back multiple times, so I dont know.
He still is paying for those sins.
I dont think its going to be as easy as a road that we might think.
I think hes still got a quite bumpy road ahead of him.
Does the woodworking business take hold?
What does his life in Alaska look like, in your mind?
I think hes going to keep his nose clean.
He has quite a bit of cash on hand.
And hes going to live a very modest lifestyle.
Hes moving to a very small place in Alaska, so he doesnt need all that much money.
Or was it unfinished business?
Or, as Vince says, was he exorcising demons?
He is suffering from PTSD…
Honestly, I think a little bit of all of the above.
[Kandy] was responsible for a part of his captivity.
So this is Jesses opportunity to just rid the planet of a very evil person.
And it was a way for him to get some sort of vengeance.
But he also gave him a way out.
Hes like, Look, Im not asking for all of your money.
Im just asking for $1800.
And then hes out.
And that is it.
And he was ready for it.
I thought it was such a beautiful way to end this film.
And thats exactly what he did at the ending of this movie.
I just thought it was such a beautiful way to move this story forward.
There was a longer Jane scene that didnt make the cut.
What do you remember about shooting that scene?
We gotta get you out of your car.
And then it cuts into what was left [in the film].
That letter to Brock was the very first thing that Vince wrote when writing this script.
Once he completed that letter, he started the script.
But Vince just thought, You know what?
Maybe its best left unknown.
And we dont need it.
But I love knowing what was in the letter.
Can you share even a line from that letter?
[Laughs]
Come on!
I swore to Vince that I would never share what was in that letter.
But… [Jesse] just could not be more open and honest.
Its just really him saying, Im sorry, and thats it.
When,ifhes ever even able to read it.
Did makingEl Caminoprovide evenmoreclosure than what you had before, when you had closure?
Or does it rekindle the flame enough that youd consider doing another movie down the road?
Its honestly the same sort of closure that I forced myself to create for him.
But just much more layered.
I always hoped that he would find himself in the middle of Alaska, and now he is.
But it did just get me excited, obviously, to work with Vince again.
[Laughs] If Vince asked me to jump ontoSaul, I would do it in a heartbeat.
And I would know its for very good reasons.
We dont want to just throw you in a scene that doesnt make sense.
[Laughs]
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