(Was that freedom blinking in the distance or just a cavalcade of cop cars?
)Breaking Badoverlord Vince Gilligan didnt think you would, either.
Oh, and it’s possible for you to thank Gilligans girlfriend for Jesse not winding up in prison.
Ben Rothstein/Netflix
When did curiosity start to re-enter the picture for you?
Im a bigger liar.
[Laughs] Youre right.
Netflix
Really, in my heart I thought that the story was told with the final 62nd episode ofBreaking Bad.
Because thats no easy feat!
And what if he didnt get away?
JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images
What if he got busted right around the next corner?
I even played with telling that story in a movie.
You cannot go that route.
And I said, Okay.
All right, honey.
But basically, over the years it started to percolate in my brain.
And I figured, Why not to do this as a movie?
I think there was going to be this component where he couldnt sleep.
He wouldnt get a single night sleep for a week or so upon escaping.
The police are looking for him and hes too haunted and hes too adrenaline-charged.
And I thought, Ah, thatd be kind of cool.
People will tar and feather you!
Im glad I listened to them.
Im glad I wound up doing it the way I did it.
The flashbacks inEl Caminoallow us to spend time with key departed characters.
We were fascinated by his character and for my taste, we did not get enough Todd inBreaking Bad.
I have to addthatas a reason why I really was interested in doing this movie.
Todd kind of snuck up on all of us writers.
He is a character quite unlike any Ive ever seen in a movie.
Its become such a trope.
But then hell instantly forget about it.
Hes just a fascinating character.
Hes the most weirdly likable sociopath that Ive ever seen.
And luckily, we were able to do that with this movie.
More on Todd in a bit.
Looking at the genesis ofEl Camino, you initially imagined this as something smaller at first, right?
And I started to think, Weve got to do something special.
I was talking to Sony at that point: What can we do?
The skys the limit.
Lets have fun with it.
And I thought that that could possibly culminate in a 63rd episode, so to speak.
Its not a literal thing.
Maybe its a five-minute or 10-minute little mini-sode of Jesse getting away.
Or maybe it is.
Maybe its 48 minutes long or an hourlong.
But then a couple things happened.
Why not just do it as a movie?
He said to me, I dont think you should think of it as 63.
You want to get that thought out of your head.
I said, Why?
They were as complete as we could make them.
Lets not tempt fate.
Lets not tell the world that there was anything missing from that.Breaking Badreally was Walter Whites story.
This is something else.
This is Jesse Pinkmans story and it didnt really belong necessarily inBreaking Bad.
So lets not tell people that it did.
And I think he was exactly right.
Thats when I started thinking of it asEl Caminoinstead.
I love that theyre sort of the 21st century version of Laurel and Hardy.
Theres always some annoyance and some pestering and some smack talk.
Its arguable, but I think this mightve been it.
What kind of measures did you employ to ensure the secrecy of that scene?
I heard the diner was populated with crew members instead of professional extras….Oh my God.
[Laughs] Good grief!
We were in the right state for it, now that I think of it.
And all credit to my producers and to our crew.
They booked a private jet to fly Bryan Cranston in.
And he figured it out.
He said, I can do it.
He was very gung-ho, and thank God for that, because he must have been exhausted.
From door to door, he had 36 hours.
So he got flown out on a private jet, arrived in Albuquerque at the airport.
They had him surrounded with people with umbrellas.
And by the way, we were using the RV that you’re able to tour Albuquerque in.
What are you doing?
Aw, were just shooting a commercial for the tour.
You should really take it.
Its a lot of fun!
But even in the midst of that, it felt very wistful.
It felt very bittersweet.
But this felt different somehow.
But somehow watching them play it here, in the movie, felt more finite or definitive.
It felt more like an ending.
Aaron, at that point, had been playing Jesse for months on end in the movie.
I barely gave them any direction at all that day.
I just watched them and enjoyed watching them.
I didnt have to do much.
After they talk about Jesses future, Walt says,Youre really lucky, you know that?
That you didnt have to wait your whole life to do something special.
Youre starting to see his warped Heisenberg viewpoint really forming there.
What did that line of dialogue mean to you?I have Melissa Bernstein to thank for that.
That was her idea to button the scene with a poignant moment like that.
It was pretty much everything in that same now except without that ending.
And when she read the script, she said, Well, arent we missing something here?
Whats the point of the scene, ultimately?
And I said, Like what?
She said, Well, how does it relate back to the larger movie?
What does Jesse learn from it?
Because in my mind, this movie is about Jesse transforming from a boy to a man.
Its about him growing up and becoming an adult.
What does he learn here in this scene that helps him along on that journey?
And we thought about it and finally, we came up with that line.
And youre right, its kind of a compliment, but its a twisted one at that.
More than anything, it gives us this glimpse into Walter Whites mind.
And really, it allows for this wonderful reaction on Jesses part, and Aaron plays it beautifully.
Aarons reaction to the line is really what buttons the scene and what makes it what it is.
It gives it a point.
It gives the whole thing shape.
Its his silent reaction of, Oh my God, you think this is greatness?
And that leads us into the final scene of him becoming a different person.
Hes no longer in the next scene Jesse Pinkman; hes someone named Mr. Driscoll.
But then I realized thats the problem: theyreWalter Whitesfamily, and this is not Walter Whites story.
This is Jesse Pinkmans story.
And you only have two hours or less.
Netflix was wonderful to me.
They probably wouldve given me three hours if I had asked for it.
Walter Whites story ended withBreaking Bad.
Jesse was so trained and broken and beaten down that he submitted to Todds will.
And he wanted some more cigarettes.
I dont think he was testing Jesse at all.
And I think that gun was loaded.
Jesse could have emptied the entire magazine in Todds face if he had wanted to.
I wondered about that scene, how its going to play for people.
Hes not a coward.
Hes a broken man.
Then what does Jesse do?
Whats going to happen to this little boy?
Is Jesse going to be on the run for the rest of his life?
But hes not Rambo.
As we talked about, he was always a reluctant killer.
Jesse could have robbed someone else with no blood spill.
But once he goes into that welding shop, I think its complicated.
I think hes out for revenge.Let me scratch that.
I think hes exorcising demons.
Its not going to be a completely happy ending.
I mean, how could it be?
He just didnt give a s; he doesnt care.
And a guy like that needs to get some comeuppance in a movie.
Why did you decide to deliver so directly on that?
You hid the ending to the movie in plain sight!
[Laughs] Its about process.
You want to see how youre going make that transit from A to B to C and so on.
And thats really what this was about.
It was a pleasant surprise to see Jane pop up and not convulsing in vomit.
He said, I think that I would love to see Jane in this movie.
I said, Yeah, I love Jane too, but I mean, she doesnt really fit.
And he says, Well, Id find a way.
And maybe at the end of the movie, where it would mean the most of the audience.
And for a week or two, I kicked it around and I thought, You know what?
Im probably not going to do that because he doesnt understand what Im up against.
It wasnt for me lacking interest or desire in seeing Kristen Ritter again working with her again.
Shes one of the most charming and wonderful people in the world.
But I just didnt know how to do it.
And then Peter helped me figure it out.
It was a great scene and she was wonderful, as always in it.
They were just as charming and as cute together as they ever were.
Emotionally, the movie has ended and we need to cut to the end credits.
And damned if he wasnt right, too.
Having said that, I have surprised myself in the past, clearly.
I hope I havent at this point.
Its a tempting thing to overstay your welcome when youre having a good time at the party.
I dont want to be that guy.
Im really starting to think, God, I better see if I got anything else in me here.
Id better see if I can come up with another story.
