the Danger, a.k.a.
(He would go into remission weeks later, only to see the cancer come roaring back later.)
I seem to love to play damaged men, whether its Howard Beale or Walter White or whomever.
Netflix
What was your response?
When Vince Gilligan calls, you just know its going to be something juicy.
And I, too, have received a lot of questions: What happened to Jesse?
Did he get away?
And I go, What doyouthink?, and just put it back on them.
Its all pretty apparent what happened to Walter White.
Im glad that this story wasnt about, Hey, Walter is still alive!
So, the idea of pursuing the next chapter in Jesse Pinkmans world was interesting to me.
And he goes, Yeah, good, good, good!
But youre interested, right?
You would do it?
I go, Yeah, of course Ill do it!
I mean, Vince helped change mylife.
I was very excited to read it.
And Ive completely forgot that I was in it.
and then Jesse exits a motel room and knocks on the room next to him.
And lo and behold, the door answers and theres Walter White.
I went, Oh!
Breaking Badended so well and it endeddefinitively, and the rest of the adventure was left in our head.
Vince indicated that curiosity got the best of him over the years, though.
I think hes going to leave it there.
You were playing Howard Beale inNetworkat the time.
We land in a private section of the Albuquerque airport.
Hes there in his black sedan.
The bags were tossed in the back.
My wife, my assistant Nora is with me, and off we go.
Dennis drops us off at an Airbnb, a modest house.
And this apartment was in the back of a house.Its pitch dark.
We enter through the back.
Its January, its cold.
And theres no one there, not a soul.
My wife and I are dropped off and Dennis says, Of course you cant leave.
[Laughs] And I said, This is amazing!
And so we didnt leave; we were there for the night.
And there was a codename for our characters.
It was so funny.
You should know the code name.
… Bert and Ernie.
[Laughs] Isnt that fun?
It looked good to me in the movie!
But we were sequestered there the entire time.
There were huge black drops blocking everything at the Owl Cafe where we were working that first day.
We did our cafe scene that day and then again, back in the cloak.
Aaron rented a really nice house that was behind a gate.
Even the caterers had to sign NDAs.
The people who were bringing the food and serving it that night had to sign NDAs!
It was very, very tightly knit.
And I worked the next morning, just did that scene in the hallway of the motel.
And then off I went.
The next thing you know, were landing at Teterboro and Im back in Manhattan Tuesday late afternoon.
And it was like, Did that really happen?
Did that just happen?
Did we do that or was that a dream?
[Laughs]
That is crazy.
Your scene with Aaron was a flashback in the time of Four Days Out, following that lucrative cook.
It was a seminal moment in those characters lives.
And they learned a lot.
And this was just a little continuation.
And that was so beautifully done.
I know that sense memory has always been key for you, with his wardrobe.It was.
Anytime you put on a costume, it helps get you to that character.
This was very much the same thing.
It had been six years since we had finished production onBreaking Badwhen we were shooting this.
It was like, We did finish the show, didnt we?
Did I have a sleep?
[Laughs] It was like,Wow.
Yeah, its really, really cool.
And realizing our great good fortune.
You deliver one of the most powerful lines in the movie.
Youre really lucky, you know that?
That you didnt have to wait your whole life to do something special.
And youre seeing his Heisenberg alter ego in its nascent stages.
When I read that script and read that line, I went, Oh, wow.
Thats where he is.
He lost his way.
That was Walter White when we first met him.
But I do believe that every person on this planet is looking for their own personal empowerment.
And thats where Walter White found his in the simple beauty and mathematical equation of chemistry.
And every time there was a potential relationship for these father-son figures, it just went sideways.
Perhaps it was because they didnt have the history with each other.
He wasnt going anywhere.
Thats why Walter was saying, Okay, youve done this.
Youve got enough money.Nowwhat are you going to do?
Where are you going to go?
And the fact that he forgot that he graduated from high school was perfect!
It is Aarons movie.
And I liked that it was his movie.
And then I was able to be a supporting player in that.
Thats what was the appropriate amount.
But if not, then no, Im good!
You and Aaron have such a strong friendship andnow a business partnershipwith Dos Hombres as well.
This was a unique situation forEl Camino, because of the conditions and situation.
But we cant work together.
I think it would be a mistake for us to act together again in something so soon.
I think its time!
Other than that, we have satisfied our desire to be together by doing Dos Hombres.
Were having a great time.
Its flying off the shelves.
Were excited about that.
And we keep expanding and who knows where it all can go.
You all have talked about for years in interviews how you imagined that Jesse escaped to Alaska.
Its been said on the show.
The ending was hiding in plain sight!
Were you surprised that the movie actually delivered on that?No.
In the very beginning of the movie, come on, here it is!
Were saying Alaska, were telling you!
And then when he ends up there, its like, See?
We kind of told you thats where it was going!
[Laughs] I think its very appropriate…. And what a fitting way to say goodbye to a guy who was such a lovely man….
I wrote about him in my book [2016sA Life in Parts].
You having a good time?
1 on the call sheet.
And I know that I took that kind of energy with me to where I am now.
And I know that Robert Forster was at the foundation of learning those lessons.
In your opinion, what made him special as an actor?Bob was great at not forcing anything.
He was comfortable in justbeing.
As I talk to a lot of young actors, the camera will not lie.
It cannot lie.
It will see through to your soul.
So if youretryingto do something, it will recognize that.
Conversely, if youre just thinking about something or feeling something, it will also see that.
And thats what Bob did so well.
And you just dont see it coming.
Its like you dont even know if hes considering it.
Youre kind of left alone, which made Walter even more lonely.
When you cant read the emotions of the person youre with, youre almost alone anyway.
It was very sad.
And he went, Hmm.
It was so weird and so beautifully done.
And without effort, just acknowledging just what happened.
Just a beautiful experience.
Just a silly one-dollar, two-dollar game that all these old actors get together [for].
He had the greatest games and youre just telling stories and jokes and its just a lot of fun.
Hes just a good guy.
Look whos gonna show up onBetter Call Saul!
Its like, Ewww.
Its not going to be that.
If it happens, it happens.
If it doesnt, Im okay.
