One highly anticipated TV-related projects on the deep horizon is definitely Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad movie, which is largely still cloaked in his signature mystery at this point. One of the main theories/rumors floating around is that the crime drama feature would follow the post-finale life of Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman. When asked what he'd want to see from such a project, Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston had a good idea.
I would like to see --- and again I have no idea if this is what [Vince is] thinking about --- I would like to see [Jesse] struggle to break that mold and eventually break out and find his own real true calling. Something that empowered him as a human being, that is on the straight and narrow, that allows him to be able to open up, to let another human being into his life. And be happy. 'Cause I don't sense that he was really ever happy.
Granted, Bryan Cranston didn't delve into specific sequences that he wanted to see, such as "Jesse goes to Omaha to hang out with the mall-working Gene," or "Jesse goes back in time and punches all of Todd's teeth out when they first meet." But Cranston till has a solid thematic through-line for a Jesse-centered movie.
Despite being a meth-abuser and a criminal many times over, Jesse Pinkman still earns audience sympathy for two reasons. One is that Jesse never actually has anything particularly great happen in his life, and many of his negative decisions are forced upon him by others in higher power. So while it's still his fault that he got so caught up in the life, Jesse rarely gets to reap any rewards, facing mostly tragedies like Jane's death and his imprisonment. Which, like Cranston said, kept Jesse on a solo route worth exploring further in a movie.
The other reason that viewers ooze sympathy onto Jesse Pinkman is the person who's playing him. Aaron Paul deserves a big chunk of the credit for keeping fans tuned in as Walter White went over the deep end, and he could help close a chapter on a huge undeveloped plotline that viewers have wondered about for years now.
Speaking with Indiewire about the Breaking Bad movie, Bryan Cranston also praised Aaron Paul for his work as Jesse.
You know, the way Aaron just enveloped that character, or maybe the way Jesse Pinkman enveloped Aaron Paul, he filled him with such humanistic attraction. He just felt like a boy who was lost, and on the cusp of being a man, and missing some guide posts in his life. But --- man --- you fell for him. And I think Vince ended the series the way it was best. Walter White had to die. He was the person that brought upon all this disaster and decay. And Jesse Pinkman was almost kind of an innocent bystander to it, and paid the price for that.
Naturally, fans would also love to see a return to Heisenberg form from Bryan Cranston, even though Walter White is dead by the end of the Breaking Bad finale. The actor doesn't know how it would happen, but he'd be interested in getting back into the role in some way. He did mention that it could happen all in flashbacks, which would create quite the difficult narrative exercise for Vince Gilligan.
Before the Breaking Bad movie news came to light, fans were clamoring to get Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul onto the spinoff prequel Better Call Saul. Both seemed willing to do so, but only within a perfect context. Neither they, nor co-creators Vince Gilligan or Peter Gould, want to see Walt and Jesse back for anything sub-standard. (Even that charity commercial they did together was gold, so they can make any material look great.) But if we have to wait until the movie to see either character's return, at least it's a guarantee, right?
We have lots of questions that need answering when the Breaking Bad movie gets here, even if we don't know where "here" is yet. While waiting to hear more news, head to our fall TV premiere schedule for all the shows that will be airing in the near future.
