8 'Breaking Bad actors on where their characters are now
We asked eight "Breaking Bad" cast members to share their theories about what happened to their characters in the past two years. Not all were optimistic.
Betsy Brandt always wished that Breaking Bad had had a Six Feet Under sort of ending, the kind that leaves absolutely no mystery about the fate of every character.
"I said to the writers of Breaking Bad, 'I want you to do that,'" Brandt, who played Marie Schrader. "'We don't need to shoot it. I just want to read it.'"
Breaking Bad wrapped exactly two years ago, on Sept. 29, 2013, with a finale that left little ambiguity about how Walter White (Bryan Cranston) ended his journey from beleaguered teacher to methamphetamine mastermind. But it left lots of uncertainty about the people in Walt's sphere of chaos — at least, the ones he didn't kill.
One of the biggest questions has been resolved, at least in the mind of Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. He told GQ in November 2013 that as much as he hoped Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) was safe, it was more likely that police would find his fingerprints all over the neo-Nazis' meth lab — "and they’re going to find him within a day or a week or a month.”
But what about Marie? Walter Jr.? Ted Benke? Lydia?
It turns out the actors who played those characters have lots of thoughts on their lives beyond Bad. We asked eight cast members to share their theories — not all of which are optimistic.
-Walt arranged for his son to receive a multimillion-dollar payout in the future. But his son didn't know that when Breaking Bad ended.-
"The family is not okay. He lied. What people don't realize is that it's not just their lives he ruined. It's hundreds of peoples' ... those on the crashed planes ... the family is probably just barely getting by on food stamps. It's so sad."
-Walt informed Lydia by phone that he had slipped ricin into "that Stevia crap that you're always putting in your tea." Did she just give up?-
"Funnily enough, Lydia was saved by the wonderful (if somewhat naïve) emergency unit at her local hospital and is now living a witness protection-like existence in Eastern Europe. Morally bankrupt and at a bit of a loss, she is considering reconnecting with her contacts there in order to head up a new distribution business. Some might call her foolhardy. She does love to walk across the Charles Bridge in a bleak Prague winter, so she may decide to settle there ... Possibly Lydia has been in some kind of psychogenic fugue herself for the last decade, and has disassociated herself from her reality/identity and has created a new one.
"Lydia doesn't trust anyone. As cognitively flexible as she is, she doesn't cope well socially — she feels uncomfortable, so she chooses not to have friends. She adores her daughter and loves being with her, and she gets on very well with her kid's nanny. (Although sadly, the nanny thinks Lydia is a dick.) She lost contact with all family members after a frightening and alienated childhood of violence and a series of group homes.
"Lydia lives under the illusion that the more money she has, the safer she will feel. She takes bigger and bigger risks in the hope that the fear will go away. Unfortunately the opposite has been the case, and the safety she seeks is relentlessly elusive."
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"I said to the writers of Breaking Bad, 'I want you to do that,'" Brandt, who played Marie Schrader. "'We don't need to shoot it. I just want to read it.'"
Breaking Bad wrapped exactly two years ago, on Sept. 29, 2013, with a finale that left little ambiguity about how Walter White (Bryan Cranston) ended his journey from beleaguered teacher to methamphetamine mastermind. But it left lots of uncertainty about the people in Walt's sphere of chaos — at least, the ones he didn't kill.
One of the biggest questions has been resolved, at least in the mind of Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. He told GQ in November 2013 that as much as he hoped Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) was safe, it was more likely that police would find his fingerprints all over the neo-Nazis' meth lab — "and they’re going to find him within a day or a week or a month.”
But what about Marie? Walter Jr.? Ted Benke? Lydia?
It turns out the actors who played those characters have lots of thoughts on their lives beyond Bad. We asked eight cast members to share their theories — not all of which are optimistic.
Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte)
-Walt arranged for his son to receive a multimillion-dollar payout in the future. But his son didn't know that when Breaking Bad ended.-
"The family is not okay. He lied. What people don't realize is that it's not just their lives he ruined. It's hundreds of peoples' ... those on the crashed planes ... the family is probably just barely getting by on food stamps. It's so sad."
Lydia Rodarte-Quale (Laura Fraser)
-Walt informed Lydia by phone that he had slipped ricin into "that Stevia crap that you're always putting in your tea." Did she just give up?-
"Funnily enough, Lydia was saved by the wonderful (if somewhat naïve) emergency unit at her local hospital and is now living a witness protection-like existence in Eastern Europe. Morally bankrupt and at a bit of a loss, she is considering reconnecting with her contacts there in order to head up a new distribution business. Some might call her foolhardy. She does love to walk across the Charles Bridge in a bleak Prague winter, so she may decide to settle there ... Possibly Lydia has been in some kind of psychogenic fugue herself for the last decade, and has disassociated herself from her reality/identity and has created a new one.
"Lydia doesn't trust anyone. As cognitively flexible as she is, she doesn't cope well socially — she feels uncomfortable, so she chooses not to have friends. She adores her daughter and loves being with her, and she gets on very well with her kid's nanny. (Although sadly, the nanny thinks Lydia is a dick.) She lost contact with all family members after a frightening and alienated childhood of violence and a series of group homes.
"Lydia lives under the illusion that the more money she has, the safer she will feel. She takes bigger and bigger risks in the hope that the fear will go away. Unfortunately the opposite has been the case, and the safety she seeks is relentlessly elusive."
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