Season 2 is over, but that doesn't mean there you can't still immerse yourself in Breaking Bad. Go behind-the-scenes to hear from the men and women working on the other side of the camera to make Walter White's world an on-screen reality with AMCtv.com's exclusive crew interviews.

• "I think certain characters deserve and demand redemption. I love a happy ending as much as anybody... I'd like to take a page from Grimm's Fairy Tales and perhaps have that kind of an ending for some, if not all of our characters." -- Vince Gilligan (Creator)

• "My job is not just to do lighting and set up shots but to make sure the lighting and the shots reflect the scene in the most effective way. If I'm moved by what I see, then I know we've done well." -- Michael Slovis (Director of Photography)

• "Blowing up the turtle with Tortuga's head on it for Episode 7 was awfully complicated... I've never tested an explosion that much. What looks like one explosion is actually nine separate explosions, quickly timed." -- Dennis Petersen (Special Effects Supervisor)

• "The most important thing that came from Vince was that we always tried to stay real, but with a little tweak. If something seemed too right, or too pretty or too wrong we always went back to that mantra." -- Scott Clark (Location Manager)

• "It was very important to create a warm enough color for our universe so that the actors felt real in it. The White house, for example: You had to feel that family had been there for a long time, and it was real for them. We built it in two weeks for the pilot and it's still sitting there." -- Robb Wilson King (Production Designer)

• "I appreciate my role as an actor much more after I direct because it's just easier. You're focused on what you as a character want and need and how to go about getting it. As a director you're worried about everyone." -- Bryan Cranston (Episode 1 Director)

Continue reading "Breaking Bad Season 2 Interviews - The Crew" »

Breaking Bad's location manager takes AMCtv.com on a virtual tour of the Albuquerque destinations seen throughout Season 2, explaining how each spot fills Vince Gilligan's "tweakiness" requirement.

Q: What sort of look do you go for when you're scouting locations for Breaking Bad?

A: The most important thing that came from Vince was that we always tried to stay real, but with a little tweak. If something seemed too right, or too pretty or too wrong we always went back to that mantra. And that determined a lot of what we did. We'd find real stuff, but we'd look for that little oddity that they added on to the place, whether it had a pool that you didn't think of when you started, or things that were just a little different that you wouldn't have thought of right off the bat. And Albuquerque fit like a glove; 90 percent of what we did was keep it Albuquerque and keep it tweaky.

Q: What about Walt's house lends itself to that tweakiness?

Continue reading "Q&A - Scott Clark (Location Manager)" »

The actor ponders whether Jesse has hit rock bottom, reflects on Season 2's more domesticated moments and relates the inherent danger of interacting with other cast members in AMCtv.com's exclusive interview.

Q: You played a heroin addict in the movie Wasted. Was that helpful in preparing you for this season of Breaking Bad?

A: Yeah, Wasted was about an epidemic that happened in Plano, Texas. And they set us up then with actual users who were still using, and we got to ask them any question we could think of: I asked if there was anything they could compare the feeling to, what it tastes like; what do you do the first time you do it? I've never been around that kind of drug. Living in Los Angeles you run into other sketchy things, but heroin is so dark and intense and very specific.

Q: Jesse has been depicted throughout the show as an addict, but at least a functioning one. Do you think by the end of Season 2 he's hit bottom?

Continue reading "Q&A - Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman)" »

Do you find yourself entering Breaking Bad withdrawal already? Relive Season 2 with some of AMCtv.com's exclusive cast interviews. It's all you'll need to hold out until Season 3.

• "As long as Walt's looking in the mirror and seeing someone he doesn't recognize, he can justify what he's doing: 'That's not me; that's Heinsenberg.'" -- Bryan Cranston (Walter White)

• "Even as an actor reading these scripts, I found myself laughing at things I knew I should absolutely not be laughing about." -- Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman)

• "Bryan [Cranston] said, 'I think we're going to get more letters about you smoking than we get about me cooking crystal.' A person should obviously not be smoking or doing anything like that when they're pregnant." -- Anna Gunn (Skyler White)

• "Beheading is a big thing for those cartels. Having seen it, that's not anything I would want to be a part of. It's like, 'I'm sorry, my bad. You win!'" -- Dean Norris (Hank Schrader)

• "I've never been through a 12-step program, so I don't know if you're like 'Well, I do this because I have issues with my father.' Maybe some people do that... But I don't think Marie is going to." -- Betsy Brandt (Marie Schrader)

• "You don't see too much of [Walter Jr.'s] life... I'd like to see where he goes when he goes out. Is he really going to Louis's, or does he go out to some rave?" -- RJ Mitte (Walter Jr.)

Continue reading "Breaking Bad Season 2 Interviews - The Cast" »

After chatting with the fans, Breaking Bad's creator took a few minutes to talk to AMCtv.com about writing in circles, identifying with Walt's misdeeds and the fairy tale ending he envisions for some of his characters.

Q: Last season you admitted you see a lot of yourself in Walt. Is that still true after the changes he's gone through in Season 2?

A: One of our biggest struggles is how to keep it so the audience can continue to sympathize with Walt after doing so many wretched things. And the funny thing is, I still do see a lot of myself in Walt. I think there's a lot about Walt that we can all relate to. I rationalize all kinds of things I do. And that's one of the most human conditions there is. Nobody thinks of themselves as a bad guy -- Walt certainly doesn't. I believe in the fundamental goodness of human beings, but I think that the universal thing we all have in common is that given the right set of circumstances, for a day or an hour or five minutes we could be bad guys; we could be very bad guys. And I think if folks watching can realize that about themselves, then they can always find a way to sympathize with Walt, or at least understand why he's making the choices he makes.

Q: Season 2 was the first time you wrote a circular story arc that ended where it began, with the pink teddy bear. What did you learn from the experience?

Continue reading "Q&A - Vince Gilligan (Creator)" »

Breaking Bad's explosions guru explains the difference between movie and television effects and stresses the importance of keeping things simple in AMCtv.com's exclusive interview.

Q: You've done effects for big-budget movies like Lethal Weapon 4. How different of an experience is it to work on Breaking Bad?

A: On films I did some pretty big explosions. For Lethal Weapon 4, I did all the killing on the foredeck of the ship and all the flames in the barrels shot off the back. For TV one has to work a little quicker, be more assured. On Breaking Bad it's not about bigger; it's about better. Vince is very mechanical -- he could be an effects man himself. He wants to know what we're doing and he knows how we do it. That makes my job easier. And more challenging, but in a good way.

Q: What was this season's toughest special-effects assignment?

Continue reading "Q&A - Dennis Petersen (Special F/X Coordinator)" »

The Emmy-winning star describes Walt's multiple-personality style, shares a tale of on-set rabble-rousing and denies any secret fondness for Funyuns in AMCtv.com's exclusive interview.

Q: You directed the first black and white teaser in Episode 1. Did you know then that it would result in a plane crash?

A: I didn't. And they were trying to keep it a secret. Had I just been an actor, I wouldn't even ask. But as a director I really felt I needed to know so I could shoot it correctly -- is it supposed to be eerie? Odd? Is it scary? And so as we progressed I had more and more questions and I realized I should know where this is going. And when I got the script and found out, I guess I'm very subjective and proprietary to the character, because even after I read it I went, "Well how am I responsible for that?"

Q: Before the big reveal, one of the leading theories was that the water heater Walt installed exploded.

Continue reading "Q&A - Bryan Cranston (Walter White)" »

In his chat with the fans, the Breaking Bad creator describes the creative process behind the show's craziest moments, explains the second season's shocking endgame and talks about the devil's luck behind Walt's successes.

kcbarker 4: Is there a set number of seasons that you envision for the show?

A: I don't really know how long Breaking Bad will last. These characters that my writers and I spend so much time with tend to come alive for us. And as much as we try sometimes to make Walt or Jesse behave in certain ways and get us to certain scenes, oftentimes they tell us we need to go this way instead. They're telling us their story as much as we're trying to impose a story on them, so it's really hard to say how long Walt's story will go.

DepraveDave: What inspires all those crazy scenes you come up with?

Continue reading "Creator Vince Gilligan Answers Fan Questions" »

The actress discusses falling in love in real life and on television, going to heroin school and witnessing her own death in AMCtv.com's exclusive interview.

Q: Did you know your character would die when you signed onto the show?

A: Yes. I didn't know beat for beat what was going to go down, I just knew it was going to be good! People were like, "Oh my God they killed you!" But I feel like if you're going to go out, you should go out with a bang.

Q: You recently played an addict in The Last International Playboy (Frost). How did that character compare to Jane?

Continue reading "Q&A - Krysten Ritter (Jane Margolis)" »

The star of Do the Right Thing, School Daze and Homicide: Life on the Streets discusses Breaking Bad's racial politics and his vision for fast food's future in AMCtv.com's exclusive interview.

Q: You starred in Homicide, playing a Baltimore FBI agent dealing with the city's drug problem. How does Breaking Bad compare?

A: I enjoyed Homicide a great deal, so when this opportunity came up, I said this is really the flip side of the coin: Gus is an interesting character, but Breaking Bad is also a very different show. Part of my remorse about shooting in Baltimore was that I had to be shooting in the court system. And within those walls were all black people -- the youth of that generation was lost to drugs. Breaking Bad doesn't depict drugs in a racial way. There are a lot of Hispanics, but still it's a different culture of people. It does share to a certain extent what The Wire and Homicide did. But it's funnier. Out of this horrible situation you get some comedy, and that's what I love the most.

Q: In your career you've chosen roles that tackle racial politics very directly. Do you see that element in Breaking Bad as well?

Continue reading "Q&A - Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring)" »