Creator Vince Gilligan lectures on the science of Breaking Bad, and discusses sharing sets with an Oscar-winning picture in this special bonus segment of AMC's exclusive interview.

Q: You've said before that you don't see Breaking Bad as a morality tale. If that's the case, then how do you portray the consequences of Walt's and Jesse's actions?

A: Well, yeah, it's a tough balancing act. There's a lot of balancing acts with this show, the balance between humor and drama, and also the balance between keeping the show entertaining and showing the reality of the horrors of crystal meth. It's kind of a tightrope. And how we do it is, we just try to keep it as real as possible. Walt is really a babe in the woods when this series starts. He knows nothing about the drug. He could probably write out on a chalkboard its chemical composition, just off the top of his head, but he doesn't have any relationship to it in any real human regard. He doesn't understand just how terrible it is. And we're not going to shy away from how horrible the drug is. But on the other hand I feel like this is a character study more than anything else. It's not a morality tale. It's a story about a character and ultimately things are probably not going to end so well for him because of this initial, really fundamentally terrible choice he made in the pilot. Our fundamental task at hand is to keep the audience watching, and to keep the audience learning about this character of Walt. But the thing that really helps us, that really saves our bacon at the end of the day is Bryan Cranston's acting. If it were another actor other than Bryan Cranston, we'd be in big trouble. You just like the guy no matter what he does. He just kind of leads you by the hand as you watch the show, and you forgive him just about anything.

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Breaking Bad's RJ Mitte discusses the similarities between him and his character, playing Wii with Aaron Paul and stealing the spotlight from his little sister.

Q: You and your Breaking Bad character both have Cerebral Palsy, though Walter Jr.'s symptoms are more pronounced than your own. Did you have to regress from your therapy to portray him?

A: Yeah. It was very hard to regress. I had to stay up real late so I could learn to blur my speech more. I had to learn how to use crutches so it didn't look like I'm faking walking. I didn't want to look like just another faker because I really have it. If you're going to do it, you have to do it the full way. No matter if you're regressing or if you're trying to make it look bad, you need to still try to do it right. It was hard at first, but after a while everybody would help me out. For example, I used to walk on my toes a lot when I was a kid because I could barely move my feet, so when I was learning to portray Walter Jr., my mom would remind me about that. It was a big help.

Q: Do you think it was important that Vince cast someone with CP for the role?

A: I think it was very important. I think now I look like a role model to some CP actors, which is an honor. Everybody if they have CP on their resume, it looks like, oh this kid is wheelchair-bound or he's slow or something like that, which is not true. It is important for someone who is playing this role to really do the role.

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Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston chatted with viewers on amctv.com immediately following the East Coast airing of the season finale.

11PM
darth_alpha1: How much knowledge about chemistry do you really have?
Bryan: Very limited. I had to go to USC to do some research and shadowed a chemistry professor there, and was able to glean as much as possible. But it's a constant brush up because it's something I haven't even thought about or studied in 35 years. So definitely rusty.

11:10PM
series_fan: Does the portrayal of a terminally ill character take a physical toll on you?
Bryan: Yes. When you have a scene or an episode where I'm coughing a lot or where I'm in a lot of pain, you're grimacing and touching and holding your body tight. And that's just one take. They have to do it from different angles. It is exhausting, but I sleep well at night.

11:18PM
s.elmore: What made you take on such a powerful and serious role after doing Malcolm in the Middle?
Bryan: I think the answer is in the question. It's a powerful and serious role, and I recognized that in a script that was brilliantly written by Vince Gilligan. It was impossible to pass up. If you look at the script, you see this man who I understand who carries the weight of regret on his shoulders, feeling like he's failed himself in life. It's brilliant. It's fantastic. It wasn't difficult to fall into. Scripts like this are very rare, so if you are able to come across them, you don't take the granted. The comedy is very different, because Malcolm was very physical comedy, sometimes silly. Breaking Bad has much much darker comedic elements to it, so it's different kinds of humor. Laced within the humor are dramatic and compelling heavy issues. So it's especially hard to be able to bring comedy into that kind of environment.

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