AMC’s hit crime drama breaking Bad continues to rank as one of the most popular television shows in recent years. However, as intense as Walter White and his blue meth-dealing misadventures are in the show, some gimmicky sequences and hilarious behind-the-scenes footage prove that Bryan Cranston and the rest of the cast were absolutely in control during the production. It’s explosive.
Over time, those honest mistakes and on-screen mistakes have been replaced by outright shenanigans that often occur on set. Cranston is the main prankster, but others like Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Anna Gunn, and others also show off their mischievous personalities.
pufferfish
One of the funniest moments in this brilliant crime drama is the dramatic exchange between Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) in the latter’s living room. Walt is asked to utter the ridiculous line “Who pissed off the pufferfish?” With the utmost sincerity, Cranston can’t save his life.
The funniest part of the bloopers (via Bulk Fixion youtube) problem is that he repeatedly refers to Jesse as Jeff. “Who messed with the blowfish, Jeff,” Cranston whispered nervously, then collapsed on Paul like an older brother. “You’re not Jeff. Who is Jeff?” Cranston added, before the audience erupted in laughter.
Breakthrough in Japanese
While Aaron Paul struggled to nail his lines a few times during the game, the great Bryan Cranston wasn’t immune to occupational hazards. In one hilarious take (via Bulk Fixion), Cranston mispronounces the word “purify.” He tries to correct himself briefly, then casually begins a lengthy monologue in Japanese.
Cranston continued the riddle for a few seconds, picking up several objects on the table in front of him and describing them in Japanese, much to the delight of Paul on the other side of the room. Despite Walter’s serious character, this tidbit highlights Cranston’s goofy nature.
garage door malfunction
One of the most intense moments of this fantastic AMC series comes when Walter confronts Hank in the garage, telling him to back off or pay the price. Walter gives Hank a garage door opener, saying it’s similar to a GPS tracker. “Try again,” he urged Hank. But when Hank tried to close the garage door, it malfunctioned three times.
The funniest part of the breakdown (seen at 6:30 via Bulk Fixion) is that Walt and Hank maintain a serious attitude throughout, while Cranston and Norris stay completely in character. The door continued to move up and down in the background behind them as they silently leered at each other. The kid in the background playing with his remote control car out of focus only makes the game more interesting.
Limerick is sweating
During Walter White’s shower scene in Season 4, Bryan Cranston couldn’t help but poke fun at the awkward nudity in a quasi-Irish limerick. “Who works naked with a light meter?” he said in an exaggerated accent, adding something like “beads of sweat, beads of sweat” while dancing like a fool in the shower.
Aside from the accent and the jokes themselves, there’s a naughty, raunchy side to Walter White’s otherwise intense side that makes this film so endearing.Applying shaving cream to his bald head didn’t hurt (thanks to Bitching Bad via YouTube).
pregnancy pause
Just before Walter delivers one of his most iconic monologues of all time, he declares “I’m Danger!” to his wife, and a hilarious clip (via Bulk Fixion) shows Bryan Cranston forgetting After finishing the lines, a subtle laugh suddenly broke out. What makes this scene so funny is that Skyler delivers a dramatic heartfelt speech and Cranston delivers a brooding facial reaction before making the mistake.
“Oh my gosh, what was I thinking,” Skyler said with her back to Walter, adding, “Why don’t we stop trying to do this and admit that you’re in danger.” Walter turned around and said something meaningful paused, squinted at her intensely, and then burst out laughing.
baby role play
Bryan Cranston is no stranger to pulling pranks on the set of AMC original series, but few are as good as the baby cosplay he performed on Anna Gunn in Season 4 Pranks are more fun. For no apparent reason, Walter walks into the living room in a diaper, baby hat, and pacifier, and walks straight up to Skyler.
Gunn tried to hold back his laughter, but couldn’t help but break character. The two then began to improvise, with Skyler saying “You’re a good boy” and Walt saying “I’m a bad boy.” As Walt leaves the room, Skyler adds “You’re a bad boy” and slaps his diaper (from Bitching Bad).
Bogdan’s Soda Machine
One very interesting tidbit comes in a scene where Walt is about to buy a can of soda from a vending machine outside a car wash. It’s a low-angle shot designed to make Walter appear larger and more powerful. However, when the soda machine refused his dollars twice, Cranston came up with the perfect retort.
When the bill returned from the machine a second time, Cranston snatched it angrily, frowned, and yelled “Bogdan!” The line, delivered with perfect comedic timing, mocked Bogdan as a car wash Corruption and incompetence of bosses (via Bulk Fixion).
anal bleaching
In one of the intense mirrored scenes, in which Walter frequently squints at the extent of his deteriorating physical health, Cranston delivers a hysterical invective about anal bleaching. The randomness of it all is funny enough, but the deadpan, candid way in which Cranston says it while looking directly into the camera makes it all too much.
“From the cast to the crew. Anal bleaching kits. Because, no crew member should be walking around with a black anus.” Seeing someone as serious as Walter say that line is pure comedic gold (from Bitching Bad ).
Uncle Jack’s Mistake
Whenever Michael Bowen is on the show as Uncle Jack, the sense of humor has taken over. However, during a wide-open desert scene in season five, when Jack quietly walks up to Walter and just stares at him for a long moment, falling into an awkward silence, he breaks out into hysterics. Apparently he forgot his lines and the funniest part was when the director told him to start the scene from scratch.
“What, you don’t like to sit there and say nothing,” Bowen hilariously retorted, causing the entire cast to burst into laughter. To his credit, Cranston said, “I loved it, I could feel his breath on my earlobe.” Then, a young Jesse Plemons started teasing Cranston’s ear ( See outtakes from the movie) youtube Videos from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul
Walter’s naked butt
By the time the fifth season rolled around, Cranston and his cast had relied heavily on on-set shenanigans and guessing games. Perhaps funniest of all is Jesse and Walter delivering a dramatic monologue in the camper van after cooking.
After Jesse utters the line “Put me in a coma, why don’t you,” Walter walks slowly and quietly into the right corner of the frame, wearing only his chef’s apron, fully exposing his bare buttocks for the shot. The funniest thing is that he continues the scene as if nothing is out of the ordinary, having realized that Jesse forgot to light up his cigarette during the scene. After a few seconds of continuing the nude guessing game, the crew burst into laughter, and Paul finally realized what Cranston was doing (from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul).