Better Call Saul writer and director Thomas Schnauz explains why the show didn’t digitally de-age Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul during their big comeback.
Better Call Saul writer-director explains why the show chose not to digitally age Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul. Any suspense surrounding Walter White and Jesse Pinkman appearing in the final season of AMC’s Breaking Bad spin-off was cut short in April when it was confirmed that the pair would indeed be arriving at some point. Fans then just had to wait for the two main Breaking Bad characters to finally make their intended appearances.
Turns out Better Call Saul would have fans waiting long enough to finally see Pinkman and White again. But the moment finally arrived in last night’s episode “Breaking Bad,” which revisited Walt and Jesse’s first meeting with Saul Goodman, changing the perspective to see things from Saul’s side. Interestingly enough, actors Cranston and Paul didn’t appear to have aged significantly for their scenes, although the actors are now 14 years younger than the age they were when they first played their characters in Breaking Bad.
The decision not to age Cranston and Paul may have made it hard for some fans to suspend disbelief and think they were seeing White and Pinkman as they were over a decade ago when Breaking Bad premiered. originally broadcast. Speaking to Variety, writer-director of the Better Call Saul episode “Breaking Bad” Thomas Schnauz addressed this issue and explained why the decision was made not to go overboard with the aging effects. He said:
There’s so much you can do before it starts to look ridiculous. We don’t do a ton of aging on the show. There’s a bit of stuff on the guys’ faces to pick up a few lines here and there, but other than that, Aaron isn’t going to look like an 18-year-old kid or whatever Jesse is during this time. … I kind of dread people cutting out that scene in the world of ‘Breaking Bad’ and trying to match their looks from then and now, but it’s not something you can get too excited about. worry. It’s like that. We’re telling a story and you can roll with it or start choosing: “He looks a lot older than in the original scene. “We decided to go and I’m glad we did.
The question of whether Better Call Saul should do more to age its characters for the sake of temporal consistency has of course been raised many times over its six seasons. Schnauz has indeed addressed the issue himself on a previous occasion, telling fans on Twitter a while back that the expense of aging has a lot to do with why the show isn’t going this route. Instead of using aging to make characters like Saul Goodman and Gus Fring literally younger, the show relies on its compelling writing, directing, and acting to keep audiences in a state of suspended disbelief, where they simply does not question reality. from what they see.
It is of course up to each viewer to decide if they are able to suspend disbelief when it comes to the discrepancies between the age of the actors and the characters they play. Arguably, someone like Paul, who looks very different now than he did when he played Pinkman in Breaking Bad, is hard to accept as a much younger character. “Breaking Bad,” the episode used a few old-school tricks involving lighting and angles to try to lessen the jarring effect of seeing these characters played by actors who are no longer the right age. But in the end, there’s not much to do and it’s up to the viewer to accept it or not. Either way, Better Call Saul offered a nice return to Walt and Jesse, giving fans a different angle on the events of Breaking Bad while memorably allowing beloved characters to share the screen once. what’s more.
Source: Variety
Why Better Call Saul Hasn’t Digitally Aged Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul | Pretty Reel