Laura Fraser Landed Her Role On Breaking Bad Before Meeting The Cast
Even after being off the air for nearly a decade, the DNA of "Breaking Bad" is still being deeply felt in the television landscape. As if the long-running success of its prequel/sequel series, "Better Call Saul," wasn't enough of an indication of the show's impact, morally compromised protagonists and antiheroes seem to have become more popular than ever.
Naturally, one of the elements that make shows like "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" so interesting is the fact that almost none of the characters are black or white, morally speaking, but are all instead living in shades of gray. Few characters exhibited this factor better in the final season of the AMC crime drama than Lydia (Laura Fraser).
Emerging in the wake of Gus' (Giancarlo Esposito) death at the end of Season 4 of "Breaking Bad," Lydia filled in his role incredibly well, offering the viewers the same sort of polite menace that the Los Pollos Hermanos founder also employed. However, despite her impact on the series, Fraser says she got the role without even going to the audition.
The actor sent in tapes of herself rather than going to the audition
In a conversation with The Scotsman, Laura Fraser explained that she was able to land the role of Lydia in Season 5 of "Breaking Bad" from the comfort of her own apartment. Thinking that in the audition, she might be competing with women she described as "more attractive and slightly younger," Fraser decided to send in a tape for her audition.
"I got 'Breaking Bad' from my apartment. I never met anyone. So weird," Fraser said. She also explained how strange it was to show up on set, having never met anyone from the cast before. "It's a bit like, I hope you didn't think it was the other Laura Fraser," she said, referring to an actor who shares her name. "It was very strange. We were jumping up and down when I got the part. We'd never seen the show, but we'd heard that it was good. And then I was like, 'oh s***, this is going to be really scary.'"
It's probably for the best that Fraser went in blind, as the towering performances from the likes of Bryan Cranston, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jonathan Banks would likely just have made things even more intimidating. Either way, her character was popular enough that she was also brought back to reprise her role in "Better Call Saul," as well.