What These Killed Off Breaking Bad Characters Are Doing Now

Few television shows in the entire history of the medium can claim to match the quality, popularity, and influence of "Breaking Bad." It was a phenomenon like none other.

Vince Gilligan's story of a unassuming chemistry teacher with lung cancer transforming himself into a ruthless drug kingpin captivated audiences, airing for five seasons on AMC and proving endlessly re-watchable. This series racked up a staggering 58 Emmy nominations and 16 wins, earning the title of highest-rated narrative television series of all time on IMDb, and frequently tops curated lists of the best TV shows ever made.

The violent, unpredictable nature of "Breaking Bad" also led to plenty of shocking character deaths across the show's 62 episodes. Sometimes, the actors who played these quickly-dispatched characters were well-known; others landed their big break on the show. Below, a (spoiler-heavy) update on what everyone has been up to since they bit the on-screen bullet.

Steven Gomez (AKA Gomie) was Hank's partner in the DEA and personally involved in the hunt for Heisenberg. Right alongside his partner, Gomez was killed out in the New Mexico desert by Uncle Jack's gang of Neo-Nazis. The role was played by New Mexico native Steven Michael Quezada, who returned to the "Breaking Bad" universe briefly in "Better Call Saul" alongside Hank in a pair of Season 5 episodes.

Quezada only began acting in the mid-2000s, and "Breaking Bad" was his first major television role. He hasn't done much TV work since the show concluded, either, outside brief single-episode appearances on the likes of "Documentary Now!" and "The Mindy Project." Quezada has appeared in a handful of small films, as well as the Rob Zombie horror flick "3 from Hell" and the Netflix original movie "Girlfriend's Day," in which he acted alongside old co-star Bob Odenkirk.

Outside of acting, Quezada has plenty of other endeavors to keep him busy, running a parallel career as a standup comedian (his standup special "The New Mexican" dropped in 2022 as a Comedy Dynamics original). Outside of the entertainment industry altogether, Quezada is also heavily involved in politics, serving as a politician in New Mexico since 2013 at the city and state level. He is currently serving a term as the commissioner of New Mexico's second district.

Krazy-8, whose real name was Domingo Molina, was one of the first drug dealers that Walter White came into contact with after making the decision to start producing meth. 

Krazy-8 had a history with Jesse Pinkman, and brought his cousin Emilio Koyama in on the deal too. After things went south, Walt blasted the two of them with phosphine gas, later strangling Krazy-8 to death with a bike lock. Though he was a driving force at the start of the series, Krazy-8 was dead and gone by the end of the third episode; the character would return in "Better Call Saul" for a larger role, one that found him popping in and out of the series across Season 2 through 5.

The role was played by Max Arciniega, whom the "Breaking Bad" writers paid tribute to when they introduced a small but instrumental character named Max Arciniega in Season 4: Gus Fring's partner, who was murdered by Hector Salamanca. Arciniega hasn't had too many film roles since "Breaking Bad" ended, with the 2021 western "Old Henry" being one notable exception. Sticking to the world of television, Arciniega has played recurring roles on the shows "Colony," "Full Circle," "Blood & Oil," "Bosch," and the mini-series "Unbelievable." His latest role was a guest appearance on the series finale of FX's "Snowfall."

Christian Ortega (AKA Combo) was one of Jesse Pinkman's close friends, and later got involved in Jesse and Walt's early drug dealing operation. He was shot and killed in broad daylight by 11-year-old Tomás Cantillo, the little brother of Jesse's eventual love interest Andrea Cantillo. The character did not return in "Better Call Saul," but was mentioned briefly in the show's final season.

Combo was played by Rodney Rush, in his first-ever acting role. Rush isn't a career actor and has only appeared in a pair of short films since "Breaking Bad" went off the air. Given that the show was filmed and takes place in and around Albuquerque, many roles on the show were filled by local residents, including Rush as Combo. 

Instead of acting, Rush devotes the majority of his time to a combination of music, inspirational speaking, event organizing, design work, charity fundraising, and more. As a hip-hop artist, Rush has released dozens of songs online through Reverb Nation. He is also an aspiring screenwriter and children's book author, though none of his writing has been officially published as of yet.

Gus Fring first entered the world of "Breaking Bad" near the end of Season 2, serving as the main antagonist of Seasons 3 and 4. The cold, calculating killer kingpin finally met his end in Hector Salamanca's wheelchair bomb explosion, as orchestrated by Walter White. Gus returned for Seasons 3-6 of "Better Call Saul," once again making for an intimidating villain and a magnetic screen presence.

This now-iconic character was played by Giancarlo Esposito, whose acting resume stretches back to the 1970s. In the early stages of his career, Esposito could be seen in the likes of everything from "Sesame Street" to Spike Lee's "Malcolm X," playing roles both small and large. Since his departure from "Breaking Bad," Esposito's career has continued to flourish. Some of his biggest television roles include "Revolution," "The Get Down," "Once Upon a Time," "Dear White People" (in which he served as the narrator), and three recent TV hits alongside "Better Call Saul" with "Godfather of Harlem," "The Boys" and "The Mandalorian."

On the film side of the entertainment industry, Esposito has been in many large movies in recent years. From highly-lauded Palme d'Or nominees like "Okja" to YA blockbusters like the "Maze Runner" series, Esposito is versatile enough to bounce back and forth between different scopes with ease. In the near future, he will appear on the big screen again in Francis Ford Coppola's long-gestating epic "Megalopolis."

Emilio Koyama was the cousin of Krazy-8 and an old-school friend of Jesse Pinkman. He and Krazy-8 were the first two dealers that Walt and Jesse attempted to work with, and Koyama became the first person that Walter ever killed when he was poisoned by a blast of phosphine gas. His corpse is the one that Jesse tried to dispose of in his aunt's bathtub, leading to the gore-infused hole created in the floor.

In Gilligan's original pilot script, the character was simply named Emilio. When actor John Koyama was cast in the role, the character took on the same last name. After being killed off in the pilot episode of the series, Emilio returned briefly in the penultimate episode of "Better Call Saul," helping to bookend the two shows.

Outside of the "Breaking Bad" universe, Koyama hasn't done too much acting in recent years outside of small, often unnamed and sometimes uncredited bit parts. Koyama's real bread and butter in the entertainment industry has been working as a stuntman, fight choreographer, and stunt coordinator. He has helped create the action sequences for many huge movies and television shows like "The Boys," "Furious 7," "300: Rise of an Empire," "The Book of Boba Fett," and DCEU movies including "Man of Steel," "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," and "Justice League." Recently, Koyama has begun working as a second unit director as well, with the TV show "Preacher" and HBOMax original movie "An American Pickle."

Victor (whose last name was never revealed) was a man of few words, but an intense and intimidating presence. He was one of Gus Fring's top enforcers, right up until the moment Gus decided to slit his throat with a box cutter in the super lab right in front of Walt, Jesse, and Mike. Victor was already a large part of "Breaking Bad," but he became an even larger part of "Better Call Saul," appearing in more than twice as many episodes.

The enigmatic Victor was played by Jeremiah Bitsui, a Native American actor who had earlier appeared in films like "Flags of Our Fathers" and shows like "In Plain Sight." Since his time on "Breaking Bad," Bitsui's most high-profile roles have been on the shows "Bosch" and "Yellowstone," and as the voice of Eagle Flies in the smash-hit video game "Red Dead Redemption II." Outside of acting, Bitsui is a co-owner of Dreamlab Coffee, an Albuquerque-area coffee shop that hosts networking and self-improvement events.

Lydia Rodarte-Quayle only entered the story of "Breaking Bad" in the final season, but she made major waves in her short time on the show. As opposed to most of the characters in the series who come from domestic, criminal, legal, or law enforcement backgrounds, Lydia was deeply entrenched in the corporate side of the meth game. After weaseling her way in and out of Walter White's good graces, she eventually meets her maker when she is poisoned with ricin. In the timeline of the "El Camino" spinoff movie, a news report mentions that Lydia was currently hospitalized following the ricin poisoning, expected to pass away imminently.

With Lydia being such an interesting yet short-lived presence in "Breaking Bad," it made perfect sense to bring her back into the loop for "Better Call Saul," and her connections to Gus Fring made it easy. The memorable character was played by Laura Fraser who, shortly after the end of "Breaking Bad," played one of the lead roles on the ABC series "Black Box," which was canceled after its first season. Her next big TV endeavor was a supporting role on the Starz original series "The Missing," and she then returned to her home country to star as the main character in the British murder-mystery mini-series "The Loch." Her latest project is another British mystery series, "Traces."

The Cousins (real names are Marco and Leonel) are the twin Salamancas who head from Mexico to the U.S. to hunt down Hank Schrader as revenge for the death of their cousin Tuco. They are large, brutish, near-mute, and carry out their various cartel tasks with terminator-like precision. Though they are incredibly effective in their lethal activities, they meet their match in Hank. 

During their assassination attempt, Hank shoots and kills Marco while leaving Leonel alive but hospitalized with both of his legs amputated. Mike Ehrmantraut soon finishes off Leonel in the hospital, at Gus Fring's behest.

Marco and Leonel were played by Luis and Daniel Moncada, brothers in real life but not actual twins despite their strong resemblance. Luis has been acting since the early 2000s, but Daniel never had any interest in acting prior to "Breaking Bad" and only joined the show because his brother needed a twin to land the role. The two saw their visibility rise after "Breaking Bad," returning as the Salamanca twins for a larger and more lethal stint on "Better Call Saul." Playing a tough criminal on screen wasn't too much of a stretch for Luis, as he had previously been in a gang and even served time in prison. The brothers both train in martial arts and have become increasingly involved in stunt work and fight choreography over the years alongside their acting endeavors. Some of their biggest joint and solo roles since "Breaking Bad" include series like "Get Shorty" and movies like "Bright."

Tortuga was a small but memorable side character on "Breaking Bad," played by the one and only Danny Trejo. He was a smuggler for the cartel but was secretly working as an informant for the DEA, and when his cartel bosses found out, they made an example out of him. 

Under Juan Bolsa's guidance, the Cousins decapitated Tortuga, rigged his severed head with an explosive, and attached it to a literal tortuga tortoise. At his next scheduled meeting with the DEA, the turtle took his place. Hank Schrader was outside of the blast radius, but watched in horror as the explosion killed and maimed multiple agents, leaving him traumatized.

Trejo is a hard-working actor who amassed a prolific body of work well before "Breaking Bad," including such classics as "Heat," "Con Air" and "From Dusk Till Dawn." He has over 400 film and television credits and appears in several large and small projects every single year, with some of his biggest roles post-Tortuga including the likes of "Machete," "Sons of Anarchy," "American Gods," "The Legend of La Llorona," and dozens of others. In 2019, Trejo was the subject of the documentary "Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo," which chronicled his struggles with crime, addiction, and incarceration and his eventual recovery and rehabilitation.

Alongside his ongoing acting career, Trejo owns a growing LA restaurant chain named Trejo's Tacos a donut shop in Hollywood and other side hustles that include branded beer, coffee and hot sauce. He is also a passionate activist and frequently participates in volunteer and charity work whenever he isn't busy shooting a movie.

Todd Alquist roared into the story of "Breaking Bad" like a runaway freight train in the show's fifth season. Though he initially came across as helpful and subservient, Todd turned out to be one of the most ruthless, sociopathic villains in a series overflowing with them. From the moment he casually murdered a child without a blinking an eye, Walt, Jesse and the entire viewing audience instantly knew he was a villainous force that had been underestimated. Alongside his uncle, Todd was one of the main antagonists of the final season of "Breaking Bad," then returned for a significant villain role in "El Camino."

Todd was played by Jesse Plemmons, who got his start in the entertainment industry in the late '90s as a child actor. Though he had played a handful of notable roles already, Plemmons was still a largely unknown quantity at the time he joined the cast of "Breaking Bad." His chilling portrayal of Todd and his physical resemblance to fellow actor Matt Damon earned him the nickname of Meth Damon, which took him many years to shake. Since his "Breaking Bad" tenure, Plemmons has boomed in popularity with memorable work in some of the best film and television projects in recent years including "Fargo," "The Irishman," "I'm Thinking of Ending Things," "Judas and the Black Messiah," and "The Power of the Dog," which earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.

Todd's uncle and the head of a Neo-Nazi gang that partners up temporarily with Walter White before the two become bitter adversaries, Jack Welker was personally involved in the killing of Hank and Gomie and orchestrated both Jesse's imprisonment and simultaneous prison murders carried out at Walt's behest. In the series finale of "Breaking Bad," Jack is shot in the head by Walt after first being wounded by an automated machine gun that he rigged up.

Uncle Jack was portrayed by veteran character actor Michael Bowen, a chameleon-esque actor often nearly unrecognizable from one role to the next. Prior to joining "Breaking Bad," Bowen was in movies like "Magnolia," "Beverly Hills Cop III," and Quentin Tarantino's films "Kill Bill," "Jackie Brown," and "Django Unchained," although fans might be hard-pressed to recall his face. In the years since "Breaking Bad," Bowen has continued with his chameleon talents, though he has slowed down his output as he nears the age of 70. He has appeared in one-off episodes of numerous shows, but his only recurring role since the end of "Breaking Bad" was as Vin on TNT's "Animal Kingdom."