Breaking Bad Bloopers That Will Change The Way You See The Show
"Breaking Bad" is remembered as one of TV's all-time great stories, but it's easy to forget how humorous the AMC drama was. The story of a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin was never a far cry from comedy, especially considering its cast was loaded with funny people. This was especially true behind the scenes. While playing Walter White permanently cemented Bryan Cranston as an Emmy-winning serious actor, his background in comedy is never more boldly on display than in the "Breaking Bad" blooper reels.
Cranston was the practical joker on set, as evidenced by the moment he did an entire take with his bare butt exposed to the camera — all to get a rise out of co-star Aaron Paul. But co-stars beyond Cranston and Paul get their time to shine in the blooper reel. Anna Gunn, Betsy Brandt, and even a rogue extra made this list for their hijinks behind the scenes.
These outtakes and bloopers from "Breaking Bad" will change the way you see the show and its iconic cast of characters forever after.
Soda machine fail
This blooper is a Bryan Cranston classic and one of the rare hilarious moments that came from the actor staying in character rather than breaking it. In this Season 4 outtake, the filmmakers were trying to capture a low-angle shot of Walt sticking a bill into a vending machine. It's a small moment you probably don't remember, but when Cranston can't quite seem to get the machine to take the dollar, an unforgettable moment erupts.
In the take, Cranston feeds the bill into the machine multiple times, only for it to be spat back out at the actor. After the machine repeatedly rejects him, Cranston (in character) mutters "Bogdan" spitefully. He is, of course, talking about the character who owns the car wash, Bogdan Wolynetz (Marius Stan). They've never had much of a friendly relationship, so this scene even makes in-universe sense. Walt would blame Bogdan for not keeping his vending machines in working order, making this blooper totally believable.
Garage door mishap
True "Breaking Bad" fans will never forget the fallout from Hank's (Dean Norris) fateful trip to the bathroom, where he finally pieced it all together. When the second part of Season 5 debuted, Hank didn't waste any time confronting Walt about his double life. And you will remember the tense stand-off between the two in Hank's garage. You might not know that to get this über-serious moment right, the "Breaking Bad" crew had to overcome some pretty hilarious technical issues.
In the bloopers for the second half of Season 5, we see the attempts at this scene gone wrong. In the moment when Hank pushes the button to threateningly close the garage door, it repeatedly gets stuck. Norris keeps jamming the button to try and get the door to shut but to no avail. At one point, he gives up and drops the garage door remote on the table to end a take before dramatically falling over. After that point, neither actor seemed to be able to keep it together to get through a take without cracking up.
Who messes with the blowfish, Jeff?
In a retrospectively manipulative moment from Season 2, Walt is hyping Jesse up by telling him that he is a blowfish. In his defense, it's an apt metaphor, and as Walter says, Jesse is "small in stature, not swift, not cunning," but like the sea critter that can puff up, he has a secret weapon. In tapping Jesse's ability to be intimidating and stroking his ego, Walt boosts his confidence, which leads to this pump-up speech. But in the "Breaking Bad" Season 2 bloopers, we see what happens when Bryan Cranston can't quite nail the line.
In repeated attempts to get off the line, "Who messes with the blowfish, Jesse?" Cranston keeps slipping up and calling the character by the wrong name. The result? A delicious reference for hardcore "Breaking Bad" fans in the form of "Who messes with the blowfish, Jeff?"
But who exactly is Jeff, we wonder? And so does Cranston, as he racks his brain in the clip to try and figure out just where that came from. We may never know the answer, but we are thankful for Jeff's existence.
Anna Gunn feeling herself up with Tuco's hand
This behind-the-scenes moment shows us the light side of "Breaking Bad" star Anna Gunn. While Skylar White was pretty much all business all the time during Gunn's scenes on the drama, it's clear from this Season 2 blooper that the actress who played her has a much better sense of humor.
In this series of clips, we see Gunn on set holding a prosthetic hand. As she feels herself up with the hand, the actress jokingly moans, "Oh, Tuco!" before throwing her head back and cackling at the absurdity of what she was doing.
Gunn's joke is a standout behind-the-scenes moment, but it also made us think more about how exactly that prop was used for production. This scene raises many questions. In particular, whether or not that prosthetic was used as one of Tuco Salamanca's hands in a scene or if it was modeled after actor Raymon Cruz's actual hands.
Cranston and Paul dressing as each other's characters
Unfortunately, AMC never released any bloopers for the first season of "Breaking Bad." This means many of the on-set friendships and relationships were pretty well-established when the network started sharing outtake videos. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul friendship, one that extends to even today, where they co-guest starred in a Season 16 episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
Going back to the Season 2 blooper reel, it's fun to see the chemistry (pun intended) these two have on- and off-screen. The most extreme example of them taking this job *extremely* seriously is a brief clip in the reel that you might miss if you blink. Here, you will see the actors dressing up as each other's characters at a wrap party for the show's first season. However, this grainy shot doesn't give much information or context to any of that. It's just two amazing seconds of the pair dressed as Jesse and Walt and dancing for the camera. Luckily, there are photographic documents of the party so we never forget.
An intimate Walt and Jesse moment
The Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul relationship was close from the start. Paul was so charismatic and great to work with that Jesse's original fate was written out of the show to keep him on as a main character. But if you haven't seen this particular outtake, you might not realize just how close the two were. And for as close as the two were emotionally, they sometimes got even closer physically.
In this "Breaking Bad" Season 2 blooper, the actors who play Walt and Jesse have an intimate moment of male bonding. In this clip, the two are embracing when Paul reaches for Cranston's butt and starts to rub his co-star. The actors start to verbally flirt with one another while they strip off their hazard suits. This sensual moment might change the way you look at Walt and Jesse's relationship the next time you rewatch "Breaking Bad."
Walt is ... not the danger
This blooper is monumental because it's unlikely either actor realized how much this scene would come to represent the show as a whole. When you think of "Breaking Bad," you think of Walter White, and when you hear Walt, you hear Bryan Cranston's now iconic menacing line, "I am the danger." But Cranston and Gunn didn't get it on every take, as you can see in this moment from the Season 4 blooper reel.
In this clip, Gunn tees Cranston up perfectly, delivering her line about Walt being "in danger" with absolute sincerity. The response starts as a smile, but before Cranston can break into the main part of his speech, he starts laughing uncontrollably. Something about the moment was just too much for Cranston. We all laugh in uncomfortable situations, so it makes sense. It seems like Walter White is not as dangerous as he wants us to believe.
Bryan Cranston's shower song
In one of the funniest moments of (let's just admit it) his entire career, Bryan Cranston lets it all loose while filming this shower scene for "Breaking Bad" Season 4. Not only is he completely naked in the middle of shaving his head, but the "SpongeBob SquarePants" theme song parody that Cranston makes up is one of the more outlandish things said in these outtakes. Or perhaps, we should say one of the most outlandish things sung.
In this blooper, while waiting for the shot to be ready, Cranston starts singing to himself in a pirate accent: "Who works naked with the light meter?"
The answer is not entirely clear, although you can definitely make out that whoever the song is about is known for their "sweaty balls." As he continues, he backs up into the frame, where, if not for the mercy of the editors, you would have been able to see Cranston's own situation. Sweaty or not, we'll never know. Still, there's nothing better than hearing an Emmy award-winning actor butt naked and singing a diddy about male genitalia.
Walt is allergic to tacos
While it's obviously not wise to take blooper reel jokes as canon, this one might explain some things about the characters — like why Walt wants Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) to die a fiery death. Maybe it's all because of the tacos. We doubt it, but you truly never know.
In this outtake from "Breaking Bad" Season 4, Bryan Cranston is improvising between takes by ordering a meal at the register while Esposito takes his order. Sure, there is supposed to be a tense conversation here, but in these clips, Cranston just keeps telling Esposito his order. In the end, Cranston tells him, in a top-tier deadpan, that he is allergic to tacos.
This is obviously a goof, but let's give it some thought. If Walt got some bad tacos from Los Pollos Hermanos, maybe that was the secret motivation for going into the meth business and facing off against Gus.
Walt and Jesse defy physics in the lab
In the lab where they cook meth, Walt and Jesse are often seen transporting large plastic barrels filled with liquid materials. Not too different from when they have to dispose of their first body, by Season 4, we've gotten used to the specific physical hassles of this line of work. So when we first saw this blooper of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul playing with an empty barrel, we couldn't help but laugh.
The clip begins with Cranston, in an effort to get the top unstuck, holding one of these large plastic barrels by the lid and slamming it on the floor. Paul comes in to start pounding on it before Cranston gives it a large kick. In the shot, we get a view behind the curtain and see what the duo had to go through to get these props open before they could fill them with their various substances (be they liquid or human).
Bleaching kit PSA
This blooper comes off like Bryan Cranston doing a comedy sketch. In the same vein as his shower song, we weren't quite sure what the actor was on that day but we appreciate his improvisational antics even more this time around.
In this clip from the Season 4 blooper reel, Cranston delivers a satire of a PSA directly to the camera. What is it for? Anal bleaching, as it turns out. "From the cast to the crew, an anal bleaching kit," Cranston says in the on-camera goof, "because no crew should walk around with a dark anus."
This is a pretty excellent gag we have to give the blooper reel editors some credit for. But the face Cranston makes between saying his two lines is priceless physical comedy gold. However, it does raise one big question. Were these bleaching kits on the set of "Breaking Bad?" And if so, what were they used for?
Walt and Skyler's baby fantasy play
Walt and Skyler's marital life has always been complicated ... to say the least. Between the constant power struggle, the lies, and the cheating, it's far from a typical married relationship ... all to say nothing of their unpredictable yet passionate love life. So this kind of sexual fantasy play kind of makes sense if we consider the characters' psychology. It's a blooper, so of course we aren't, but it's always funny to imagine Walter White's most personal and embarrassing moments.
In this outtake from Season 4, Bryan Cranston walks up to Anna Gunn while clothed in a baby costume, diaper and all. Taking a baby's pacifier out of his mouth, he says, "I know it was my fantasy, but I hope you got some enjoyment out of it." Gunn laughs and gives a cheeky response by giving her co-star a playful spank.
Skinny Pete shows off on piano
In the final season of "Breaking Bad," we get to return to some characters that have been out of focus for a number of seasons. In one scene, we see Jesse's old friends and fellow junkies Badger (Matt Jones) and Skinny Pete (Charles Baker) up to their old nonsense yet again. This time, they are messing around with the instruments in a music store. As Badger hammers away on the guitar to no avail, we see Pete turn out a nice classical melody on the piano.
This is how it happens in the show, but it wasn't until watching an outtake from the scene that we realized Baker wasn't faking it. As it turns out, the actor is a skilled pianist, which is why they brought him back to the show to do this bit.
In the blooper, Baker continues playing C.P.E. Bach's "Solfeggietto" long after Jones stops and the take ends. "We get it, you're better," Jones teases him. Or is it the actor improvising a line that Badger would say? Moments when bloopers blur those lines are some of the best reasons to watch these extras.