Betsy Brandt Opens Up About Her Better Call Saul Cameo That No One Saw Coming
When it was first announced that "Breaking Bad" was getting a prequel focusing on Bob Odenkirk's corrupt lawyer Saul Goodman, fans were ecstatic with all the possibilities. So many characters had been killed off during the course of "Breaking Bad," and this was a chance to see who those characters were before they got involved with — or were betrayed by — Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). But while many fans began watching the story with the hope of eventually catching up to the "Breaking Bad" timeline and seeing Walt and Jesse again, "Better Call Saul" teased viewers every step of the way with unexpected appearances and cameos.
One "Breaking Bad" death stood out above the rest during the show's run, that of Walt's brother-in-law and DEA agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris). Therefore, viewers weren't surprised when Hank crossed paths with Goodman in Season 5 when Goodman is acting as the lawyer of Domingo Molina (Max Arciniega), and Hank and his partner show up at the jail to talk to him. But while it made sense for Hank to appear in the prequel, fans were surprised and thrilled when his widowed wife, Marie, made a surprising cameo in the final episode of "Better Call Saul." Betsy Brandt recently opened up about how thrilling it was for her to be asked to appear in the episode and reprise the character she'd missed.
Betsy Brandt was thrilled to step back into Marie's shoes
Betsy Brandt recalled that the last time she played Marie Schrader was during a phone call with the "Breaking Bad" team in Los Angeles while she was in New York. When she was asked to play the grieving widow in several emotional scenes for the ending of "Better Call Saul," she couldn't believe it. "Oh my God, it was an absolute pleasure," she told Variety. "It wasn't something that I thought I'd get to do. When you're finished, you're finished. That's usually how it goes."
While Hank's death had definitely changed Marie, and she was no longer the purple-obsessed, anxious woman she'd been, it was important to Brandt that some things about her stay the same. "I still wanted her to be the same person; you have to recognize her," Brandt said. "Marie's so tightly wound, and she still is, but she's determined and she wants to do right by Hank."
With Vince Gilligan confirming fans' worst fears — that he has no more plans to add to the "Breaking Bad" universe — it's likely this was Brandt's last goodbye to Marie, which Brandt feels okay with. "I think she's going to live the life she knows Hank would want her to," Brandt predicts about Marie's future. "I think that's exactly what guides her."