Any major TV fan will have the same experience at some point when you’re rewatching one of the iconic shows of the late 2000s and early 2010s and have gone: “What is that…”
Whether it be Michael B Jordan appearing in The Sopranos at 11 years old, Kaley Cuoco doing a two episode stint on Prison Break, or Pedro Pascal playing a vampire in one single episode of Buffy, there are so many iconic celebrities who get their start appearing on TV shows you’ve watched and probably didn’t realise.
Breaking Bad is not exactly jam-packed with celebrity names due to Vince Gilligan loving casting lesser known names, but he did actually cast some pretty big names who appeared in the series before going on to become famous faces. And no, we aren’t talking about the obvious ones like Aaron Paul or Jesse Plemons.
Caleb Landry Jones – Louis Corbett
Caleb Landry Jones as ‘Louis’ (AMC)
Landry Jones is still a relatively young actor at 36, but at just 19-years-old he played Walter White Jr’s friend Louis in a recurring role on the series.
Whilst his role in the show was tiny however, he has gone on to have a very successful career off the back of this with supporting roles in X-Men: First Class, two Oscar winning films Get Out and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri as well as an Oscar nominated film The Florida Project.
Add to that a similarly small cameo appearance in No Country For Old Men and he has one of the most sneakily impressive resumes in Hollywood.
Bill Burr – Patrick Kuby
Bill Burr as Kuby in Breaking Bad (AMC)
Bill Burr appeared in the latter seasons of the show in a supporting role, starring in five episodes as Patrick Kuby.
For those who don’t remember Kuby (understandably so, he has hair in the role) he was one of Saul Goodman’s henchmen alongside the perhaps slightly more memorable Huell.
Since then Burr has become one of the most popular stand-up comics in America, also appearing in The Mandalorian, The King of Staten Island, and is set to have a supporting role in the upcoming Social Network sequel The Social Reckoning.
Speaking about his role on the show, Burr revealed that he was actually a big fan of the series who managed to get a role in it, saying in an interview with GQ: “I was the biggest geek for the show, as anybody sitting at home watching it, so to get to be on the show I felt like I got sucked into my TV. It was really surreal.”
Taylor Dearden – Sad Faced Girl (no really, that’s how she’s credited)
Taylor Dearden as ‘Sad Faced Girl’ (AMC)
If you’re wondering, wait… she looks pretty familiar… there are two real options. Either, you are a fan of The Pitt and recognise Dearden from that or you have a better sense of who is related to who than I do because she’s Bryan Cranston’s daughter.
Whilst her fame is quite newfound Dearden is a standout star on The Pitt, one of the most popular shows of the last few years.
Dearden’s role on Breaking Bad was not simply a nepo baby hire however, as Bryan Cranston has stated that she wanted to audition properly and not just be given the role because of his status on the series.
He told Vulture that he went to the producers and explained the situation and said ‘if she’s the best one hire her’.
Krysten Ritter – Jane Margolis
Krysten Ritter as Jane Margolis (AMC)
Many may remember Krysten Ritter’s role as Jane on the show, with a memorable short stint as Jesse’s girlfriend who ends up asphyxiating because of Walt.
Ritter went on to star as Jessica Jones in the Netflix Marvel TV shows, going on to reprise her role recently in the second season of Daredevil: Born Again, with her set to return in the upcoming third season.
She also appeared in El Camino, the Breaking Bad film that followed Jesse after the show’s finale, in a vision alongside Jesse.
Speaking about her role on the show, she recounted watching her first episode on the series, saying: “That was the coolest f***ing thing I had ever done. I was just so proud to be in something cool.”
Dale Dickey – Spooge’s Lady (again, that’s what she’s credited as, promise)
Dale Dickey as ‘Spooge’s Lady’ (AMC)
Dale Dickey is the type of character actor who, no matter if you know her well or not, when you see her in a TV show or film you smile and go ‘oh she’s in this.’
Dickey appeared in two episodes as a methhead, part of a couple who rob Skinny Pete at knifepoint in season two.
The actor went on to receive widespread critical acclaim for her role in Winter’s Bone, but her fame has taken another step in recent weeks due to her role in Widow’s Bay.
The Apple TV+ horror-comedy has grown into a sleeper hit for the streamer, with Dickey playing Rosemary, the slightly aloof (slightly incompetent) employee at the mayor’s office in a fairly major role of the show.
Breaking Bad is available to stream on Netflix in the UK and US.
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