After 64 episodes of a legendary television series, a feature film and a statue dedication, actor Aaron Paul has closed the chapter on Jesse Pinkman.
The Breaking Bad and El Camino star has decided that his two recent appearances on Better Call Saul are the perfect way to bid adieu to the character he’s played since Bad’s pilot shoot in 2007.
Paul’s decision comes on the heels of city of Albuquerque’s unveiling of two bronze statues that commemorate Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, two fictional characters who turned New Mexico’s largest city into a tourist destination for fans around the world.
“[Jesse Pinkman] will always have a special place inside of me, but I can confidently say that [Better Call Saul] was the last time we’re going to see Pinkman. So it was a nice farewell,” Paul told The Hollywood Reporter.
Westworld season four aired concurrently to Paul’s return to the Breaking Bad universe. The star received rave reviews for his performance as Caleb Nichols especially in his showcase episode “Fidelity,” which was written by Jordan Goldberg and Alli Rock and directed by Andrew Seklir. Despite the critical acclaim, Paul says he can’t bring himself to watch Caleb’s struggle to transmit a message to his long-lost daughter, Frankie (Aurora Perrineau).
“There are just certain things that I won’t allow myself to watch, and that was just such an undertaking. It was pretty brutal on me, so I just didn’t want to relive it,” Paul explains.
