Among those who attended the event were Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul for obvious reasons. Alongside them were Dean Norris, who played Hank Schrader, Vince Gilligan, the show’s creator, and Peter Gould, who produced and wrote his fair share of the show. The Better Call Saul alumni included Rhea Seehorn, who played Kim Wexler, Michael Mando, who played Nacho Varga, and Patrick Fabian, who played Howard Hamlin.
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Photos of the event were shared on Twitter by longtime Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul writer Thomas Schnauz. At the ceremony, Paul expressed his appreciation for all that Breaking Bad did for him. “I auditioned for Breaking Bad, and it completely changed my life,” he said, according to a report from Entertainment Weekly. “So thank you so much, thank you to Albuquerque — my God, we were here for seven years on and off. It was such a huge part of my life; it still is.” Cranston on the other hand made jokes at the ceremony. “We’re humbled by this,” Cranston began. “We’re delighted, slightly embarrassed to have statues of you. And when they first came to me and said we want to make two statues of you, and I thought, ‘Wow, fantastic, Heisenberg and Walter White!’”
Pennsylvania was the first state to make a statue out of a fictional character when they made a statue out of the fictional boxer Rocky in Philadelphia. Even though the boxer is not real, it was abundantly clear how impactful the character was not just in the city of Philadelphia but worldwide because of his story as an underdog who went on to fight professionally. When people think of underdogs who rose to the top, they think of Rocky. It’s the same case with Breaking Bad.
Will New Mexico stop there with just Walt and Jesse? By all accounts, Better Call Saul has provided just as riveting characters as Breaking Bad did with Saul Goodman, Mike Ehrmantraut, and Gus Fring, among others. Both shows brought New Mexico into the limelight. There aren’t that many television shows or movies that very openly take place in New Mexico like Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul do. Doing so truly put the state on the map because both shows celebrate the state’s culture, which is useful to New Mexico since both shows are popular and well-received.
It also demonstrates just how riveting both Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were as characters. Even though they are currently who people think of when they think of fictional drug dealers, both of their characters were compelling in completely opposite ways. Despite both being in the criminal world, White’s story was about him letting go of his morals in his quest to become king while Pinkman’s story was about the fact that he was clearly never meant for the life of a gangster. Now, they will forever be memorialized both for their impact on New Mexico, and for what they’ve done for the television period.
Breaking Bad can currently be streamed on Netflix.
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Source: Thomas Schnauz/Twitter, Entertainment Weekly