Things do not at all times go in keeping with plan, however typically, that is for the very best. Case in level: Jonathan Banks would by no means have performed the enduring position of Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad if issues had labored out the way in which the present’s writers initially meant. In truth, the Mike character didn’t exist in any respect within the unique plans for season 2 of Breaking Bad. That season additionally introduces Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, and whereas Odenkirk was accessible for many of the season in any other case, there was one significantly episode he could not participate in as a consequence of a earlier dedication… and, from there, Mike Ehrmantraut was born.
This story was advised by Rhea Seehorn, who labored with Banks on the spinoff sequence Better Call Saul. During a current interview on The Rich Eisen Show, Seehorn shared the story behind Mike’s creation on Breaking Bad. She spoke about how the Breaking Bad writers had deliberate for Saul Goodman to assist Jesse (Aaron Paul) clear up the condominium and put together his story for the police when his girlfriend Jane (Krysten Ritter) dies from an overdose. Because Odenkirk was busy when that episode was scheduled to movie, nonetheless, the writers improvised by writing within the character of a fixer engaged on behalf of Saul. Though the character was created on the fly on the final minute, the scene successfully established Mike, permitting the writers to proceed to make use of him as he would change into a fan favourite.
“Bob was not accessible for Saul Goodman to scrub up her boy, and so the Mike Ehrmantraut character was created,” Seehorn explains within the interview. “[Bob] was capturing one thing, they usually wrote, when Krysten’s character dies, that he comes and cleans up the physique on this very chilly, unfeeling method. And that was going to be the place his character began to go, and he was merely not accessible, so that they made up the Mike Ehrmantraut character.”
Reflecting on simply how various things would have been if not for that scheduling battle, Seehorn added, “Thank goodness! Jonathan Banks performed it, and now it is like, , invaluable to the present, that character. And additionally, I’m so glad that that is not how we noticed Saul. That would’ve perpetually modified how we noticed him as nicely.”
Jonathan Banks Doesn’t Need to Say Goodbye to Mike
While Mike did not survive Breaking Bad, Banks was nonetheless in a position to reprise the position for six seasons of the prequel present Better Call Saul. The story was delivered to an finish final 12 months with Better Call Saul concluded, however that does not essentially imply Mike is gone. Banks not too long ago mentioned that Mike continues to be round, having change into part of who the actor is now as an individual.
Asked about what he misses most about Mike by THR, Banks mentioned, “Oh, Mike will at all times be round. Mike will at all times be round! I like Mike.”