Television

Penn Badgley reveals pain of missing out on ‘Breaking Bad’ role

Although he’s found success on ‘You’, Penn Badgley can’t forget how close he was to landing a spot on ‘Breaking Bad’.

Santiago FelipeGetty

Penn Badgley is riding a wave of success thanks to his hit Netflix thriller series, ‘You’.

The series, which is based on a novel of the same name written by Caroline Kepnes, recently returned to the streaming platform with the first part of its fourth season, which debuted on February 9.

‘You’ fans won’t have to wait long for the second part though, as it is scheduled for release on March 9.

Badgley missed out on ‘Breaking Bad’ role

Although Badgley has found success playing Joe Goldberg on ‘You’, and Dan Humphrey on ‘Gossip Girl’ before that, he hasn’t always gotten every role he’s tried out for.

During a recent appearance on BuzzFeed’s ‘The Puppy Interview’, Badgley revealed that he tried out for the role of Jesse Pinkman on the hit AMC series ‘Breaking Bad’, which ran from January 20, 2008 to September 29, 2013 and consisted of 62 episodes over five seasons.

Badgley says the role eventually came down to him and Aaron Paul, with the latter coming out on top.

“One I got so close on was ‘Breaking Bad’,” Badgley said when asked about some of his surprising auditions. “It was between me and Aaron Paul. We tested.

“And actually that was the best television script I’d read at that point. That was the one that got away.”

Paul was convinced Badgley would get the role

Paul received critical acclaim for his role as Pinkman, including three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Years after ‘Breaking Bad’s final episode, Paul said he wasn’t sure he would get the role as he was convinced Badgley was better suited for it.

“Right when [Badgley] walked in, I was like, ‘Oh my God, that guy looks like a meth addict.’ In a good way!” he told Entertainment Weekly in 2020. “He was just in the role. I was like, ‘This guy is going to steal it from me. But after the test, it took about two weeks to finally let me know.”

Even though Badgley missed out on ‘Breaking Bad’, he’s found success with ‘You’. The show initially premiered on Lifetime in 2018, but then moved to Netflix ahead of the second season in December 2019.

That’s when the series went from being watched by just over half a million viewers on Lifetime during Season 1, to over 40 million tuning in during its first month on the streaming platform.

Most viewed

More news