Long before Breaking Bad made him a star, Aaron Paul made a winning appearance on The Price Is Right – even though he ended up losing. Breaking Bad debuted in 2008 and followed meek chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston), who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Thinking it could be a good way to raise some quick money for his family when he’s gone, he decides to cook meth alongside former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), which sends him down a very dark path.

Breaking Bad was designed to chart White’s progression from civilian to steely drug kingpin, and the series was grounded by phenomenal writing and acting. While the show ended in 2013 the franchise is still going strong. The equally acclaimed Better Call Saul charts how Walt’s lawyer evolved from James McGill to Saul Goodman. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie also revealed what happened to Jesse following the events of the series’ finale, where he has to make a very stressful escape from the authorities.

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Jesse’s evolution on Breaking Bad was almost as captivating as Walt’s, which is doubly impressive considering the original plan was for the character to die at the end of season 1. Aaron Paul’s performance convinced the showrunners to keep Jesse alive, with the Walt/Jesse relationship forming the show’s backbone. Paul had roles in the likes of Mission: Impossible III and appeared in a Korn video before breaking through with Jesse, but he also made an appearance in a 2000 episode of classic game show The Price Is Right.

Credited as Aaron Sturtevant, Paul appeared during the Bob Barker hosted years of The Price Is Right. It’s kind of adorable just how excited he is to be called down and even more so to be touching THE Bob Barker. Paul is a ball of energy during his appearance and there are small hints of the Jesse Pinkman of early seasons of Breaking Bad. Sadly, he loses the Showcase Showdown by a tiny amount and can’t hide just how crestfallen he is.

Still, the future was bright for young Aaron Paul, so his Price Is Right loss isn’t so harsh in hindsight. The actor has been keeping busy since Breaking Bad ended, and in addition to giving Jesse an epilogue with El Camino, he recently played a major role in the third season of HBO’s Westworld. He’s next set to appear alongside Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) in sci-fi thriller Dual, about a woman who has to take down her own clone.

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About The Author


Padraig Cotter
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It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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