As Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul kept audiences riveted for five seasons ofBreaking Bad.By the time the show came to an end in 2013, it had become one of themost highly acclaimed shows of all time. Later appearances onBetter Call SaulandEl Caminoas White and Pinkman solidified Cranston’s and Paul’s associations with the roles so much so that it’s hard to even think about another actor playing the characters.
However, a different actor fromGossip Girlnearly played Jesse Pinkman.Gossip Girlhad six seasonsof its own, all of which featuredPenn Badgleyas Daniel Humphrey.Gossip Girlfirst aired in 2007, andBreaking Baddebuted the following year. It’s difficult to think about how both shows might have looked if things had gone very, very differently for Badgley.
Penn Badgley Called the Role of Jesse Pinkman “The One That Got Away”
Whenspeaking withBuzzfeedin 2023, Penn Badgley responded to a question about what role fans might be surprised to learn he auditioned for but didn’t get with a truly astonishing revelation. According to Badgley,“One I got close on wasBreaking Bad. It was between me and Aaron Paul, we tested.“Badgley continued, “Actually, that was the best television script I’d read at that point. That was the one that got away.”
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But even Paul wasn’t the obvious choice to play Pinkman. Vince Gilligan, the man behindBreaking Bad,toldThe Hollywood Reporterthere was concern that Paul was too old and a “pretty boy,” thus making him an unrealistic choice for a meth dealer. When Paul heard, he was surprised, recalling, “I had never gotten that in my entire life.”
Penn Badgley Initially Dismissed the Idea of Being on ‘Gossip Girl’
Penn Badgley’s casting onGossip Girlwasn’t an easy path. Badgley worked withGossip Girl’swriter and producer Stephanie Savage on the short-lived WB showThe Mountain.Badgley toldVulturein 2012 that he had done a lot of television but initially dismissed the idea ofbeing onGossip Girl:
“I’m just like … I’m done, dude. Look, I absolutely appreciate the opportunity it’s been. I wouldn’t be here withoutGossip Girl, so I will always be in debt and grateful. And I’ve said some sh*t that … I don’t regret it, but I’m just maybe too honest about it sometimes. But the reason I turned it down initially was because I was just frustrated. I was frustrated and I was broke and I was depressed and I was like,I cannot do that again. I can’t.”
Where Is the Cast of ‘Gossip Girl’ Today?
The CW’s Gossip Girl launched the careers of beloved actors like Blake Lively and Penn Badgley. Here’s a look at where the cast is today.
He continued:
“But then my parents and my managers, they let me come to my own conclusion, but they were like ‘You need this, man. It’s not your thing, it’s not your bag, but …’ Stephanie Savage, the creator [ofGossip Girl], she said to me, ‘I know you might not want to do this again, but just take a look at it.’ And I actually was like, ‘I appreciate so much that you thought of me. I just don’t want to do this. Thank you for understanding that I wouldn’t want to do this.’ And then they couldn’t find anybody for it — which is weird, because a million people couldplay Dan Humphrey— andshe came back around, I was about to get a job as a waiter, and I was like, ‘Okay.‘You know?”
It sounds like Badgley would’ve been much more creatively fulfilled working onBreaking Bad, but it doesn’t get much more iconic than playing the titularGossip Girl.
Breaking Bad
