by senior contributor Brendan Kownacki
Photo credit: Brendan Kownacki
“Hopefully we will be good guests,” said Bryan Cranston at the donation ceremony for show artifacts from Breaking Bad to the Smithsonian. “Somebody already took your hat I noticed,” he joked about his quick grab for the iconic hat that his character Walter White would wear when taking on his alter-ego, Heisenberg.
Bryan Cranston
The afternoon was one full of memories and jokes and a look down memory lane for cast and crew of the hit show as props were inducted into the Smithsonian collection at the American History Museum. The award-winning drama from Sony Pictures Television and AMC aired for five seasons and captured the attention of audiences and critics for being a different type of show than people were used to, pushing the envelope for what you saw on TV.
The show followed Cranston as Walter White who is a chemistry teacher in New Mexico, and that’s pretty much where the ‘normal’ stops. White receives a terminal cancer diagnosis and in an effort to secure financial security for his family before he dies, White decides to put his chemistry knowledge to use by making and selling methamphetamine with his former student Jesse Pinkman (played by Aaron Paul).
Aaron Paul
Breaking Bad seems to be the major success that almost wasn’t. Paul noted that the show changed his life, as it did for most involved and cited many years of ups and downs leading up to this show. “Right before Breaking Bad, I wasn’t able to pay my rent, pay my bills,” and he questioned whether it was time to give up on the dream he had been pursuing since moving to Hollywood at age 17. Luckily he pushed on and gave us the character of Jesse Pinkman, calling it “easily the greatest script I’ve ever read.” Cranston was also almost a no-go; he was waiting at the time to find out if his hit comedy “Malcolm in the Middle” would be renewed for another season and if it had, he would never had joined Breaking Bad. “I honestly thought Breaking Bad would never even get made,” said series creator Vince Gilligan, but luckily fate seems to have brought the group together in the right place at the right time.
Vince Gilligan
All the uncertainty leading up the the show certainly fits with the theme of White’s alter-ego Heisenberg who coined the uncertainty principle; so it’s very fitting for the Heisenberg hat to be one of the collection pieces. Also being added into the collection were two Tyvek suits and gas masks used by the characters during their meth operations and small bags of “blue sky” meth. The baggies of drugs themselves led to a number of jokes from crew and curators about what circumstances brought meth (actually rock candy) into the Smithsonian’s national collection.
Aaron Paul, Vince Gilligan, Bryan Cranston
“The pioneering efforts of Breaking Bad explores the ambivalence of the contemporary American dream, where good and evil intermix and there are no moral absolutes,” explained Dwight Blocker Bowers, curator for the National Museum of American History about the cultural effect of the show. Not only did the show capture audiences and set the Guinness world record for the highest rated show, but it also marveled critics and earned 16 EMMY Awards during its run. With a spot in the Smithsonian exhibit serving as one final ‘trophy’ on the mantel, the cast and crew marked it surreal to see their props join a collection that already includes Fonzie’s jacket from Happy Days, Archie Bunker’s chair from All in the Family among many more. Also surreal is knowing the tours (including children) that will walk the museum halls to take in the cultural legacy. “I don’t know that school kids should be paying too much attention to Breaking Bad,” added Vince Gilligan. “I hope they watch it, but not until they’re a fair bit older.”
John Gray, Director, National Museum of American History
For more about the museum and its exhibits, visit http://americanhistory.si.edu/
Now hear the cast and crew talk about being inducted into the Smithsonian:
