Better Call Saul director addresses fan complaints over Breaking Bad cameo in latest episode

Better Call Saul writer and director Thomas Schnauz has responded to a common fan complaint regarding Aaron Paul’s recent cameo.

Paul appeared in the series’ latest episode, entitled “Breaking Bad”, reprising his role of Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad alongside Bryan Cranston’s Walter White.

However, while it was well-received by many fans, the cameo prompted a lot of discussion about the decision not to use digital de-aging technology on Paul, who at 42 years old now looks much older than his character was supposed to be.

Speaking to Variety, Schnauz, who also worked on Breaking Bad, addressed this idea.

“We don’t do a ton of de-aging on the show,” he said. “There’s a little bit of stuff on the guys’ faces to take a few lines out here and there, but other than that, Aaron is not going to look like an 18-year-old kid or however old Jesse was during this time period.”

He continued: “I do sort of dread people cutting this scene into the world of Breaking Bad and trying to match the way they look then and now, but it’s not something you can worry too much about.

“It is what it is. We’re telling a story and you can roll with it or you start picking at: ‘He looks much older than he did in the original scene’. We decided to go for it, and I’m glad we did.”

Monday night’s (1 August) episode of Better Call Saul also delighted Breaking Bad fans by providing a long-awaited update on the fate of one fan-favourite character.