I’ve come to a very sad realization that I can never be with Aaron Paul in real life. It’s not because I’m married (on the Freebie 5 physical limits do not exist), but because he loves concerts. I hate concerts. Could we overcome this obstacle? I just don’t know.
Promotion for the season 5 premiere of Breaking Bad this Sunday on AMC (set your DVR, yo!) is in high gear. Aaron’s latest interview with GQ is charming; he is charming. I love when celebrities talk about the little things—this is when they’re most revealing. Aaron discusses life after BB, having trouble finding the right scripts, and is actually honest about his early career:
“When I first started, I just wanted to work. I wouldn't necessarily do anything, but I'd pretty much almost do anything at the very beginning.”
He’s not going on about “the craft” or “his choices.” He’s basically saying he wanted to eat and he wanted to work and so he did some commercials. Don’t they all? But no one ever wants to remember that part.
The thing with Aaron is that he’s all love. When was the last time you heard an actor speak about his contemporaries this way? So…gushingly.
On Ryan Gosling: “I just really look up to the choices he makes. I think he's an incredible talent and would love to work with him.”
And Lainey will be pleased to know: “Tom Hardy is just—I mean, everybody in that movie [Warrior] was great.”
He name checks other tv shows (Dexter and Game of Thrones). He throws a teeny amount of shade at Entourage, he pays the cheque (talent never pays!), he talks about how he doesn’t ask for freebie tickets. He gives full credit to the writers and doesn’t claim to improvise Jesse’s unique vocabulary. He doesn’t go to Lakers games (but he knows how much seats cost). There’s a LOT to love here.
My favourite part of the interview is the interaction with Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson on Parks & Recreation). Aaron runs into Offerman in the lobby bar and they start talking about trying to score tickets to Kristen Wiig’s final SNL show. It’s funny and like the interviewer points out, you really see the incremental levels of celebrity when something is in high demand. To us, Nick Offerman and Aaron Paul would be equals on the fame scale. But to other famous people, they aren’t. Nick got tickets, Aaron didn’t. (To be fair, Aaron didn’t beg and Nick is also married to an actress, Megan Mullally, which helps.)
And on the personal side, Aaron’s in manic love with his fiancé:
“The moment that happened—even leading up to the kiss on the Ferris wheel, I couldn't imagine myself being without her. Because just the idea of doing this all the time was such a fantasy of mine—I was like, "Wait, can this actually exist?" I don't know—maybe this is just one those crazy, whirlwind Coachella romances that you always hear about.”
Are crazy Coachella romances a thing? Or is that code for high people f-cking in the desert? Whatever it is, for Aaron, it’s l-o-v-e and they are planning a wedding. (Yes I’m letting the Ferris wheel and EKG tattoo slide because he’s sensitive, ok?)
But there is a little piece of the interview that worried me, even if it was a joke. The interviewer asks, “Without giving away whatever you can't give away, does it—” and Aaron responds, “Jesse dies.”
The interviewer just continues on with a reference to Lost and it’s laughed off. But what if it’s true? I mean, if you are a fan, you need to prepare for Jesse and/or Walt dying. It could happen. At this point, I don’t see how there could ever be a happily ever after for Jesse.
July 15. Almost there.
Click here to read the full GQ piece on Aaron Paul and to see more photos.
