--- title: Breaking Bad: How Bryan Cranston Pranked Aaron Paul description: Aaron Paul regaled fans with a hilarious behind-the-scenes story during Breaking Bad's 10th-anniversary panel at San Diego Comic-Con. canonical: https://time.com/5344106/breaking-bad-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul-prank/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-20T15:09:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:35:04.306Z og:title: Bryan Cranston Pulled Meanest Prank on Aaron Paul og:description: No one was safe from Heisenberg when they were doing Breaking Bad og:url: https://time.com/5344106/breaking-bad-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul-prank/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c2243ed8aa9d0d/698854b8e20a873252a8bda0/breaking-bad.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1867 og:image:height: 1050 og:image:alt: breaking-bad og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bryan Cranston Pulled Meanest Prank on Aaron Paul twitter:description: No one was safe from Heisenberg when they were doing Breaking Bad twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c2243ed8aa9d0d/698854b8e20a873252a8bda0/breaking-bad.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bryan Cranston Used to Pull the Most Walter White Prank on Aaron Paul During _Breaking Bad_ > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=cba31a42-b0c9-4841-b5f9-9b86decfdc28&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 5 Reasons TV's Top Shows Are So Addictive [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Reasons TV's Top Shows Are So Addictive](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2RqNgPrk.m3u8) (2:16)  _Published 2014-01-16. Here's a look at how our favorite TV shows—from "Game of Thrones" to "Scandal" and "Breaking Bad"—keep us coming back for more._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jul 20, 2018 3:09 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jul 20, 2018 3:09 PM UTC Not only did [Aaron Paul](http://time.com/4657850/aaron-paul-price-is-right/) dress his baby daughter up in a [mini hazmat suit](https://people.com/babies/aaron-paul-daughter-breaking-bad-costume-comic-con/) for [_Breaking Bad_‘s 10th-anniversary](http://time.com/5094038/breaking-bad-walter-white-transformation/) panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, but he also regaled fans with a hilarious behind-the-scenes story from the award-winning drama. After explaining that showrunner [Vince Gilligan](http://time.com/5342957/breaking-bad-vince-gilligan-walt-jr-kill/) had told him that the writers originally planned to kill off Jesse at the end of season one, Paul revealed that co-star Bryan Cranston frequently used this information to convince him his character was done for. “He came up to me the first time he did it and just gives me a really long, exaggerated hug. He’s just not letting me go \[and I’m like\], ‘What’s going on?'” Paul said. “He’s like, ‘Hey, man, it’s been a fun ride.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He’s like, ‘I thought you read the script, right?’ \[I was like,\] ‘No.’ He’s like, ‘Oh,’ and then he just walks away. And I run into the production office, and I’m like, ‘Where’s the script?!’ And they’re like, ‘It’s not available yet,’ and I’m like, ‘Please, god, tell me.’ And then I read it and I was alive still.”  Aaron Paul (L) and Bryan Cranston speak onstage during the 'Breaking Bad' 10th Anniversary Celebration during Comic-Con International 2018 on July 19, 2018 in San Diego, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images Paul went on to recount another instance where Cranston pranked him into thinking Jesse was not long for this world. “There was another time where they did a fitting \[and said\], ‘We need to measure you for the coffin.’ \[I’m like,\] ‘A coffin?’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, you don’t know about it?’ ## Transcript >> President of the United States that I will faithfully execute the office. >> Power is a lot like real estate. It's all about location, location, location. Closer you are to the source, the higher your property value. Centuries from now when people watch this footage, who will they see smiling just at the edge of the frame? >> So help me God. >> Congratulations. >> Sherlock! >> Just stop it. Stop this. >> Mr. President-- >> Uh- huh. >> We can't. We can't >> We can. >> Look around you. Look where we are. This can't happen. Not anymore. >> I think it could happen right there on that desk. -[ unk ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5344106/breaking-bad-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul-prank/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5344106/breaking-bad-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul-prank/"},"headline":"Bryan Cranston Used to Pull the Most Walter White Prank on Aaron Paul During Breaking Bad","datePublished":"2018-07-20T15:09:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T09:35:04.306Z","description":"No one was safe from Heisenberg","url":"https://time.com/5344106/breaking-bad-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul-prank/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","breaking bad","TV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c2243ed8aa9d0d/698854b8e20a873252a8bda0/breaking-bad.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1c2243ed8aa9d0d/698854b8e20a873252a8bda0/breaking-bad.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"breaking-bad","caption":"Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) and Walter White (Bryan Cranston) - Breaking Bad _Season 5 - Photo Credit: Frank Ockenfels/AMC","creditText":"Frank Ockenfels—AMC","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5344106/breaking-bad-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul-prank/","name":"Bryan Cranston Used to Pull the Most Walter White Prank on Aaron Paul During Breaking Bad"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Reasons TV's Top Shows Are So Addictive","description":"Here's a look at how our favorite TV shows—from \"Game of Thrones\" to \"Scandal\" and \"Breaking Bad\"—keep us coming back for more.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/2RqNgPrk/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-01-16T20:47:22.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2RqNgPrk.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5344106/breaking-bad-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul-prank/","duration":"PT2M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5344106/breaking-bad-bryan-cranston-aaron-paul-prank/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```