How Much Did Aaron Paul And Bryan Cranston Earn Per Episode On Breaking Bad?
Considering how much money Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul made during their five-year run on the award-winning TV series Breaking Bad, it’s understandable why the latter would insist that the show has ultimately changed his life. Not only has it opened the doors for both stars to carry on with successful careers in Hollywood, but it also earned them a fortune thanks to their lucrative contracts.
In 2013, TV Guide released its annual salary report of the highest-paid actors, personalities and hosts on television, and on that list were the notable mentions of Paul and Cranston, who made quite a fortune from the fifth and final series of the crime-drama, which included 16 episodes.
According to the report, Cranston, who already had an impressive resume before signing on for the show back in 2008, earned an incredible $225,000 per episode while his co-star was said to have earned $150,000. Paul’s sum is particularly interesting since he was supposed to be killed off at the end of season one.
But after the script was revised, not only did he reprise his role for the entire five seasons, he also starred in the Netflix spin-off flick, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story, which would have earned him another hefty sum.
How Much Did Aaron Paul And Bryan Cranston Earn On ‘Breaking Bad’?
For the fifth and final series, Branston, who already had a string of successful TV shows under his belt with The Louie Show, Eagle Riders, Seinfeld, and Malcolm in the Middle, earned the most money with $225,000 per episode.
It was said that Cranston’s salary matched the cast of How I Met Your Mother, who were believed to be making $200k-230k per episode while Damian Lewis was making a little more on Homeland with $250,000.
Paul, on the other hand, took home a whopping $150,000 for each episode and considering there were 16 episodes in the fifth season, the 41-year-old would have made $2.4 million for the entire series while his co-star walked away with $3.6 million. Quite impressive.
And while it’s been seven years since the final season wrapped, the show continued to hold a special place in Paul’s heart, who said in an interview with The Guardian that his entire life was changed the minute he signed up for the role of Jesse Pinkman.
“People were just so passionate, and wanted answers. Asking when the next series of Breaking Bad was gonna be – you can put that dream away – wanting to know what happens to Jesse. And what happened to Jesse. A lot of people will always see me as Jesse, and I take that as a compliment. The show was a game changer.”
“I lived and breathed every moment of his life that we saw, and then some. This is the role of a lifetime.”
In 2019, Paul went on to star in the Netflix original film, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie — a motion picture that continued the story of Jesse Pinkman right where the story left off in season five.
The project was secretly filmed in New Mexico for 50 days back in November 2019, and while there were rumours that a spin-off flick was headed to the streaming platform, the company chose not to disclose any information until the release of the film’s trailer in August 2019.
El Camino, which was produced with a $6 million budget, premiered on Netflix in October 2019 and received raving reviews for its gripping and exhilarating storyline, but it was never mentioned how much Paul was paid for his partake in the movie — considering that it’s Netflix though, who are known to spend a lot of money on its cast, he probably earned a substantial amount.
Speaking of the news that there were talks of a spin-off film in the works, Paul recalled the moment he found out the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan, wanted to bring him on board, telling Rolling Stone: “He told me that he wanted to follow Jesse post-Breaking Bad, post-escaping the neo-Nazi compound.
‘Are you interested in doing that?’ I told Vince, ‘I trust you with my life. So if it’s a story you want to tell, so I am happy to go on this journey with you.’ He told me, ‘I don’t want to do this film unless I truly believe it’s perfect. So I’ll get back to you when I finish writing it.” Seven months later, he gave me a call and said, ‘the script is done.’ And it’s pretty great.”
Some of the most noteworthy awards that Breaking Bad won during its five-year run on television include a Golden Globe award for Best TV Series - Drama in 2014 and a two-time consecutive Emmy win in 2013 and 2014 for Outstanding Drama Series.
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