The 2023 role Aaron Paul manifested a decade in advance: “It would be so much fun”
Actor Aaron Paul, best known for playing Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad, revealed in a resurfaced 2014 interview with The Wrap that he was a huge fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and dreamed of appearing on the show. His wish came true in 2023 when he guest-starred alongside former Breaking Bad co-star Bryan Cranston in an episode of the long-running sitcom, fulfilling a prediction he had made almost a decade earlier.
In the 2014 interview, Paul called It's Always Sunny "a phenomenal show" and said he would relish doing something "light-hearted" after the intensity of Breaking Bad. Nine years later, he and Cranston appeared in the episode "Celebrity Booze: The Ultimate Cash Grab," in which the show's characters mistake Paul for a grown-up Frankie Muniz and try to rope the pair into promoting an alcohol brand; the episode received strong reviews, particularly for its use of the two Breaking Bad stars.
- Aaron Paul wished to join It's Always Sunny in a 2014 interview
- He achieved this in 2023, appearing with Bryan Cranston
- The episode drew praise for its Breaking Bad star cameos
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Aaron Paul is an American actor who rose to fame as Jesse Pinkman in the crime drama Breaking Bad, a role that won him widespread acclaim and several Emmy awards. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a long-running comedy series known for its dark, absurdist humour, quite different in tone from the show that made Paul famous.
Back in 2014, Paul spoke publicly about being a fan of the sitcom and said he would love to appear in it one day, partly as a change of pace after the heavy subject matter of Breaking Bad. That comment went largely unnoticed at the time but has since resurfaced given what happened years later.
The story matters because it touches on the enduring connection between Paul and his former Breaking Bad co-star Bryan Cranston, who played Walter White, as well as the pair's willingness to send up their most famous roles by appearing together in a very different kind of show.