Throughout Breaking Bad‘s entirety, Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman serves as the show’s punching bag, who kept finding himself in the most vicious situations following his partnership with Walter White. From being beaten down by Hank to being held captive by the neo-nazis in season 5 and witnessing his love interest die, one can’t help but feel awful over Pinkman’s heartwrenching story.
But it wasn’t only the character who took a heavy beatdown, as back in season 2 of Breaking Bad, the Black Mirror actor was gravely injured on the sets after a stunt went wrong.
Aaron Paul Got Injured for Real in the Hands of Tuco
Despite having a limited run in Breaking Bad, Raymond Cruz’s Tuco became one of the show’s most beloved villains, who eventually gets taken down in the second episode of Breaking Bad season 2. But before falling to his demise, he did put Aaron Paul‘s Jesse Pinkman through the wringer, however, the scene didn’t exactly pan out the way they wanted, as Paul was injured for real. Reflecting on the beatdown, Paul explained that he suffered a concussion after being slammed down through the door, but the crew and Cruz weren’t aware of it and thought he was only acting.
The actor eventually blacked out and woke up with a swollen eye and was eventually rushed to the hospital. He explained during his Reddit AMA:
“The next thing I know, I guess I blacked out and I woke up to a flashlight in our eyes and it was our medic,” Paul continued. “And then I hopped up acting like nothing wrong, but it appeared like I was drunk, and I kept saying, ‘Let’s finish the scene’ but then my eye started swelling shut so they took me to the hospital.”
At the very least, the episode Grilled did end up becoming a banger in the process, putting a great ending to Raymond Cruz’s short but memorable run in Breaking Bad.
The Breaking Bad Super Bowl Commercial Felt Like a Return to Home for Raymond Cruz
While he was one of the most intimidating figures from the Salamanca family, thankfully, Raymond Cruz is nothing like his Breaking Bad persona and seems like a pretty wholesome guy in real life. Although it has been over a decade since he parted ways with Breaking Bad, joining forces with Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston to film the PopCorners Super Bowl ad was a return to home for Cruz. He told Showbiz CheatSheet:
“It was as if we had never left. It was a bit surreal to be able to step back into this world and have it be so familiar after such a long time”
Despite suffering a the hands of Tuco, Walter White, and the neo-nazis, Aaron Paul’s Jesse eventually gets his deserved ending in El Camino, succeeding in kickstarting a new life for himself.
Breaking Bad is available to stream on Netflix.
Source: Aaron Paul | Reddit AMA, Showbiz CheatSheet
