Anna Gunn is simply stunning in the recently released Apple TV series, Sugar. Not only does the actress do an incredible job, but it seems refreshing to see her once again on the screen, for it has been a while since she was last seen there. It was the script of the Colin Farrell-starrer series that eventually made her say yes to the show.
While she enjoyed working along with Farrell and the rest of the talented cast, the set also turned into a small impromptu reunion with her Breaking Bad cast and crew. In a recent interview, while discussing the said reunion, the actress also made some remarks about the hate she received for her Breaking Bad character and how people’s perception of Skyler has changed.
Anna Gunn Was The Subject of Brutal Trolling Due to Her Breaking Bad Character
Anna Gunn played Skyler, the wife of the show’s protagonist, Walter White. While White was busy producing methamphetamine and descending further into the life of crime, Skyler was the only voice of reason who opposed the trade and stood courageously against her husband’s lies and actions.
This resulted in the character becoming one of the most-hated characters in the history of TV, and Gunn was, thus, the subject of brutal trolling. Back when the series’ final season was airing, the actress even wrote a New York Times op-ed detailing her experience and the problematic actions of fans.
“My character, to judge from the popularity of Web sites and Facebook pages devoted to hating her, has become a flash point for many people’s feelings about strong, nonsubmissive, ill-treated women. As the hatred of Skyler blurred into loathing for me as a person, I saw glimpses of an anger that, at first, simply bewildered me.”
Stating that she had never imagined that such a role would spell this amount of hatred from fans, Gunn had written in 2013 that the problem was more with fans being unable to stand a woman who won’t stand with her husband and their traditional (and problematic) notion of women and wives.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress revealed that she is still proud of what she had written over a decade ago and still stands by it. Yet, she also revealed that people’s perception of Skyler has changed over time.
Anna Gunn States People’s Perception of Skyler Has Changed
When Anna Gunn sat down with The Hollywood Reporter recently, the world was very different than the one when Breaking Bad was still airing on TV. Although not as changed and transformed as much as we would like, the fans and netizens have certainly gained a sensibility when it comes to Gunn’s Breaking Bad character, Skyler.
After years of brutal trolling and even facing homicidal threats, some of which she even described as eye-opening and transformative (via EW), the Emmy-winning actress remarked to THR that fans’ perception of her character has changed.
“And now, when people come up to me, it’s incredibly different because of all the seismic changes that have happened. There’s still a long way to go, but we really have made seismic changes since then. So people come up to me now and say, ‘You were the linchpin for me. You were the conscience of the show. You were what pulled me into the show.’ Or they say, ‘The first time I watched it, I hated that character. But the second time I watched it, I realized, ‘Oh my God, that poor woman.'”
While Gunn battling all the hate and threats is praise-worthy, it must have been hard for her. Yet it is baffling and compelling to see how the audience’s perception has changed over the years, and it is only Gunn’s persistence and incredible portrayal that has made it all possible.
Breaking Bad can be streamed on Netflix.
