Aaron Paul

Posted on by Tony CrawleyCategories:Actors

 

  1. Christopher Masterson, Malcolm in the Middle, TV, 2000-2006.  The former usher at Hollywood’s  Universal Studios movie theatre lost  the role of Francis  – the Wilkersons’ first born. His father would have been his future Breaking Bad TV co-star Bryan Cranston.

  2. Jai Courtney, A Good Day To Die Hard, 2012.   Justin Timberlake was first chosen for our hero John McClane’s son, Jack, in Live Free or Die Hard, 2006, aka Hard 4. Jack was axed and kept in the Fox fridge until Hard 5. By the time that was ready six years later, Timberlake was gone and the new candidates for McHero Jr were: DJ Cotrona, Jai Courtney James Badge Dale, Shiloh Fernandez, Ben Foster, Liam Hemsworth, Steven R McQueen (the grandson), Milo Ventimiglia, Paul Walker. And Paul, the terrific Breaking Bad breakthrough. 

  3. Benjamin Walker, The Missionary, TV, 2013.     Forgiving him for the rubbish called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Mark Wahlberg sanctioned Walker as the hero of his Closest to the Hole production for HBO about the 1960s Cold War in East Berlin.  Paul, the Emmy-winning Breaking Bad find, preferred the street-racing hero of DreamWorks’ Need For Speed.

  4. Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy, 2013.  The most Lucasian of the Marvel films…     All the usual prerequisites were the (crowded)  battle of new Hollywood guys for Peter Quill/Star Lord…  Seven TV finds (Paul, Pratt, Cam Gigandet, Jack Huston, John Krasinski, James Marsden, Lee Pace), three science fiction favourites (Jensen Ackles, Garrett Hedlund,  Michael Rosenbaum), a couple of  triples (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Logan Marshall-Green), two  hot Brits (Eddie Redmayne, Jim Sturgess),  two Aussies (Joel Edgerton, Sullivan Stapleton), two total  outsiders (Chris Lowell and Glenn Howerton). And an ex-hottie on the comeback trail (Wes Bentley).
  5. Dominic Cooper, Need For Speed, 2013.    Exec producer Steven Spielberg was binge-watching  Breaking Bad  and decided Paul should be the lead, not the villain.   Spielberg’s 1984 production of  The Goonies inspired Paul to leave Idaho and become an actor.
  6. Jake Gyllenhaal, Southpaw, 2014.     When Paul was “circling” Kurt Sutter’s boxing drama, they also discussed the possibility of the Breaking Bad find guesting in an epsiode of Sutter’s hit series, Sons of Anarchy. “But dude’s booked up to 2048.”
  7. Diego Luna, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, 2015.    Candidates for Cassian Andor also included Sam Claflin (Hunger Games’ Finnick Odair), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad’sJKesse) and Edgar Ramirez (aka Carlos). Buit it was Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwewho finally spoke the line as first penned by George Lucas in 1976:    “May the Force of others be with you.”

 

 

 Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls:  7