‘I accidentally forced the best TV show of 00s to get rewritten’

Breaking Bad has gone down in history as one of the best TV shows to have aired, but it turns out that bosses had to take on last minute rewrites at one point, changing a popular character’s storyline.

The gritty drama ran for five seasons between 2008 – 2013, and followed chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) as he becomes a drug kingpin with the help of former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), after being diagnosed with cancer.

It regularly tops the list as the best program of all time, and spawned sequel film El Camino, as well as an equally acclaimed prequel spin-off, Better Call Saul.

Christine Brennan has now lifted the lid on her own personal relationship with the series, explaining that she owned the house Jesse called home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and allowed the creators to film at her property.

During an appearance in The House From…, a new show taking fans through the front door of famous TV and movie homes, she shed light on what it was like share her space with some of the most popular characters on our screens.

However, she unwittingly managed to change the course of Breaking Bad completely when she decided to put her home on the market while season two was in production – a move which meant showrunner Vince Gilligan had to scramble to change certain plots.

‘Vince Gilligan wasn’t real happy to me when he found out I was selling the house mid-season,’ Christine said, via People Magazine. ‘He had already envisioned what the next season was going to be like and he had to shift gears.

‘He had to rewrite the script so that Jesse’s house would be sold, probably, in case the new owners didn’t allow the filming, which resulted in Jesse having to move elsewhere because the buyers of my house were going to be in the process of remodeling it.’

Before selling up, the school teacher was paid $500 for the day if anyone needed to come by, and $2,000 if they filmed – she was able to buy her son a car with the money she earned from giving Vince and co access.

Despite making the move shortly into the series filming, she also described it as a ‘privilege’ to share a huge part of her life with Breaking Bad fans over the years.

‘When I would watch the series and I’d see the portions inside the house, I’d say, “Yeah that’s Jesse’s house,” but it was my house. It’s where I raised my kids,’ she continued.

‘To me, it was also a place where we celebrated my mom’s 80th birthday. I had so many beautiful experiences — my mom and dad’s 50th wedding anniversary, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas. My dad’s birthday was always at my house with his oyster stew.

‘To me it’s a privilege to share the memories of what I had with the house with the fans of Jesse’s house.’

Christine’s remarks come after Joanne Quintana shared her experience with all things Breaking Bad, having owned the home used as Walter’s house.

Unlike Christine, Joanne didn’t sell up, meaning the cameras were on her property across all five seasons – but squashed any speculation that she earned ‘millions’ from opening her doors.  

‘People assume we made millions, millions off the show,’ she said during an interview with GeeEntertainment on TikTok. ‘We were not in the show so we did not get residuals, so we do not get compensated. We only got paid the location fee. A one-time fee. In and out. That’s it.’

She didn’t share the exact figure she was compensated, but explained that the family didn’t take much convincing as they were intrigued to see the ‘magic behind Hollywood’.

It hasn’t been all fun and games as they have been plagued with excitable fans since Breaking Bad first started airing in 2008.

Many have attempted to recreate Walter’s infamous meltdown where he threw an entire pizza on the roof, which really isn’t ideal for the owners.

Vince was previously forced to condemn viewers for this, fuming: ‘It is just not funny. It’s been done before. You are not the first.’

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