Breaking Bad writer admits they would have changed one cast member and fans are stunned
Breaking Bad writer Thomas Schnauz has shared the one cast member they had hoped to swap out towards the end of the show, and fans were stunned by the alternative he put forward
A writer for the hit TV show Breaking Bad has shared the one cast member they would have replaced.
Thomas Schnauz, the veteran screenwriter who also boasts credits on the spin-off show Better Call Saul, Man in the High Castle and X-Files, took to Twitter/X to share the news with fans of the Bryan Cranston-led drama. Viewers of the show were left stunned as Schnauz shared who their first choice was for one of the smaller roles in the show, a character with a massive knock-on effect for later seasons.
Fans are now calling the would-be casting choice “nuts” and say their original choice would have been “perfect” for the role.
Appearing in an interview, Schnauz said Werner Herzog would have been his first pick to play Peter Schuler. He said: We hoped he would play the head of Madrigal (Schuler) in Breaking Bad, but we couldn’t get him.”
Instead, the antagonist was played by Norbert Weisser in the episode ‘Madrigal’. Weisser’s other acting credits include Schindler’s List, Hocus Pocus, and The Laundromat. But it seems writer Schnauz and the crew had first gone to Herzog and offered him the chance to appear in the hit crime drama.
Though he passed up on Breaking Bad, Herzog, 82, was kept busy around that time. The Grizzly Man and Fitzcarraldo director later appeared in an episode of the comedy programme Parks and Recreation and as well as the Star Wars spin-off show, The Mandalorian.
If you don’t like talking to Werner Herzog, you don’t like interesting people. Or things. Or places. Loved our conversation, which touched on Klaus Kinski, cell phones, hubris, Mick Jagger, fearlessness, playing villains, the San Diego Botanical Garden, and knock ‘em out romance. https://t.co/0Lf2mgCBrv
— Ben Mankiewicz (@BenMank77) December 24, 2024
Fans would have loved to have seen Herzog in Breaking Bad, if the replies to Schnauz’s post are anything to go by. One wrote: “Wow! He would have been perfect! No offense to Norbert Weisser, who did a great job. But Werner Herzog is SO charismatic!”
Another wrote: “This is an absolute crazy revelation, but my goodness would’ve Herzog been perfect…” A third added: “That would’ve been nuts.” Fans of the show have more than a few strange casting choices on their hands already, with comedians appearing for serious roles throughout the six series.
Both Bill Burr and DJ Qualls featured on the show in various capacities while Cranston, who plays lead character Walter White, had spent years before the making of Breaking Bad as a comic foil on the show Malcolm in the Middle. Cranston was cast in the show by Vince Gilligan, who had previously worked with Cranston while writing for The X-Files.
