Breaking bronze.
New statues of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul as their Breaking Bad characters were put on display in the Albuquerque Convention Center on July 29 in New Mexico.
Sculpted by artist Trevor Grove and cast in bronze by American Fine Arts Foundry, the figures depict Cranston’s Walter White—a New Mexico-based high-school science teacher-turned-crystal meth cook—in his bald Heisenberg phase, holding his infamous bowler hat, and Paul’s Jesse Pickmam—White’s former student turned business partner—in his signature hoodie and jacket combo. The statues were commissioned in 2019 by Sony Pictures Television.
Both stars were in attendance for the unveiling ceremony along with other members of the Breaking Bad family, including Dean Norris (who played DEA agent Hank Schrader) and the show’s creator Vince Gilligan. Several cast members of Better Call Saul—a prequel series also created by Gilligan—as well as the mayor of Albuquerque Tim Keller, were also in attendance.
At the ceremony, Gilligan said he recognized that the statues of “two fictional, infamous meth dealers” could be controversial, but insisted the tribute was well-deserved.
