Bryan Cranston has offered a firm defense of Skyler White, the character played by Anna Gunn in the critically acclaimed series Breaking Bad. Despite the show's massive success, Gunn’s character was frequently the target of intense fan vitriol, a phenomenon that has long puzzled both the cast and the show's creators.
A Misguided Hostility
The conversation arose during an appearance on Hot Ones Versus, where Cranston was joined by his former Malcolm In The Middle co-star, Frankie Muniz. During the discussion, Muniz admitted that he had struggled to sympathize with Skyler while watching the show, stating, "I wanted to kill Skyler to make your life easier. You were such a bad guy, you could've just gotten rid of her. All she did was complain."
Cranston, however, was quick to challenge this perspective. "Now, see, she got a lot of blowback from that," he noted. "Well, first of all, Anna Gunn is a superb actor, but she got, ‘Oh, why don’t you get off his back?’ Wait a minute."
He continued, "Let me understand this. Her husband leaves without any explanation, she’s pregnant, he’s making crystal methamphetamine and people have died. And she’s the bitch? Like, we couldn’t understand."
The Complexity of the Character
The backlash against Skyler White has been a subject of discussion for years. In 2013, Anna Gunn penned an op-ed for the New York Times, highlighting that her character had become a "flash point" for societal feelings regarding strong, non-submissive women. She later described the reaction as "very bizarre" and rooted in a combination of sexism and the audience's deep, visceral connection to Walter White.
Show creator Vince Gilligan has also expressed his frustration with the treatment of the character. Speaking to The New Yorker, he stated, "Skyler, the character, did nothing to deserve that. And Anna certainly did nothing to deserve that. She played the part beautifully."
By reframing the narrative, Cranston and Gilligan underscore the brilliance of the show's writing, which forced audiences to confront their own biases when faced with a protagonist who was simultaneously a villain.