Better Call Saul Director Explains Why They Didn’t Try To De-Age Aaron Paul Or Bryan Cranston

The Breaking Bad x Better Call Saul crossover event has finally happened and fans have praised it as amazing.

Viewers were particularly thrilled at seeing Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston getting back into their characters of Jesse Pinkman and Walter White.

While it was epic, some were a little surprised that no effort was made to de-age the two stars.

The crossover happened at a point where Paul and Cranston were meant to be much younger than they are now and it was very evident when we saw them on the small screen.

Loads of people posted online saying that it was jarring to see the actors playing younger versions of themselves.

They really should have used some type of deep fake or de-aging for Jesse because Aaron Paul looks good but we can all tell he is in his 40’s now lol. pic.twitter.com/ESTiFBW8w9

— CAPTAIN_117 (@captain_117) August 2, 2022

42 year old aaron paul playing jesse pinkman pic.twitter.com/oK1TaHNYQJ

— sam (@lilgooninn) August 2, 2022

Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: "They really should have used some type of deep fake or de-aging for Jesse because Aaron Paul looks good but we can all tell he is in his 40’s now lol."

Another said: "Love how they used every lighting trick in the book to hide the fact that Aaron Paul is like 45 years old lmao."

A third added: "Incredibly funny watching 42 year old Aaron Paul trying to pretend to be a 24 year old Jesse Pinkman."

Well, the writer and director of the episode has explained why they didn't bother with de-ageing technology for the episode titled 'Breaking Bad'.

Thomas Schnauz told Variety that there's only so much you can do before it starts looking silly.

"We don’t do a ton of de-aging on the show," he said.

"There’s a little bit of stuff on the guys’ faces to take a few lines out here and there, but other than that, Aaron is not going to look like an 18-year-old kid or however old Jesse was during this time period."

He added: "I do sort of dread people cutting this scene into the world of Breaking Bad and trying to match the way they look then and now, but it’s not something you can worry too much about.

"It is what it is.

"We’re telling a story and you can roll with it or you start picking at: 'He looks much older than he did in the original scene'.

"We decided to go for it, and I’m glad we did."

He said there wasn't even a concrete plan to have Cranston and Paul reprise their iconic characters for the final season of Better Call Saul, even though it would be criminal if they didn't.

Schnauz said the two actors had a small window where they could both be on set and the crew leapt at the opportunity.