What are the most unforgettable scenes in the entire “Breaking Bad” franchise? Fans will probably picture the image of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) brandishing a gun in his underwear, or the dramatic Lily of the Valley reveal. Of course, we would be remiss not to mention the pizza scene.
In this scene, Walt brings a pizza to his wife Skylar (Anna Gunn), who has just divorced her husband after discovering he has been cooking meth. Walt assumes that Skylar will welcome him back with open arms if he shows up with a smile and a pizza. Naturally, this does not go the way he hopes. After Skylar shuts him out, Walt grows angry, and mid-tantrum, he flings the whole pizza onto the roof, where it sits rotting in the hot sun until the next episode.
Vince Gilligan never expected this “Breaking Bad” moment to be such a big deal, but it instantly became iconic. So iconic, in fact, that many fans have made the journey to the Albuquerque home where the show was filmed to throw pizzas on the roof. The move is so random, so unexpected, that some fans assume it must have been improvised. How could anyone have planned that? However, in one interview, Bryan Cranston finally settled the question once and for all.
Bryan Cranston’s pizza scene was carefully planned
According to Bryan Cranston, the pizza scene from “Breaking Bad” was not improvised. In fact, it had already been in the script. It turns out that throwing a pizza onto a roof is hard, so a lot of planning went into this scene.
For this sequence, the show’s creators found the biggest pizzas in Albuquerque and ordered at least ten of them, specifically requesting that the pizza parlor not cut them into slices (so it would be easier for Cranston to throw them like a frisbee). No doubt they anticipated it might take ten pizzas to get the shot perfectly right.
In a behind-the-scenes interview, Cranston said it didn’t occur to him until it came time to shoot the scene how challenging that would be. He recalled thinking, “I’ve got to get it up there?” Cranston told “The Rich Eisen Show,” “I’m holding this thing with two arms, thinking, ‘Why did you put every topping on top of this? This is heavy as hell.'” And yet, by some miracle, Cranston nailed it on the first take. “I heard … gasps,” Cranston said, “but I continued the scene –- I didn’t look at it –- I got in the car and drove away.” Afterward, the actor elaborated that the crew told him, “You could not have placed it any better.”
Everything about Breaking Bad is intentional
Cranston’s performance is so convincing that we can see why fans thought it was improvised. It really looks like a spontaneous reaction, like he tossed the pizza having no idea where it would land. However, the truth is that nothing in “Breaking Bad” is accidental; every aspect of the show is intentional. From the colors of each character’s wardrobe to all the foreshadowing for the Lily of the Valley twist, everything is there for a reason. The creators of “Breaking Bad” put so much care into even the tiniest details.
Perhaps nothing better shows this than a detail that only true fans will notice in “Breaking Bad” Season 4, where Jesse (Aaron Paul) asks why the pizza he ordered isn’t cut into slices. His friend Badger (Matt Jones) explains, “They don’t cut the pizza, and they pass the savings on to you.” This is more than just a throwaway joke –- it actually patches up a plothole from the previous season that fans pointed out. Knowing that fans would wonder why Walt’s pizza didn’t fall apart when he threw it on the roof, Vince Gilligan included this detail to explain why the pizza stayed in one piece (because Venezia’s Pizza never cuts its pizzas). If that’s not a dedicated attention to detail, then we don’t know what is.