It was a Breaking Bad reunion at the 2024 SAG Awards on Saturday, and this time, they could use NSFW language.
Presenting the award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Jonathan Banks, Betsy Brandt, Dean Norris, Bob Odenkirk, RJ Mitte and Anna Gunn appeared arm in arm on stage a full decade after their hit AMC show came to an end.
“10 years ago, we were proud to receive the SAG Award for Ensemble in a Drama Series,” said Cranston, 67, who starred as the formidable and downright daunting Walter White. “Tonight, we’re thrilled to bestow it on another group of actors.”
Things quickly went off the rails from there, with Gunn — who played Skyler White, the wife of Cranston’s character — starting a “cheesy” bit where the cast was to go through each letter from the word “ensemble” and break it out individually.
“Ensemble – the E stands for the excellence that each cast member brings to every exciting episode,” Gunn, 55, said before Odenkirk, 61, chimed in.
“And the letter N… N stands for no, no f**king way I’m going to do this cheesy thing where you say each letter of the word. I’m not doing it,” the Better Call Saulstar replied.
“I think we have to, it’s on the teleprompter,” replied Paul, 44, the actor behind the role of Jesse Pinkman in the series.
“Teleprompter my a**, I got a beer and a couple shots backstage, so let’s get this thing going,” interrupted Norris, 60, who played Hank Schrader.
“Bob’s right,” shared Mitte, 31. “My grandmother wouldn’t even put this on a pillow, it’s so cheesy.”
“Listen, you guys – I don’t mean to start T for trouble, but what do you think SAG would do to us if we didn’t do this?” Brandt, 50, retorted before Banks, 77, chimed in.
“They can’t fire us, so f**k ’em,” Banks said before Cranston replied quickly, “That’s the true ensemble spirit.”
Ultimately, the group passed the torch to the cast of HBO’s Succession, which ended its four-season run in 2023 and snagged a staggering 75 Emmy nominations and 19 wins overall.
Breaking Bad, which ran for five seasons, received similar praise throughout its 2008 to 2013 run, racking up 58 Emmy nominations and 16 total statues from the Television Academy.
The 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards took place on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET and streamed live on Netflix from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles. Follow along at ETonline.com for full coverage from the awards show, including red-carpet arrivals, winners and more.
