Chancey Bush/AP
Bryan Cranston, left, and Aaron Paul, right, stand next to statues of their meth-cooker characters during the Breaking Bad unveiling in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Bronze statues of mythical methamphetamine cookers Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were installed at a convention center in Albuquerque to celebrate the Breaking Bad TV series and its entertainment legacy, winning applause in a US city that played its own gritty supporting role.
Local politicians including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller mixed with Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and director Vince Gilligan to help unveil the artwork, donated by Gilligan and Sony Pictures.
The 2008-2013 show and its ongoing prequel Better Call Saul helped fuel a renaissance in filmmaking across New Mexico, while also cutting close to Albuquerque’s real-life struggles with drug addiction and crime.
Chancey Bush/AP
Aaron Paul greets his fans during the Breaking Bad statue unveiling.
Gilligan said he recognized that the statues of “two fictional, infamous meth dealers” won’t be universally cherished in New Mexico.
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“In all seriousness, no doubt some folks are going to say, ‘Wow, just what our city needed.’ And I get that,” Gillian said. “I see two of the finest actors America has ever produced. I see them, in character, as two larger-than-life tragic figures, cautionary tales.”
Sydney Morning Herald
The cast and crew of Breaking Bad join their fans inside the Hollywood Cemetery in Los Angeles for the screening of the show’s final episode.
Still a fixture on Netflix, Breaking Bad follows the fictional underworld trajectory of a high-school science teacher, played by Cranston, and a former student, played by Paul, as they team up to produce and distribute meth amid violent, cliffhanger plot twists.
The show and its iconic lead characters already are lionized on T-shirts and airport merchandise, while tour guides in Albuquerque shepherd fans to former film locations in a replica of the RV from the show that doubled as a meth lab.
New Mexico has long struggled against the toll of addiction, with more than 43,000 deaths linked to alcohol and drug overdoses in the last three decades. Albuquerque also currently contends with a record-setting spate of homicides.
Chancey Bush/AP
Aaron Paul, left, and Bryan Cranston with their statues. Tour guides in Albuquerque shepherd Breaking Bad fans to former film locations in a replica of the RV from the show that doubled as a meth lab.
Surging overdose deaths from meth and fentanyl surpassed heroin and prescription opioids as the leading causes of drug overdose deaths across the state in 2020.
Keller heralded the positive economic impact of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul on Albuquerque, acknowledging the dollars and delight it brings to a city he jokingly called “Tamale-wood”.
“While the stories might be fictional, jobs are real every single day,” Keller said. “The city is also a character. We see ourselves in so many ways, good and bad.”
Chancey Bush/AP
Bryan Cranston, left, takes a photo with a fan, Jackson Day, who is dressed as Heisenberg.
Republican state Representative Rod Montoya of Farmington said he admires Cranston as an actor but the statues bring the wrong kind of attention.
“I’m glad New Mexico got the business, but really?” Montoya said. “We’re going down the road of literally glorifying meth makers?”
He also questioned the logic of the tribute after Albuquerque in June 2020 removed a statue of Spanish conqueror Juan de Oñate.
Demonstrators tried to topple that bronze artwork in denunciation of Oñate’s brutal treatment of Native Americans roughly 500 years ago. A fight that broke out at the protest resulted in a gunfire that injured one man.
Chancey Bush/AP
Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. New Mexico offers a rebate of between 25% and 35% of in-state spending for video production that helps filmmakers large and small underwrite their work.
New Mexico politicians, including Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, have pinned their hopes on the film industry to increase economic opportunity in a state with the highest unemployment rate in the nation.
New Mexico’s film and TV industry recently hit a new production peak, with record-setting in-state spending of US$855 million (NZ$1,379m) for the fiscal year ending in June. Recent video projects drawn to the state include the Netflix series Stranger Things.
Chancey Bush/AP
Breaking Bad fans are pictured during the statue unveiling in the New Mexico city.
New Mexico offers a rebate of between 25% and 35% of in-state spending for video production that helps filmmakers large and small underwrite their work. Incentive payments peaked at US$148 million in 2019.