With 2023 so very near the ones responsible for this website and community decided to sit down and discuss the last 12 months, a ‘quick ‘Fan’tastic look back at 2022 as an ‘Aaron Paul’ fan!
Caroline aka @Aaron_Paul_fc and Jilbos aka @jillboskilbos began working together in January of 2022, so it already is a very significant year. This very website was launched in March 2022. So with that in mind, it’s time to discuss.
Jilbos: For me, this was a good year for us Aaron fans, if we compare it to 2021 there were a lot more highs
Caroline: In 2021 we only had one high point for Aaron, which was his appearance at the premiere of “Reminiscence”. But in 2022 we have a lot to remember. In January we had a online live of him with Bryan, it was so nice to see our idol looking so well.
Jilbos: Oh yes! That was fun to watch.
Caroline: Yes, I watched the whole live without understanding a word of what they were talking about hahaha, but it was amazing to see Aaron there after so much time offline.
Jilbos: haha. that still blows my mind that you don’t understand what they say when you watch them live lol. Now that’s some dedication.
Caroline: The day will come when I will understand every word he says hehehe.
Jilbos: It’s fair to say the start of 2022 had a little more anticipation that we feel right now, what with the release of Dual and Westworld Season 4 to look forward to, as well as the news of a new arrival for the Paul family. There was also the growing anticipation for the final season of Better Call Saul, would he be appearing or not?
Caroline: It was just good news, but the anticipation of seeing Jesse back, that was a treasure.
Jilbos: I was quietly confident that Jesse would return, I think I even pinpointed a time in 2021 when I thought he had filmed as Jesse, I’m sure other’s thought I was reaching or seeing things that weren’t there! Obviously it’s easy for me to say that now, but do you remember me being confident about this subject?
Caroline: I don’t remember… but I’m glad your suspicions were confirmed.
Jilbos: it was probably still early days in our friendship, I didn’t want to come across as crazy too early – needed you to get to know me better first lol
Jilbos: January was the month we first made contact with each other, right?
Caroline: It was in January yes
Jilbos: In the grand scheme of things, us meeting is probably the most significant thing to happen in 2022 as far as Aaron Paul FC/Fans is concerned.
Caroline: Surely, so many cool things happened after we met, just Aaron Paul to make two completely different people come together with the same purpose. I love Aaron even more for that!
Jilbos: Not to make this all about us, when it’s all about AP but totally agree. Within days/weeks of talking we were planning the website, it wasn’t that long a gap at all
Caroline: We met in January and in February we already talked about the idea of making a website dedicated to him, and in March the website AARONPAULFANS.COM already existed.
Jilbos: It will always be about him 🙂 It really happened so quickly. I remember mentioning in passing that I used to build fan sites and suddenly it was a thing lol
Caroline: It was in January too that he met with the director of Dual at his home in Idaho wasn’t it? We saw a lot about these days too.
Jilbos: For the Sundance Festival, which was going to be an in person event until last minute it switched to online, which worked better for us! I remember I was so desperate to see the movie after this promotion, but it wasn’t until August I think that I finally saw it! That was also the first mention of an infamous dance scene, there was a brief clip of it released shortly after Sundance, but it was driving us crazy that we couldn’t see the full thing!
Caroline: I got to watch it in October, and seeing Aaron in a dance scene was the highlight for me, I watched it over and over again.
Jilbos: So next up was the release of those Esquire photos – amazing photos for Aaron and Bryan, that looked so much fun promoting Dos Hombres.
Caroline: Photos to drive any fan crazy.
Caroline: Then, if I’m not mistaken, it was in April that Better Call Saul premiered, and Aaron surprised everyone with his presence and it was also there that it was confirmed that we would have Jesse back. The Internet went crazy at that time.
Jilbos: Yes! He was at the Better Call Saul premiere. Then began all the speculation of how he and Bryan would return.
Caroline: Was it also in April that he was on a TV chat show (Jimmy Fallon), to talk about his movie, Jesse and the birth of his son Ryden?
Jilbos: Yes he was! April was a big month.
Caroline: It was a beautiful moment, I will never forget how Aaron’s eyes sparkled as he spoke of his son.
Jilbos: He really did, and it was nice to know it all went well with the new addition as we hadn’t heard much up to that point.
Caroline: Another wonderful thing that happened this year was Aaron and Bryan’s trips that started in January, but it was in May that they had a tour and we were able to accompany them for several days in a row, I will never forget those days, they were amazing!
Jilbos: That was fun to follow, I can’t imagine how hectic it must have been for them but I remember it was hard enough keeping up with the updates – both from their socials and posts from excited fans who had been lucky to meet them both
Caroline: It’s always so much fun when they’re together, the fans really go crazy, it’s good that we have social media and we can follow everything as if we were there. I love these moments!
Jilbos: It also gave us a couple of lovely moments where they captured their friendship and comedic chemistry in the little behind the scenes funnies – I would love to see more of that, just makes me smile.
Jilibos: I think Aaron being pushed around in a shopping cart is one of my favourite moments from those tours, but I also enjoyed the trolly in the hotel corridor. They were memorable moments.
Caroline: Lots of content, an overdose of Aaron Paul hehehe
Jilbos: We were truly spoilt with images and things to talk about – the website was still in it’s infancy at that time, and I remember we were still finding our feet with how we would cover things – it really was a lot of content lol
Caroline: Then in June we had the return of Caleb Nichols in the 4th season of Westworld
Jilbos: Westworld Season 4… that was a memorable few weeks. I remember just before watching that first episode I binge watched all of season 3 to refresh my memory, and enjoyed that season more than I remembered – I think lockdown really impacted the success of season 3 at time of airing.
Jilbos: We were worried about just what impact Caleb would have, how many episodes he would appear in – turns out we didn’t need to have worried, I think there was only one episode he wasn’t in if I remember rightly?
Caroline: It was a season worthy of an Emmy, Aaron was spectacular, an impeccable performance, I find it difficult for someone to have watched it without getting emotional
Jilbos: Caleb truly became a character that I grew to adore, AP definately put in some performances that blew us away and I really hope the early showing of Westworld in the TV calender doesn’t effect his chances of being nominated – he would deserve the nominations
Caroline: He sure deserves it! After watching the wonderful 4th season, a little later came the news that HBO would not renew the contract for a 5th season …. and there went our excitement to see Aaron for another year.
Jilbos: The cancellation of Westworld hit us hard, it really felt like the show was ready for a final fling, then suddenly it was no more. I would have loved to have seen how Caleb would have fitted into the new world – I’m assuming he would have been involved. There was an interview where AP was talking about taking a year off to spend time with his family, and he mentioned he had season five of Westworld to come back to.
Caroline: That was really a shock…. Bad point for HBO for that decision!
Jilbos: I think it was then during the Westworld season break that I then started reading sightings of AP in London in July. At a time when I was working in London for a short time. It made sense when I realised Adele was in concert, but there was also a story of AP trying to retrieve a cell phone from a lake in one of the royal parks – very random! Then is got stranger when the sightings began to happen in a small coastal town – and it later emerged he was filming a guest appearance for the TV show Black Mirror – to be aired in 2023
Caroline: Yes, that was also when confirmation came that Aaron was recording for Black Mirror. Knowing about new jobs is always the best news.
Jilbos: Let’s touch upon the news of Aaron taking a year off for his family – which obviously is the right thing to do, with the new baby but it’s fair to say we both gulped a little bit, knowing we’d have to probably fill some space in the meantime with our new venture!! hehe
Caroline: True, it did messed with us, fear of not knowing Aaron in future projects hit us hard. It’s hard when a fan hears that their idol is going to take a break from everything… we are fans of his art, his work and all we want is to see him acting, shining on stage, then Aaron came and said this it was going to take a while… we weren’t ready for that. But little by little we were reassured because he was present several times during his ‘time off’. Just reinforcing that 2022 was a beautiful year for us as fans.
Jilbos: Yeah whilst it makes our job easier if there’s new things to talk about, fundementally our hobby in creating this community is to celebrate the artist, our idol, and that doesn’t end just because he takes a break! ironically enough the news of him taking time off came at a time where we were unindated with new work to view because quickly on the back of that interview came the long awaited return of Jesse Pinkman.
Caroline: But it’s good that in 2023 we will have Aaron’s work to appreciate
Jilbos: There’s been a fair bit of gossip flying around as to Aaron’s next project, which is always fun to follow.
Caroline: I hope he returns in a series of endless seasons and episodes hehehe
Jilbos: I think in the past 6 months alone I’ve seen him rumoured to be signing up to appear in the MCU, primarily the fantastic 4 but by the same token, with the James Gunn announcement the DCU has been mentioned, Batman being a strong contender on the rumour mill. Add to that mentions of him being in a rebooted Die Hard series, and more recently being rumoured to be playing Eddie in the Dark Tower adaptation – admittedly that rumour coming from Mike Flanagan, the man doing the adaptation who did a wonderful video with AP cameoing!
I just want to have a few confirmations now, the rumours are endless lol
Caroline: Well… I dream about it, but I only believe it when I see Aaron confirming it, there are many speculations that were never confirmed. But I’m rooting for that one day to happen.
Jilbos: So lets go back to July… just before the return of Walt and Jesse we had another major Breaking Bad/Dos Hombres weekend
Caroline: The tribute in Albuquerque with the statues
Jilbos: yes! The statues. I remember when I first read about a statue unveiling I feared the worst but the fears were soon banished – the statues were amazing!
Caroline: Among so many moments from Aaron and Bryan, I think this was the TOP 1, a tribute like this is not for everyone. This only reinforced the great artists they are, and what they scored with these characters.
Jilbos: It was solid recognition for what Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul has given to Albuquerque – I know there was some questions raised, but I feel they are very shortsighted. I hope one day I can visit ABQ with my tourist pounds, to see those statues with my own eyes. A trip I likely would never have considered if it hadn’t been for Walt and Jesse.
They don’t symbolise drugs or crime, they symbolise artistry at it’s best, with argubly one of the greatest TV shows ever made, why ignore that heritage?
Caroline: Yes, for me the best series of all time. An incredible cast and Jesse was the character that consecrated Aaron. Drugs are just a detail lol
Jilbos: Then the ball game – raising over $100,000
Caroline: He went from my favorite actor to my favorite player hehehe
Jilbos: There was a moment when they were talking over the tannoy to the crowd, and after a few months of seeing Aaron as, let’s say, Aaron the grown up, the father, the businessman but there was this little flash of the past Walt / Jesse relationship with Bryan and Aaron when over the tannoy Aaron decided to say bitch… just Bryan’s reaction, then Aaron’s reaction to being caught being naugthy was so nice to see!
Caroline: This week I’m making the best of 2022 here on the Instagram page, and it’s interesting because everything I posted about those days of Aaron in Albuquerque, whether it’s the tribute to the statues or about the game, these publications are among the fans’ favorites, they are among the 6 most liked, watched and commented on. There’s one that had almost 1 million hits, I believe this happens because of the success and acceptance that Breaking Bad still has today.
Jilbos: Totally, I mean we can’t ignore the fact we too are recent converts (heading quickly towards my 3rd year anniversary of finally watching the show!) but the show is still so loved, so well respected, hasn’t really aged and still continues to attract new fans! Which brings us nicely to the Better Call Saul returns – that created quite the buzz and a very unfair attack on Aaron Paul for daring to age approrpriately in the time since the show aired
Personally I failed to see what the problem was, I was too happy to just see Aaron and Bryan sharing the screen again as these characters to get picky about the lighting or anything else – I thought the bickering was totally on point and I loved it
Caroline: People are very judgmental and “perfect”, they prefer to give importance to a detail that didn’t make the slightest difference within the show, than to talk and praise the guy’s talent. Human beings find it difficult to talk about the qualities of others, but they don’t think twice about coming to social networks to distill their hatred. Aaron did an amazing job, it was so exciting to see him back, and that’s what matters to me… it’s been almost 10 years since the series finale, of course he’s aged (aged very well by the way) but that it was not relevant to me.
Jilbos: Then the complete and utter bonus the following week with an extra scene that saw Jesse interacting with Kim. This is by far my favourite scene, which surprises me as I was sure anything with Walt would be superior, but I never realised how much I needed a Jesse and Kim scene! Jesse truly returned for me in this scene, how AP managed to find that kid inside him was masterful and to later learn he was sick with his first ever migraine as he filmed it, just staggers me. I have rewatched that scene a fair few times, always makes me smile.
Caroline: I also rewatched it several times, this scene was epic!
Jilbos: That time was a great time to be an Aaron Paul fan, as we noted on the website for that two week period of having the two Jesse appearances that coincided with the finale of Westworld season 4.
Caroline: yes it was
Jilbos: Since then there’s been a couple of public appearances – premieres and events, a few more Dos Hombres signings?
Caroline: Then we had Aaron at a car show, he was also present at the Emmy party, honoring his friends… Recently Aaron and family went to honor their favorite artist at the Barbie exhibition. We had some good times with our guy.
Jilbos: So to recap, shall we try and name our favourite 2022 moments? Starting with Favourite ‘candid’ moment?
Caroline: Ok!
Jilbos: I enjoyed the steps moment with Bryan, when in Las Vegas – but I think it has to be Aaron seeing the two boys who played the peek-a-boo kid, all grown up
Caroline: The moments with Bryan I will never forget them in New Jersey, Aaron looked so happy, so delivered in that moment, it’s really nice to see that someone we care about is happy. To this day I go back to review the videos of those days, they always make me smile.
Jilbos: Favourite photo of Aaron in 2022? Mine technically was taken in 2021 but it only surfaced in 2022 and that’s the behind the scenes photo with Bryan when filming as Walt and Jesse, against the blue background – they both look so happy!
Caroline: My favorite photo I’m not sure if it was taken this year, but it was released by Corty, Aaron’s friend this year. Ah, I need two favorite photos: The other was taken in January during the promotion of DUAL, Aaron looks very beautiful and his hair is tempting.
Caroline: Of the works that we had the pleasure of following this year, the three unforgettable moments for me were: DUAL – Aaron dancing, seeing him putting his body to the game, it was awesome!! Westworld: Episode 6 speechless! Better Call Saul your scene with Kim, epic!
Jilbos: Can’t argue with those choices! My favourite ‘fan moment’ was probably taking Mini Jesse to Disneyland Paris with me, just a bit of fun but it really was enjoyable posing Mini Jesse within the happiest place on Earth lol
Caroline: Mine was definitely getting thousands of people in one place, all with the same goal: Aaron Paul.
Jilbos: Witnessing your complete shock and joy when Aaron reached out to you and followed the page was a highlight as well!
Caroline: It still excites me to this day
Jilbos: Hopes for 2023? I think it goes without saying we eageraly await news of new projects and roles. I also really really really hope a Dos Hombres tour comes overseas, notably to England! I’ve introduced so many people to Dos Hombres over here, but feel Aaron and Bryan would do a much better job!
Caroline: In 2023 I hope I have a lot more of Aaron Paul to appreciate, seeing lots of smiles from him next year wouldn’t be bad at all. News of new works, growth of the page and the site (continue to carry my idol’s name in the most beautiful way I can), and if it’s not asking too much, that Aaron connects with what we’re doing. May he feel all our love!
Jilbos: You don’t think we have scared him enough in 2022? lol
Caroline: I think so, but I hope it was a good scare lol
Jilbos: I would like to say that since January 2022 when we first spoke about our appreciation for all that is Aaron Paul, it truly has been so much fun working on all this. Life is tough right now, and not much fun but the social posts, the website, the additional things we’ve done as a team, the creation of things and the ideas we’ve explored, the chat, so much chat (and in two different languages!) – it truly has brought something very cool and joyous to my world
Caroline: Your words mean so much to me. This was a special year, and having you as a partner (my team), having someone to talk about Aaron Paul, sharing this fan universe, which is not always understood, was fundamental for me. I don’t even have words to thank you for your support, help and especially your patience. I hope our partnership holds strong into the year ahead and that we have a lot about Aaron Paul to talk about.
Jilbos: Totally and if AP takes another year off we’ll just have to force mini Jesse to up his game!
Jilbos: Mini Jesse’s face right now lol
Caroline: Yes! He changed his clothes, much better that way!
Jilbos: Yeah he gave up being Father Christmas during this chat! lol And yeah, so that was me playing with dolls whilst talking to you lol! Probably a good place to end the review there ?
Caroline: Excellent! I think we can finish.
