Aaron Paul never took acting classes, didn’t have any formal training. The belief, confidence and determination to succeed as an actor provided all that he would need, well, that and what has to be natural talent for the art of acting.
In school he took part in school productions, there’s been mention of some church plays as well – both these activities ignited the passion that ultimately led to Aaron chosing the thespian life (plus The Goonies film apparently). It’s fascinating that being so sure of what he wanted to do, and at such a young age, add being prepared to work hard in order to acheive his dreams that he didn’t opt to go the study route, go to an acting school of some sort. Instead he saved up his money, and moved to LA and decided to take his chances – it could have also been New York, but LA, and Hollywood won through in the end.
As a seventeen year old, who had graduated high school a year early in order to follow his dreams it’s staggering to consider the confidence it took to make this step, oh for the joys and arrogance of youth! Once in LA he quickly signed to a model talent agency, got a manager soon after. It seems he was able to ditch the ‘normal day jobs’ fairly quickly, to make acting his full time job as adverts and guest roles soon came his way.
Watching Aaron Paul in those early roles is a joy, there’s an energy thats clear to see even if his roles were more blink and you miss them. It’s easy in hindsight to see why he got the roles he did early on, despite being 18-20 years old he was still able to get away with playing the high schooler category with his young looks, and he continued to play roles in this environment pretty much up until he was cast as ‘ex-high school’ student Jesse Pinkman.
Comedy played a greater part in his early career, a steady mix of angsty teen or comedic nerd, both of which seemed a good match for him at the time. It’s fair to say these roles provided an environment (school) that AP could at least draw from, he’d finished high school, and had been thorugh those years so to step back into those environments was beneficial in building up his credits, as well as his own development and acting experience. The most notible credit being ‘Whatever it Takes’, his first feature film and one where he was able form a character that supported the main cast. It was a role that would be the opposite of what he’d become known for later on, high energy and the comic relief, but even so he knew how to sucker punch you when his character realises his ‘friends’ were mocking him – in that moment he stopped being the comic relief and pulled the audience along with him for his characters uplifting conclusion!
Where you start to see something of what AP could become in the dramatic stakes is when you see the early roles that provided him with a bit more of a storyline. The first glimpse of this was in his guest role in ‘The Guardian’, playing a very troubled young teen, rejected by his family for being gay – a heavy storyline, that beared no fact to anything he’d experienced growing up – and that finally allowed AP to break away a little from the nerdy annoying highschooler roles, and it came at the right time! You see the vulnerability he’d soon master, and whilst it’s not the finished article you see enough to know he was more than ready to take on ‘better’ roles.
Learning on the job, having opted not to go the drama school route, enables us to see where and how he grew into the profession. After the Guardian the casting agents clearly began to offer heavier, more demanding guest roles, and between 2002-2005 you see a more controlled, focused performances. For a time this also meant a lot of ‘sitting at desks being question by cops convinced he was guilty’ guest slots (and never actually being guilty by the end of the episode!). The only exception to this was a memorable turn in The X-Files, where his high energy suited the more bully high schooler that he played, the comedy was slowly being replaced by more serious issues, and roles. There was still a bit of comedy with his two scenes in the Van Wilder: Party Liaison, those were pure comedy moments that was just great fun to watch (just way too short!).
His first full length feature where he was one of three leads arrived with MTV’s ‘Wasted’ – back in high school but far from being the comic relief. Some might say this was a practice run for his future, playing a kid that gets messed up with drugs. The storyline is hardhitting, almost filmed to provide the shock, designed to try and educate the MTV audience about the real threat of drugs – but still has the MTV cool feel about it. By this point you can see that the edges to his acting is being refined, the high energy is being tamed, he’s being trusted with the drama, and no longer the comic relief.
Having got himself established as a guest actor who could handle drama and the heavier topics, there was a sudden throwback to nerdy highschooler for comedic effect in the probably best forgotten film ‘Bad Girls From Valley High’ – but don’t dismiss it completely, it also stars the legend that is Christopher Lloyd and also some pretty memorable scenes by Aaron Paul, it’s truly worth watching just for those two alone.
Thankfully he quickly returned to more familiar territory, more guest spots arrived including a great episode of ‘The Ghost Whisperer’ (starring opposite Giancarlo Esposito!). A quick appearance in Mission Impossible III, where his previous comedic talents came in handy but hardly gave him enough to work with, but thankfully independant film was starting to notice him.
Choking Man and Daydreamer allowed us to see a much clearer picture of who the actor Aaron Paul could be, both very different roles, one he was a bullying chef going after the girl, the other a victim of his own paranoia who needed saving from himself. These roles took him far away from any High School, any comedy, and put him in situations that he appeared to thrive on, playing roles more suited to his age.
Soon after these he landed his first returning character role in a dramatic series with Big Love, a chance to learn how things worked being part of the essemble rather than just a guest star. Working in scenes with Bill Paxton must have provided a great opportunity to learn from a seasoned pro.
The next gig that landed in Paul’s lap was Breaking Bad, and it’s fair to say working on this show saw him grow the most. The actor he was in the pilot to how he finished the series seven years later shows a clear difference. Breaking Bad truly gave Aaron Paul the only education he needed to elevate himself to the top levels. Winning three emmys for his performances only proves that that 17 year old kid knew what he was doing ten year’s previously. But whilst Breaking Bad provided a significant polish, it shouldn’t be forgotten that for the ten years prior to that he had to break a few (high school) walls, not get type cast as the comic relief, and work hard on every role he was given no matter how small.
I have watched pretty much every role Aaron Paul has done (it’s why the filmography on this site has images of 95% of his credits) and I was never disappointed, never felt he wasn’t convincing, and that’s part of the magic of Aaron Paul.
His acting evolved most during Breaking Bad, Jesse Pinkman truely was a role of a lifetime for Paul, you never doubt that character isn’t living that exact moment, you get drawn in, sometimes beat up and then left to just will him on, that things will be ok! Jesse Pinkman fully unleashed AP’s emotional abilities, the team around him during those years clearly provided Paul with the tools to really learn and fulfil his craft.
I really could go on, but this was just a simple look at the evolution of early Aaron Paul up to his ‘big break’ after ten years of working hard, staying focused and always believing in himself.
I really hope comedy makes a return, not as comic relief, but after ‘It’s always sunny…’, and seeing him lark about with Bryan Cranston for Dos Hombres, I’m convinced there’s some comedy bones that need to be realised at some point – I wish for this to happen!
Aaron Paul – award winning actor – providing a master class of just doing what feels right and believing in himself.
