Things don’t always go according to plan, but sometimes that’s a good thing. Example: Jonathan Banks would never have played the iconic role of Mike Ehrmantraut Break bad if things had turned out the way the show’s writers originally intended. In fact, the Mike character didn’t exist at all in the original plans for Season 2 of Break bad. That season also introduces Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, and while Odenkirk was otherwise available for most of the season, there was one particular episode he couldn’t take part in due to a previous commitment… and from there Mike Ehrmantraut was born.
This story was told by Rhea Seehorn, who worked with Banks on the spin-off series You better call Saul. During a recent interview on The Rich Eisen ShowSeehorn shared the story behind Mike’s creation Break bad. She told how the Break bad writers had planned for Saul Goodman to help Jesse (Aaron Paul) clean up the apartment and prepare his story for the police when his girlfriend Jane (Krysten Ritter) dies of an overdose. Since Odenkirk was busy when that episode was scheduled to film, the writers improvised by writing in the character of a fixer working on Saul’s behalf. Although the character was created at the last minute in an instant, the scene actually set Mike, allowing the writers to continue using him as he would become a fan favorite.
“Bob wasn’t available for Saul Goodman to clean up her son, so the Mike Ehrmantraut character was created,” Seehorn explained in the interview. “[Bob] was shooting something, and they wrote that when Krysten’s character dies, he comes and disposes of the body in this very cold, unfeeling way. And that would be where his character would go, and he just wasn’t available, so they made up the Mike Ehrmantraut character.
Reflecting on how different things would have been without that scheduling conflict, Seehorn added, “Thank God! Jonathan Banks played it, and now it’s like, you know, invaluable to the show, that character. And also, I’m so glad we didn’t see Saul like that. That too would forever change the way we saw him.”
Jonathan Banks doesn’t have to say goodbye to Mike
While Mike did not survive Break badBanks was still able to reprise the role for six seasons of the prequel show You better call Saul. The story came to an end last year with You better call Saul closed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Mike is gone. Banks recently said Mike is still around and has become a part of who the actor is now as a person.
When asked what he misses most about Mike from THR, Banks said, “Oh, Mike will always be there. Mike will always be there! I love Mike.”