December 3rd, 2013 was one of the best nights of my life as it was the time I met Vince Gilligan, one of my favorite TV writers. Tickets had sold out fast, but thankfully I got mine as an early Christmas gift
As I walked through the double glass doors of the Writers Guild of America, located in Beverly Hills, I had nearly collided with one of the many ticket-takers who were wearing their uniform for this particular night—a yellow jumpsuit and a gas mask, otherwise known as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman’s crystal meth cooking attire.
It was only a matter of minutes before I saw "Breaking Bad's" TV creator, Vince Gilligan, and his posse of staff writers stepping away from the guest bar and heading off into the main theater, where the Q&A would take place. I was a bit stunned, expecting the show's creators to lock themselves away from the crowd of fans. Instead, they had mingled with anyone and everyone. Including me!
Q&A panel
The Q&A panel lasted about three hours. The writers went over the inspiration for the show, as well the series finale and how the cast and crew said their farewells to each other. It was bittersweet and cool. Ironically, most of the staff were in-between writing gigs, as well as being unsure how their soon-to-be new show, "Better Call Saul," would go.
Once the microphone was handed to the audience…the event went on for another hour or so. Being a diehard fan of the show myself, I sat at the edge of my seat whenever the writers would glance at each other after being asked a question and say, “I don’t know, should we tell them…”
I was too scared to ask a question. Thankfully, most of the audience who were bold enough to grab the microphone got the Breaking Bad staff to spill some of the show's top secrets. Well, they are not so secretive anymore.
My favorite behind-the-scenes of the show was how the writers got an idea for Walter White’s killing spree method. Staff writer, Gennifer Hutchinson, had explained that the idea was scrapped because it was deemed as too "violent." The concept was seeing Walter White tracking down one of his nemesis at a Home Depot, demanding the man to pick a number between one and thirty. And whatever number the man had picked…Walt broke that bone number in the man's body.
Meeting Vince Gilligan
When the last fan question was asked, everyone had immediately surrounded the staff writers. Vince stayed the longest. Before his assistants guided him out of the WGA building, Vince had actually stopped and chatted with some of us, individually introducing himself. I dropped my pen and flyer as soon as he had offered a handshake. Of course…this would happen to me, but he thought it was funny. I was a bit mortified.
The time I met Vince Gilligan was awesome! Hands down one of the most down-to-earth, genuine, and raddest people out there. Our conversation was brief since he was shuffled away once more people started to approach him. He even signed my copy of the Q&A flyer, asking what my name was and what I did for a living. At the time, I was a student and babbled on how my television studies class was analyzing "Breaking Bad." He was impressed and had even encouraged me to stay in school and keep writing myself.
A cool moment, I must say. #AMC Networks #BreakingBad #WalterWhite
