New Delhi: Fans of Breaking Bad are getting an oral history of the acclaimed television series, with actor Dean Norris set to release Do What You’re Gonna Do: The Definitive Oral History of Breaking Bad.
The book features interviews with the cast and crew, along with behind-the-scenes stories from the show, which The New York Times ranked as the best television series of the 21st century.
Norris, who played Hank Schrader in the series, said in an Instagram video that he wanted to chronicle the show’s history.
“So I went out for a couple of years and interviewed everybody that was involved with this show, all the actors, writers, producers, and CEOs. And you get a definitive history of how this amazing show came to be,” he said.
From a slow start to a television phenomenon
Norris said the project went without a publisher for two years before AMC agreed to take it on.
He also recalled how the show’s early seasons were “just touch and go” before it found its footing and went on to become one of the most acclaimed television series of the 21st century.
The book will trace where the cast and crew were in their careers before Breaking Bad, how the show developed and how being part of it changed their lives.
Set for release on 3 November, the book will include interviews with Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Bob Odenkirk and Giancarlo Esposito. Norris also interviewed the show’s creators, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. He co-wrote the book with Joe Layden.
The Breaking Bad universe
Breaking Bad ran for five seasons, from 2008 to 2013.
It later spawned the prequel series Better Call Saul, which ran for six seasons from 2015 to 2022. Norris reprised his role as Hank Schrader in the series, which is set before the events of Breaking Bad.
The franchise also expanded with the Netflix sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, released in 2019. However, Norris did not appear in the film.
Books about the making of acclaimed series are not new. Jonathan Abrams’s All the Pieces Matter covered The Wire (2002 -2008), Andy Greene’s The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s covered The Office (2005-2013), and John Ortved’s The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History covered The Simpsons, each drawing largely on interviews with cast and crew.
(Edited by Maryam Hassan)