Aaron Paul

Aaron Paul plays Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad. Jesse's restless energy and comic delivery are immediately memorable; the performance becomes much more valuable because Paul lets the uncertainty underneath them show. He gives the partnership with Bryan Cranston a need for recognition that can make an ordinary argument sting.

Paul grew up in Idaho and built his early career through guest appearances and smaller film roles. Before Breaking Bad, he played Scott Quittman in Big Love. Jesse became his defining television role and earned him three supporting-actor drama Emmys. In El Camino, he returns to the character in a feature-length story best saved until after the series.

His later work is varied. In Westworld, he plays Caleb Nichols; in The Path, Eddie Lane. He voices Todd Chavez in BoJack Horseman, where his open, apparently casual delivery proves well suited to animation. Need for Speed gives him a very different kind of leading film role.

He also appears in Black Mirror, including the episode Beyond the Sea. Paul is especially effective when a character is trying to seem more certain than he feels. That quality makes Jesse more than comic relief and gives the audience something human to hold onto when Breaking Bad becomes uncomfortable.