Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Bryan Cranston pose in the press room at the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles. Los Angeles, California – Monday August 25, 2014.
Like many people, I discovered Breaking Bad through word of mouth after its fourth season aired. We rented the early seasons through Netflix back when they mailed via DVD and you had to curate your queue. Good times! We caught up on the rest through reruns on AMC. The whole time I watched it, I couldn’t believe that Walter White was so brilliantly played by the dad from Malcolm in the Middle.
Speaking of, the Malcolm reboot kicked off on Friday, April 10. During an appearance on Hot Ones Versu, Frankie Muniz and Bryan Cranston were talking about Breaking Bad. Frankie brings up how much he didn’t like the character of Skyler, who was Walter’s wife and played by Anna Gunn. As you may recall, Skyler’s character really went through it the entire series. The Skyler hate was huge back in the day, so much so that both Gunn and creator Vince Gilligan have addressed it and called out the sexism behind it. Similarly, Bryan did not hesitate to put Frankie in his place and set the record straight.
Ever since Breaking Bad introduced fans to prototypical anti-hero (and let’s be honest, eventual villain) Walter White, two-time Emmy-winning actress Anna Gunn, who plays his wife Skyler, has had to contend with a legion of sexist fans villainizing her.
The conversation was broached again recently during a “Hot Ones Versus” with Malcolm in the Middle co-stars Bryan Cranston and Frankie Muniz.
“I love Breaking Bad,” the latter said, before gritting his teeth and continuing, “I wanted to kill Skyler.” Cranston’s jaw dropped as Muniz added: “To make your life easier; your life would have been so much easier. You were such a bad guy, you could have just gotten rid of her. All she did was complain.”
Cranston — whose portrayal of Walt, a high school chemistry teacher who turns to drug manufacturing to pay for expensive cancer treatment, led to four Emmy wins — defended the character, and subsequently, Gunn.
“She got a lot of blowback from that,” he said. “Well, first of all, Anna Gunn is a superb actor, but she got, like, ‘Oh, why don’t you get off his back?’”
“Well, that’s how I felt,” Muniz responded.
“Wait a minute, let me understand this. Her husband leaves without any explanation, she’s pregnant, he’s making crystal methamphetamine and people have died, and she’s the bitch. Like, we couldn’t understand why,” Cranston said, alluding to show creator Vince Gilligan.
A juggernaut of the prestige television era, Breaking Bad would go on to be nominated for 58 Emmys throughout its five-season run from 2008 through 2013, winning 16 statuettes. The crime drama series also spawned the equally beloved Bob Odenkirk vehicle Better Call Saul, which clinched 53 Emmy nods but did not receive any awards during its run from 2015 to 2022.”
F-cking justice for Skyler, y’all! I love that Cranston set the record straight without any hesitation. The Skyler hate wasn’t Anna Gunn’s fault, but rather a product of a time that we still haven’t gotten past. (Yes, I am equating Skyler to Hilary Clinton.) Skyler was always in the right, but never had a chance because of misogyny. The show was written for viewers to root for Walter and ignore when he turned into the villian. It was the same era as Dexter, when anti-heroes were all the rage. I love that Bryan still stands up for Skyler because she’s the real victim here.
Bryan Cranston DEFENDS his Breaking Bad character’s wife, Skyler White, after Frankie Muniz said he HATED her and felt she only made his life harder 🤣🎬👀 pic.twitter.com/QC8XEoWOsc
— Killa 🌺 (@KillaKreww) April 10, 2026
Photos credit: Avalon.red and Getty Images
Skyler ran a brilliant money laundering scheme that saved her family from ruin. Imagine the hate if she hadn’t protected her family (that included a special needs teen and a baby)? UGH! How is this still a thing? #justice4Skyler
Damn right!! Skyler should have left him the first time he pulled one of his scams. Poor lady didn’t realize she was married to a destructive narcissist until much too late.
Frankie is maga so his sexist shit tracks.
I could not watch Breaking Bad. My husband loved it. I am with the wife. I found his behavior awful. I taught in the inner city and many of my students “broke bad”. I did not find this show enjoyable.
I know people who can’t watch BB or Euphoria because themes are too familiar. And plenty would say that Skyler should have taken her children and left. But it’s a tv drama so that’s not a good plotline. What she did was save him from himself and protect her children. The money laundering would have worked but his ego required him to break ever more bad. Even by MAGA standards, she stood by her man and did her part. That’s how much a woman can’t win.
I’ve never gotten into Breaking Bad, and I’ve tried a few times because ‘it’s a great American! TV! show with #### Emmies!!!, etc.’ Nah. Maybe it’s because I married a chemical engineer and I had trouble wrapping my head around the premise, or had trouble with the semi-casual violence that was over-justified because of cancer! and insurance! companies! I was exposed to one episode at a professional training because of the context (taxes). So went home and watched the episode with a truly comical IRS audit. When it got to Netflix, I also watched the final episode which made the whole thing feel pointlessly depressing.
25 years ago, my longterm relationship began to unravel when, while an episode of Everyone Loves Raymond was on and he said , “Why is she always such a fucking nag?” about Deborah. I was stunned silent that he thought she was the obstacle hindering happiness in the house. His reaction to Ray’s incompetence and laziness was to blame his wife for pointing it out. I knew then we were done. Within six months, I had moved out, but I’ll never forget that moment of abject clarity.
Because it was followed by another: two days later, an episode of Monk was on, and it was an older episode with Sharonna, before her character was replaced by Natalie. He immediately complained about it because, “Sharonna’s whinny.” He then went on to discuss the why’s of Natalie’s superiority–in a nutshell, she does what she’s told with minimum complaint. And dresses more “appropriately.” His word, not mine.
It’s still remarkable to me to this day that tv characters revealed his.
Good on you for seeing the signs and skeedaddling. I have tried and failed a time or two to talk some sense into dudes committed to seeing women as foils to their fun. Sometimes it’s better to just cut out.
Bryan Cranston & Anna Gunn are brilliant actors with lengthy careers. Muniz is a faded child star who grew up into a not so bright, not so attractive MAGA supporter. The end.
The storyline would have been NOTHING without Skyler and what luck the producers had to find a superb actor like Anna Gunn to play her. Nothing works without the dynamic between Skyler and Walter. People are so dumb (sexist)….
Watching her morph into a kingpin (queen pin?) in her own right in that series was one of the most amazing, chilling transformations EVER on the small screen (or any screen for that matter…)
My husband watched Breaking Bad and I would kind of drift in and out of watching it with him. Any time I did, I felt SO badly for Skyler. When Walt kidnaps their baby…oh god.
He totally missed the entire point of the series.
Skyler wasn’t perfect herself but that’s what made her such a great, compelling character. Anna Gunn was also superb and even with all the hate, I’m so glad she snagged TWO Emmys for her brilliant, beautiful work. I need to see Gunn in more things; she was in a few episodes of “Physical” with Rose Byrne and she was great.
See Deadwood, where she does subtle, heartbreaking work. She is a great actress and I’ll never forget that NY Times piece she wrote about the Skyler hate.
Munz should get on his knees and thank his lucky stars that this “reboot” or whatever it is makes anyone care about him again
She was so good in Deadwood. Underrated actress with great range,
Why is Frankie Muniz casually talking about simply killing a woman? WTF
That was…weird.
*shrugs* I didn’t like Skyler all that much either, but I also didn’t think you were supposed to, especially in the beginning. I mean I felt sympathy for her but one of the things about the show that was so good was that you ARE rooting for Walter White, especially in the beginning, where he’s portrayed as this simple HS chemistry teacher who is up against the world with cancer treatments etc. I didn’t hate her or want to kill her, and I loved the whole money laundering carwash thing and as she sort of came into her own, but I definitely didnt like her for the first season or two – but I don’t think you were supposed to like her. Or at least you weren’t supposed to love her.
But the actress was really good.