The Breaking Bad cast revealed how Samuel L. Jackson tried to appear in the show, and why the showrunner said 'No'

Popverse's top stories of the day

• Meet Popverse's new staff writer, Grant DeArmitt
• WATCH: John Cena is all that stands between Awkafina and Simu Liu in Amazon Prime Video's new Jackpot trailer (No, it's not a romcom)
• Every Terminator film and TV show, ranked best to worst!

What happens when you pit Samuel L. Jackson against Bryan Cranston’s Walter White? Unfortunately, we’ll never know for sure.

Speaking to a crowd at Awesome Con 2024, the cast of Breaking Bad recalled the Samuel L. Jackson cameo that wasn’t meant to be. “He [Jackson] played in our golf tournament, and then I did an episode of Talking Bad, and he was the guy on the panel with me,” Dean Norris recalled. “I know he was a huge fan. I think at some point he recorded himself doing one of the Bryan Cranston speeches, ‘I am the danger,’ or one of those things or something. It wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted to do a cameo.”

Norris is correct. There is a viral video of Jackson performing the iconic “I am the one who knocks” monologue, and it’s just as awesome as you’re imagining. Ultimately, series creator Vince Gilligan dismissed the idea of a cameo because he thought Jackson was too big.

“I think Vince wasn’t into the stunt casting element because he didn’t need it,” Norris said.

That didn’t stop Jackson from trying. During an interview with IndieWire, Jackson revealed that Breaking Bad was filmed in a studio right across from the Avengers’ Albuquerque set. Jackson showed up to the Los Pollos Hermonos set dressed as Nick Fury, and pitched the idea of appearing in the background ordering chicken. Gilligan didn’t go for it.

To be fair, Disney’s lawyers probably would’ve had an issue with that one. It leads us to wonder, what would the Samuel L. Jackson cameo have been like?

“He would walk on set, say ‘motherfucker,’ and then walk off,” RJ Mitte said.

That’s on brand. Yes, that’s probably exactly how it would’ve gone.

Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out our guides to upcoming movies, upcoming TV shows, upcoming comics, and upcoming comic conventions. If you're looking for specific franchises or genres, we have all the upcoming MCU, upcoming Star Wars, upcoming Star Trek, and upcoming DC movies & TV for you. If you're a fan of superheroes and not specific to just Marvel or DC, we have overall guides to all the upcoming superhero movies and upcoming superhero TV shows (and new seasons) as well.