Can a spin-off outperform the original series, which on top of that is cult? And is it possible that a character, essential in the main story, becomes essential in the subplot? And in this case, does an actor have the ability to reach his maximum artistic expression at 75 years old, after an extensive career? All this happens with Better Call Saulwhich emerged from the mythical breaking bad.
The story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), the chemistry teacher turned drug dealer, premiered in 2008 on Netflix to finish five years later. Two years later its creators, Vince Gilligan Y peter goulddecided to stage a prequel -located chronologically six years before the events of breaking bad– based on a very peculiar lawyer: Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk).
Quite a character, really, the lawyer –who became known advising White- it merited its own fiction. Better Call Saul it’s about him, but also about others that are already in the original. One of the most prominent is that older man whose rudeness intimidates, even though he has the appearance of a gentle grandfather who takes care of his granddaughter. Mike Ehrmantraut He is a former police officer. In breaking bad came as a guest in the second season, and in Better Call Saul -which is in its sixth and final season- acquires a transcendent role.
Jonathan Banks was born on January 31, 1947 in Washington, although he hardly lived there: his childhood took place in a small town in Maryland. He was raised solely by his mother, Ellen Adamswho passed away in 2012, when the actor was finished filming the last season of breaking bad. Because of the close relationship they had, because of everything she did to make her dream of acting come true, it was a deep pain from which she had a hard time recovering.
Teenager Jonathan was studying at Indiana University Bloomington when he decided to give up his books. Or rather, change them for scripts. Following his instincts, he devoted himself to the theater, joining the theatrical company Hair the Music. There he worked as a stage director and had the opportunity to travel the world, thanks to the fact that it was a required piece at an international level.
With regard to cinema, his first job was carried out at the age of 29 when he was called to The Macahans. Although it seems like a late start in the world of the seventh art, it is worth noting that from that beginning he never stopped working. There were even years in which he carried out several projects simultaneously: in 1978 he was in coming-home, The Cheap Detective Y Who’s Stop the Rain. However, his take off was in the 80’s in projects like airplanes, 48 hours, Beverly Hills Cops Y Armed and Dangerousamong others.
In that same period he ventured into the small screen. It happened in 1987, when she joined the television series wiseguyimpersonating Frank McPike. That work earned him an award nomination. Emmy. He would take more than 25 years to be considered again. And since then, he would be consecutive: he obtained five more nominations between 2013 and 2018, both for breaking bad as for Better Call Saul.
As for his private life, Banks married marnie fausch with 21 years. The relationship was short-lived, they separated after two years, after having been the parents of Claudius Jon Henry Banks. In 1990 she returned to bet on love and marriage, when she walked down the aisle with the Spanish Genera Gonzalez. He with her he had two daughters: Rebecca Y joanna.
In the case of Rebecca, she did not hesitate to follow in her footsteps and start a career as an actress, although she usually works as a film director and writer. In 2015 father and daughter achieved a dream: to work together. It was in the first season of Better Call Saul.
But in the midst of the job boom, the bad news. In 2018, Banks was the victim of the raging Woolsey fire. His Malibu home was hit by flames that swept through several miles of Los Angeles forest. It was a real drama. “I lost everything, and I had to go,” Jonathan said at the time. He promised himself to rebuild her, because that was and is her place in the world.
Talking about Banks immediately leads us to the villain, the bad guy of the movie. It is a role with which he always plays and does not deny that. In an interview with IMBD He said that he feels comfortable, comfortable in that type of role, because the public has already identified him that way. And he doesn’t see a way to change that. At 75 years old, he maintains: “he is a character that if he could he would do it forever”. And in the end, why should he renege? Jonathan is the bad guy most loved by everyone.
