Walter White (Breaking Bad)
Walter Hartwell White Sr., also known by his alias Heisenberg, is the fictional villain protagonist of the American crime drama television series Breaking Bad, portrayed by Bryan Cranston.
For his son, see Walter White Jr.Walter White
- Breaking Bad:
- "Pilot" (2008)
- Better Call Saul:
- "Breaking Bad" (2022)
Walter Hartwell White Sr.
Heisenberg
Walt
- Drug lord
- Co-founder of Gray Matter Technologies
- High school chemistry teacher
- Car wash cashier, proprietor, and manager
Gray Matter Technologies
Gustavo Fring's drug empire
His own drug empire
Gretchen Schwartz (formerly)
- Walter White Jr. (son)
- Holly White (daughter)
- Hank Schrader (brother-in-law)
- Marie Schrader (sister-in-law)
308 Negra Arroyo Lane, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
New Hampshire, United States (Remote)
American
September 7, 1958
White is a skilled chemist who co-founded a technology firm before he accepted a buy-out from his partners. While his partners got rich, Walter became a high school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, barely making ends meet with his family: his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) and son Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte). At the start of the series, the day after his 50th birthday, White is diagnosed with Stage III lung cancer. After this discovery, White decides to manufacture and sell methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), to ensure his family's financial security after his death. Due to his expertise, White's "blue meth" is purer than any other on the market, and he is pulled deeper into the illicit drug trade.
White becomes increasingly ruthless as the series progresses, and later adopts the alias "Heisenberg", which becomes recognizable as a kingpin figure in the Southwestern drug trade. White struggles with managing his family while hiding his involvement in the drug business from his brother-in-law, DEA agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris). White becomes less sympathetic throughout the show, as series creator Vince Gilligan wanted him to turn from "Mr. Chips into Scarface". Although AMC officials initially hesitated to cast Cranston due to his previous comedic role on Malcolm in the Middle, Gilligan cast him based on the actor's past performance in The X-Files episode "Drive", which Gilligan wrote. Cranston contributed greatly to the creation of his character, including White's backstory, personality, and physical appearance.
Both the character and Cranston's performance have received critical acclaim, with Walter White frequently being mentioned as one of the greatest and most iconic television characters of all time. Cranston won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, three of them being consecutive. He is the first man to win a Critics' Choice, Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance. Cranston reprised the role of Walt in a flashback for Breaking Bad's sequel film El Camino, and again in the sixth and final season of the prequel series Better Call Saul, making him one of the few characters to appear in all three, alongside Jesse Pinkman, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), Ed Galbraith (Robert Forster), and Austin Ramey (Todd Terry).
Character biography[edit]
Background[edit]
When Walter White was six years old, his father died of Huntington's disease. He studied chemistry at California Institute of Technology and, after graduate school, worked as a researcher at Sandia National Laboratory. There he conducted research on proton radiography that helped a team win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1985.[14][15] Using some of the prize money, Walter then founded the firm Gray Matter Technologies with Elliott Schwartz (Adam Godley), his former classmate and close friend.[16] Around this time, Walter dated his lab assistant, Gretchen Schwartz (Jessica Hecht). He left both Gretchen and Gray Matter Technologies, selling his financial interest in the company for $5,000.[15][17] Gretchen and Elliott later married and made billions, much of it from Walter's research.[17][18] Though they remain friendly, Walter secretly resents both Gretchen and Elliott for profiting from his work.[18][19]
At the age of 50, Walter works as a high school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico, providing instruction to uninterested and disrespectful students.[14][20] Walter has a second job at a local car wash to supplement his income, which proves to be particularly humiliating when he has to clean the cars of his own students.[21] Walter and his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) have a teenage son named Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte), who has cerebral palsy. Skyler is also pregnant with their second child, Holly, who is born at the end of season two.[22] Walt's other family includes Skyler's sister, Marie Schrader (Betsy Brandt); her husband, Hank (Dean Norris), who is a DEA agent; and his mother, who is never seen.[23]
Appearances[edit]
The following appearances are based on the chronological narrative in Breaking Bad. Scenes from Better Call Saul fit into this chronology and are denoted appropriately.
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
The character development of Walter White, as well as Bryan Cranston's performance, has received universal acclaim, from both critics and audiences. Walter White is considered to be one of the greatest and most iconic characters in television history.[25][26][27]
From TheGuardian.com, Paul MacInnes lauded Walter White's character as a whole, noting his quick transformation into becoming Heisenberg.[28] From the same website, Rebecca Nicholson wrote about Walt's death, praising the fact that instead of facing the consequences, "Walter dies happy. He doesn't only get what he deserved; he gets what he wanted. It's the same for us viewers: we get the neatness and the uncertainty, which shows a Heisenberg level of mastery."[29] In their list for the "Top 100 Villains", IGN ranked Walt as #12, stating that "Walter White is selfishness incarnate, and perhaps one of the greatest tragic figures to ever grace television, making his ultimate descent into villainy that much more compelling."[30]
The web magazine Grantland quotes Andy Greenwald as analyzing Walter White differently from some others, including Vince Gilligan. Greenwald states: