Breaking Bad stars bring live show to Auckland

The stars of one of the most critically acclaimed TV shows of all time will hit New Zealand together for the first time next year for a single speaking engagement.

Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, who play chemistry teacher-turned drug baron Walter White and meth cook Jesse Pinkman respectively, will present a 90-minute double act at the Te Paepae theatre in Auckland on January 28.

Tickets start at $129. For $750, you can meet and have your photo taken with the pair.

Advertised as “not a panel or press show”, the 110-minute “unguarded conversation” will involve the actors talking about their career progression, personal lives, their shared tequila brand – and if they’ve tried Vegemite.

“For the first time together in Australia and New Zealand, Bryan and Aaron will be on stage together to talk about how [Breaking Bad] was made, what it gave to each, and what it took out of them,” promoter Fane Entertainment says.

“They will discuss everything Breaking Bad: the writing, the production’s long days, the mistakes, the danger, the scenes that cracked them up with laughter – and the ones that broke them up with despair.”

Aaron Paul (left) and Bryan Cranston will talk all things Breaking Bad in Auckland.

Breaking Bad, which ran for five seasons from 2008-2013, holds the Guinness World Record for the highest-rated TV series of all time after receiving a critical score of 99 out of 100 on online review site Metacritic.

It was recently named the greatest TV show of the 21st century by the New York Times.

The Vince Gilligan-created show follows a chemistry teacher with lung cancer who turns to cooking drugs with his former student to support his family.

It earned 16 Primetime Emmy Awards over its run and in 2014 won the Best Drama Series Golden Globe, with Cranston named Best Actor in a Drama.

Paul and Cranston’s friendship and business partnership after the show ended has been well documented.

Their company, Dos Hombres, was founded in 2019 and sells craft mezcal and tequila, and they often appear on podcasts and on stage together while continuing their individual careers.

Cranston has more than 40 years of acting credits, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his leading role in Dalton Trumbo biopic Trumbo, and three Emmys for his portrayal of Hal in Malcolm in the Middle.

Paul earned three Primetime Emmy Awards for his role as Pinkman in Breaking Bad and has also starred in Mission: Impossible III, K-Pax, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and the sci-fi series Westworld.

He spent time in New Zealand in 2023 while filming the sci-fi movie Ash and was spotted around Auckland.

Tickets and details can be found at fane.com.au/cranstonandpaul