Aaron Paul: Movie Star or Jesse Pinkman?

With the excellent Breaking Bad over, the future has never been brighter for Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, the show's two leads. We all knew Cranston was a serviceable star (always works best as a supporting actor in movies), but what about Paul? Surely he can't be on another TV show, no, he's ready to conquer the big screen. And we welcome him with open arms, but there's a catch.

Can Aaron Paul be seen as more than Jesse Pinkman?

Paul's first project post-Breaking Bad is Need for Speed...a video game movie. Typically, video game movies do tremendously awful and have been known to be career killers. But to be honest, that movie looks absolutely terrific, even if he is playing Pinkman. That's a bad career move if he's wanting to shed the that attachment, but it seems that he isn't ready to let go of it either.

Paul is certainly a fine actor who couldn't have been more perfect on Breaking Bad. But he worked on that show because he looked like a high school dropout pothead. That act works as a supporting actor, but a leading actor in a huge Hollywood movie, he'll have a tougher time selling to us that he is Aaron Paul: Movie Star. He certainly doesn't look like a movie star, and we have an easier time accepting him in baggy clothes than normal clothes. So how does he leave Jesse behind?

He is an extremely likable guy, one we're all rooting for to succeed. The best way to do that is to take on a role as far from Pinkman as possible (aka not Need for Speed). Maybe an indie drama, which did wonders for Ryan Gosling's career and helped him shed The Notebook typecast he was destined for (see: Half Nelson, Blue Valentine) while also re-surging his career (be honest, did you hear from Ryan Gosling after The Notebook?). It'll be interesting to watch him try and play a role that doesn't require him to go to emotional extremes, the real challenge will be staying neutral.

At the moment, young Hollywood is trash. There's a handful of American actors that are really worth anything to us. Paul has luckily been blessed to look 10 years younger than his age (he's 34). So why not him? We love him as a person, he's proven his worth as an actor, and he already has a bevy of awards under his belt. Young Hollywood is annoying at the moment, and it's time for a change. Time for someone who isn't overly handsome, more of an average guy with average height, who looks just like us. Aaron Paul is the common man's voice.

Need for Speed looks great. It does. But are we going to buy into Paul? He's playing a role frighteningly similar to Pinkman (lovable crook loser). This may just be an "opportunity movie" (a movie that actors do to open up doors to something else), so don't expect an Oscar winning performance. But an Oscar for him isn't out of the question by any means. Just right now, it is.

The rest of the Breaking Bad cast is pretty much done for, with the exception of the hilarious Bob Odenkirk (Saul Goodman). Bryan Cranston will always have roles for him, he's so terrific, and even after the praise and the awards, he remains vastly underrated. All that's left is for Paul to prove himself. He has the best chance out of the rest of the cast of Breaking Bad. And we're rooting for him 100% of the way.