You's Penn Badgley was almost in Breaking Bad, and you’ll never guess the role

Penn Badgley is best remembered for his charming yet chilling role as Joe Goldberg in You. He is creepy and captivating at the same time. His voiceovers and gaze totally floor us throughout the seasons.

Joe Goldberg is a walking contradiction. He is not the kind of stalker who would necessarily irk you in the first meeting. He gets into your skin slowly. You want to root for him, but you also want to run. And Badgley nailed that role. We can't even imagine anyone else as Joe Goldberg. But that happens with any iconic role.

For example, can you imagine someone else playing Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad? Absolutely not!

But long before Joe was peeking through bookstore windows, Penn Badgley was almost cast in Breaking Bad. And it wasn’t some minor part. It was one of the most iconic roles in the show. He was about to go toe-to-toe with Heisenberg as Jesse Pinkman!

Penn Badgley was almost Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad

Penn Badgley was this close to playing Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad. He would have been that hoodied, and “yo” slinging Jesse we watched spiral (and survive) alongside Walter White. The role that made Aaron Paul a household name could have easily gone to Badgley.

In fact, it was down to just the two of them. Penn even admitted it himself in an interview with BuzzFeed:

"One I got close on was Breaking Bad. It was between me and Aaron Paul, we tested. Actually, that was the best television script I’d read at that point. That was the one that got away.”

There’s no doubt he could have pulled it off based on what we’ve seen of him in You, where he balances darkness and charm. But his version of Jesse would probably have been less madness and more brooding menace. Less of that street-smart impulsiveness and more of the slow-burning intensity.

Aaron Paul brought this raw vulnerability and boyish recklessness to Jesse that felt perfect. Penn Badgley is undoubtedly talented and might have taken the role in a completely different direction, and we would've probably gotten a different kind of broken Jesse.

Things worked out for the best. Because if Penn Badgley had become Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman, we might’ve never met Joe Goldberg. No obsessive bookworm. No inner monologues creeping us out in the best way. And You just wouldn’t be You without him.

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