'Breaking Bad' & Bay City native cast member eager to see Season 4 unfold

Like the legions of addicted viewers who have been waiting more than a year for the return of AMC's "Breaking Bad," cast member Betsy Brandt can not wait to see what happens next on her show.

"There are some scenes that are so hard to watch, my blood pressure just keeps going up," says Brandt, a Bay City native and Western High School class of 1991 graduate. "While we're making it, I try not to know too much. I just love this show and being surprised by it."

Brandt, who now lives in Los Angeles (and Albuquerque, N.M., where "Bad" is filmed 6 months out of the year) with her husband and two children, is thrilled to be bringing her complicated character, Marie Schrader, back to the devoted fans of the award-winning drama, which kicks off its fourth season tonight.




QUESTION: How does a Michigan native find her way on to "Breaking Bad"?

I have been working steadily in theater while also doing some television and film work. I was pretty creative growing up where I would always write plays and cast and direct my friends and family. I was a theater major at the University of Illinois and studied with the Moscow Art School at Harvard and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

I love where I am from. The Midwest is such a huge part of who I am and has helped me out in a place like L.A.


Q: Are you as excited as fans for tonight's premiere?

Yes! The 1st three seasons really laid the groundwork for what's going to unfold in Season 4. Sometimes I can not even watch it because it is so intense.


Q: You must be excited about how the show has evolved for your character, Marie (who is the wife of DEA agent Hank Schrader and the sister of Walter White's wife, Skyler).

When you sign on to do a TV show, it is not like a film or a play where you pretty much know what the journey for your character is going to be. In TV, who knows what is going to happen seasons down the road? You might not even be alive.

(Creator) Vince (Gilligan) is so talented. He does not put anything out there unless there is a reason behind it. Even though we did not deal with some of Marie's issues last season, I knew they were not forgotten about. Marie can be difficult. I love that she is the pain in the butt family member. She is also stubborn and definitely screws up at times. But that is what makes her so real for viewers and so fun for me.


Q: Marie's dealing with macho DEA husband Hank's painful recovery after he was attacked by the Mexican drug cartel last season. She is really fighting for her marriage.

It is so clear she loves her husband; she is so proud that he is the good guy taking down the bad guys. They both really do stand by each other and, as a viewer, I love that we have that kind of relationship on the show.

This season ... she sees that relationships have a lot of ups and downs. She really has to focus and practice those marriage vows of "for sickness and health, for better and worse" and worse and WORSE!




Q: "Breaking Bad" isn't for everyone. It is dark and intense but also really funny. It is considered by many people to be the best show on TV. When did you know it was something special?

When I read the pilot. It was the best pilot I ever read. I just thought: "Whoa, this material was so risky. The networks would never touch it." But once I met Vince, I knew anything was possible. Right away, we knew something amazing was happening.


Q: Bryan Cranston has won three best lead actor Emmys in a row. And Aaron Paul won the supporting actor Emmy last year, too.

I cried like a baby. It ss such a dream team; our writers right off the bat provided such great material. Everyone on the crew works so hard.


Bryan, I just felt he was going to get the Emmy after our first season. We all knew him from before. He was so funny on "Malcolm in the Middle." Watching him as Walter White, it is such an amazing performance. And for Aaron, I could not be happier. These guys, the whole cast and crew, they put everything they have into it. But we love making this show.


Q: How's this season going to end?

(Laughs) Toward the end of the season, the writers will tell me only what it is I need to know. ... I will just say, "Put your seat belts on." I'm still on the edge of my seat.