Breaking Bad star speaks out after Aaron Paul claimed he knocked him unconscious
Breaking Bad has had fans obsessed with its drugs-and-violence world for more than a decade, but it seems the violence wasn't always limited to the TV screen.
Aaron Paul starred in the hit show as Jesse Pinkman and was involved in a number of intense fight scenes over the years, with one in particular staying with him long after filming ended. During the second episode of season two, Grilled, Aaron was involved in a fight scene with his co-star Raymond Cruz.
Raymond played drug lord Tuco Salamanca, who kidnapped Jesse and his partner Walter White in the episode. In one dramatic moment, Raymond threw Aaron through a screen door who was subsequently knocked half unconscious.
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Aaron later said that Raymond thought he was acting and continued to kick and punch him before medics intervened. However, Raymond remembered the scene playing out quite differently.
Real-life Breaking Bad university professor accused of selling crystal methSpeaking exclusively to The Mirror, Raymond said: "It's kind of accurate but not quite because Aaron suffered a concussion at the beginning of the scene and you can see it on film. He gets thrown through a screen door and he catches the screen door on his arm because instead of crossing his arms when he hit the door, he had them open and caught the screen door and lifted it off its hinges."
Raymond continued: "I'm actually the one who stopped it. You can see in the scene, he stood up and I thought he was really there but once we got through the wall, I stopped it and I said, 'Um, he's not there'.
"The guy suffered a blow to the head and it was from the screen door. And you can see it because it's the actual scene that they used in the film." He added: "It's a crazy take because it's so violent, the door ripped off its hinges. He actually ripped the door off with his body weight when he got caught on it so it's a fantastic looking take."
Grilled was the last episode featuring Raymond's character Tuco. Speaking about his last scenes, he told us: "Vince Gilligan [the show's creator] was really excited about the scenes that he was shooting when we were in my very last episode, Grilled.
"I had Bryan and Aaron held hostage in this house in the middle of the desert and Vince runs up and goes 'Oh my God it's fantastic, you guys look so frightened, this is great acting' and then Bryan said 'We're not acting'. He was really terrified every time I approached him. Every time I got near, everyone would start shaking."
Away from Breaking Bad, Raymond is currently taking part in the Ambassadors of Hollywood Tour. Alongside Star Wars star Tiya Sircar, Locke and Key actress Darby Stanchfield and Prison Break's Paul Adelstein he's been visiting air forces and navy bases to speak to the troops and their families.
Raymond, who is represented by Media Artists Group, said the experience has been great so far. "We met the troops and their families and they all came up and they had a really good time. We did a big Q&A where the troops got to ask us lots of questions about the different productions that we've been on," he told us.