'Better Call Saul': Why 'Breaking Bad' Episode Avoided A Lot Of 'De-Aging Work'

"Better Call Saul" writer-director Thomas Schnauz opened up about the newly dropped episode, titled "Breaking Bad," which marked the return of actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.

Cranston and Paul were seen portraying roles - Walter White and Jesse Pinkman - that they played almost a decade ago in "Breaking Bad." The prequel, "Better Call Saul," featured Cranston and Paul once again, where they reprised their iconic characters.

Many fans noticed that the creators didn't use a lot of de-aging on Cranston and Paul's faces due to which their characters' age is looking older. Schnauz explained that they did use a little bit of de-aging effect but just to remove a couple of lines from their faces rather than doing it so much that it looks "ridiculous."

"There’s only so much you can do before it starts looking ridiculous," Schnauz told Variety in an interview published Tuesday. "We don’t do a ton of de-aging on the show."

"There’s a little bit of stuff on the guys’ faces to take a few lines out here and there," he continued. "But other than that, Aaron is not going to look like an 18-year-old kid or however old Jesse was during this time period."

The director gave an example of actors Giancarlo Esposito [who played Gus Fring] and Jonathan Banks [who played Mike Ehrmantraut] in the prequel and said that viewers forgot how young these actors used to look in "Breaking Bad," which aired from 2008 to 2013.

"Until you start cutting scenes back and forth and you realize, 'Jonathan, who I would’ve imagined looks very much the same as he did in ‘Breaking Bad,’ looks very different in the scenes back-to-back,'" he added.

He explained that there is nothing much they can do about the age, adding that viewers can either focus on the storyline or simply keep picking at these things.

"I do sort of dread people cutting this scene into the world of “Breaking Bad” and trying to match the way they look then and now, but it’s not something you can worry too much about," he explained. "It is what it is. We’re telling a story and you can roll with it or you start picking at: 'He looks much older than he did in the original scene.' We decided to go for it, and I’m glad we did."

"Better Call Saul" season six will consist of 13 episodes and so far, 11 episodes have been released on Netflix.