{"id":5091,"date":"2015-02-13T09:47:21","date_gmt":"2015-02-13T14:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/MondoLizzie\/?p=5091"},"modified":"2024-06-30T09:58:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-30T13:58:36","slug":"jonathan-banks-on-lizzie-borden-and-better-call-saul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/jonathan-banks-on-lizzie-borden-and-better-call-saul\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan Banks on Lizzie Borden and Better Call Saul"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Banks is known to us from Breaking Bad<\/em>. Intense and wry at the same time, Banks’ acting style is understated. He perfectly envelopes a character and makes us want to see him more.<\/p>\n

He has been cast in the new Lifetime mini-series The Lizzie Borden Chronicles<\/em>, which premieres on April 5th.<\/p>\n

He sat down for an interview about his experiences on the show as well as his new gig on Better Call Saul<\/em>, a spin-off on Breaking Bad<\/em> that is proving to be a must-watch show.<\/p>\n

The interview was conducted by ComingSoon.net.<\/a><\/p>\n

Jonathan Banks reprises his role of Mike Ehrmantraut from \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d on the prequel series \u201cBetter Call Saul.\u201d He was at the Television Critics Association winter press tour two days in a row for \u201cSaul\u201d and for the guest appearance he makes on the upcoming Lifetime series \u201cThe Lizzie Borden Chronicles.\u201d Due to Banks\u2019 busy schedule, it was actually \u201cLizzie Borden\u201d who gave us the one on one, but Banks was happy to talk about both shows.<\/p>\n

At least to the degree that Banks is forthcoming about anything. Like his tough guy characters, Banks could be cryptic, but he loved talking about both the continuation of his five-year run as Mike, and the single episode he did as a victim of Lizzie Borden.<\/p>\n

Comingsoon.net: We only see you briefly at the beginning of \u201cBetter Call Saul.\u201d When do you connect with Saul proper in the series?<\/p>\n

Banks: About four or five shows in.<\/p>\n

CS: Were you happy they did a prequel so that you could come back?<\/p>\n

Banks: Oh yeah. I love playing Mike. I love playing Mike and I definitely take things as they come. Had the pilot I did for NBC sold, I wouldn\u2019t have been available so it just worked out.<\/p>\n

CS: Are you not available to continue on \u201cCommunity\u201d because of this commitment?<\/p>\n

Banks: Well, I\u2019m not sure what the dates were. I have no idea, but my deal was to go in and do a year and then leave.<\/p>\n

CS: Did you enjoy \u201cCommunity?\u201d<\/p>\n

Banks: Yeah, they were lovely. They were nice people. I mean, it\u2019s not exactly what I do most of the time. I prefer drama most of the time.<\/p>\n

CS: \u201cBetter Call Saul\u201d seems more surreal than \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d was. Does that make it a different sort of job?<\/p>\n

Banks: It\u2019s a different rhythm, but Mike is separate from a lot of things and always has been. When you play Mike, you live in Mike\u2019s world. I think probably having the character Mike there makes it more similar to \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d than a lot of the other characters.<\/p>\n

CS: Have you been briefed on what you\u2019re allowed to share about \u201cBetter Call Saul?\u201d<\/p>\n

Banks: I just assume immediately that I\u2019m not allowed to say anything. I just assume. I really know not to give away anything. I can tell you that you learn about Mike. I can tell you that you learn about Mike\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

CS: Are there things we learned about Mike in \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d that we now get to see him do those things?<\/p>\n

Banks: Yes, some.<\/p>\n

CS: Had you had remaining questions about Mike when \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d ended?<\/p>\n

Banks: That\u2019s a really good question. Mike constantly, there are so many dimensions. I will say this to you. I enjoy that character, love that character so much that as much depth and as much background I can give him, I will. But there\u2019s also a part of him that I love that you never quite know many, many things. Hopefully if one thing is revealed, you\u2019ll want to know more about Mike.<\/p>\n

mike3<\/p>\n

CS: You\u2019ve done a number of series regular roles now. Do you still jump at the chance to do an episodic like \u201cLizzie Borden Chronicles?\u201d<\/p>\n

Banks: This one I did. First of all, Stan Brooks is a friend, the guy who produced it. I wasn\u2019t prepared for how good it is, I really wasn\u2019t. Just everything about it, from Joseph and the wardrobe to the sets to these young actors who I was aware of, but not quite aware of how good they were. Without being a Pollyanna about it, it was a wonderful experience.<\/p>\n

CS: When do you appear on \u201cLizzie Borden?\u201d<\/p>\n

Banks: I appear in episode two.<\/p>\n

CS: Just for the one episode?<\/p>\n

Banks: Yeah, because they kill me. They have no taste.<\/p>\n

CS: So who is Mr. Flowers?<\/p>\n

Banks: He is a bad, bad, bad man who I had such a good time playing. I loved it.<\/p>\n

CS: I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve been asked to play a number of characters described that way. Do you enjoy that?<\/p>\n

Banks: I do. I really do. I enjoy it. I love it. I love playing bad guys.<\/p>\n

CS: Is he a real person from history?<\/p>\n

Banks: I don\u2019t think so. That is not to say that there weren\u2019t a lot of really bad, bad, bad, bad men in history.<\/p>\n

CS: What does Mr. Flowers do to the Bordens?<\/p>\n

Banks: I think it\u2019s more about what the Bordens did to him in the end. He thought he could be a partner of sorts with Lizzie and soon learned that that was not the case.<\/p>\n

CS: Have you done many costume dramas in your career?<\/p>\n

Banks: This is my 47th year professionally so I guess it\u2019s fair to say yes.<\/p>\n

CS: Do you enjoy period work and dressing up?<\/p>\n

Banks: I do a lot, especially when it\u2019s done well and I am not aware that I\u2019ve done anything that has been done so well as this. I\u2019m telling you, the sets, the wardrobe, the whole look of it is just great.<\/p>\n

CS: What were your costume fittings like?<\/p>\n

Banks: Well, my wife is a fashion designer, so for the most part she tells me, \u201cGo in, shut your mouth and put on what they tell you. Don\u2019t be a prima donna.\u201d Joseph [A. Porro], I am telling you, the precision with what he did and the look. Whatever the fit was, he made so sure that it looked right that he was just something else.<\/p>\n

CS: Let\u2019s talk about your process because we enjoy seeing your work. Are you an actor who likes a lot of rehearsal?<\/p>\n

Banks: If I had my way, we\u2019d rehearse things to death. To a certain point. Process? Based around a lot of simplicity. You can never know your lines well enough and you better listen.<\/p>\n

CS: Do you get as much rehearsal as you want for a guest spot like \u201cLizzie Borden?\u201d<\/p>\n

Banks: I don\u2019t think I ever get as much rehearsal as I want.<\/p>\n

CS: Even as a series regular?<\/p>\n

Banks: Yeah. It\u2019s TV and there\u2019s a certain amount of days it\u2019s going to be shot in. But you could be doing a play and you could have six weeks of rehearsal and it still may not be enough.<\/p>\n

CS: Was there a point in your career that you noticed this tough guy\/badass thing was a niche for you, that directors were seeing you that way?<\/p>\n

Banks: I think I\u2019ve been cast as toughs as far as I can remember always, always.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter Call Saul\u201d airs Mondays on AMC and \u201cThe Lizzie Borden Chronicles\u201d is coming later this year on Lifetime.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Scene<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Banks is known to us from Breaking Bad. Intense and wry at the same time, Banks’ acting style is understated. He perfectly envelopes a character and makes us want to see him more. He has been cast in the new Lifetime mini-series The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, which premieres on April 5th. He sat down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[28,87,29,121],"class_list":["post-5091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-and-media-reviews","tag-fall-river","tag-lifetime","tag-lizzie-borden","tag-lizzie-borden-chronicles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5091"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6854,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091\/revisions\/6854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}