Anna Gunn of ‘Breaking Bad’ ready for a comedy
BY LORI RACKL TV Critic September 17, 2013 9:48PM
Skyler White (Anna Gunn) wails after another family ordeal on last Sunday’s episode of “Breaking Bad.” The actress is ready for a change after “a lot of heavy, intense drama.”
Updated: September 18, 2013 2:24AM
After five seasons as Walter White’s wife on “Breaking Bad,” Anna Gunn is ready to lighten things up.
“I’d like to do a comedy,” said Gunn, who plays Skyler White on the AMC series that ends its run Sept. 29. “It’s been quite a lot of heavy, intense drama for a long time.”
It’s difficult to imagine more intense drama than Sunday’s heart-wrenching episode, in which Gunn delivered her best performance yet — often without uttering a word.
In an interview earlier this summer, Gunn said she feels blessed to have been a part of such a landmark series. When asked if she could cast herself on any other current TV show, Gunn said Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” would be a top pick.
“I love the fact that it’s a strong, complex female character,” she said.
The New Mexico native’s acting career started in Chicago. She studied theater at Northwestern University, graduating in 1990.
“We went into the city all the time and saw theater and music,” said the former “Deadwood” star, who passed on Juilliard and New York University. “I decided that coming from Santa Fe and going to New York might be overwhelming. There was something about Chicago that felt really exciting and vibrant and alive to me.”
She landed the female lead in her first professional role as Lucy Lockit in “The Beggar’s Opera” at Court Theatre in Hyde Park.
She also “was a terrible waitress” at J.B. Winberie’s — before it dropped the ‘J.B.’ — in Evanston.
“I once tried to open a bottle of wine and the cork would not come out,” she said. “I snapped the neck of the bottle off. That took some strength. It’s not easy to do.”
Another not-so-glamorous gig had the Emmy-nominated actress working as a maid.
“I cleaned houses and apartments over a blazing hot Chicago summer,” said Gunn, who lived in Wrigleyville at the time. “My roommates and I escaped the heat by putting up a little sign by the lake saying we wanted to volunteer to crew on a boat. None of us knew anything about sailing. But it worked. We did it every weekend.”
