Last time I talked to actress Laura Fraser, we talked about drugs. This time, we discussed something a little more addictive: the final episodes of Breaking Bad, which just premiered Sunday night. As Lydia, the cold and calculating meth supplier for Walter White's underground drug empire, Fraser threw herself right into the center of the action, joining the epic show in its final season. She gave us her take on the last leg and her ability to keep secrets and how she would die.
MARK SVARTZ: How's it going? Where are you at the moment?
LAURA FRASER: I'm out in the streets of Scotland. I was in town, and I'm walking back to my mum and dad's house. It's like an hour walk, but I've done a bit of it. I'm halfway there.
MS: Nice. And how long are you there for?
LF: Well, I think I'm gonna be in Scotland until October. But I'm excited because I'm actually going to be able to watch Breaking Bad this time. Hooray! Because last year I was here when it was airing on TV, and they don't have it in the UK, so I had to wait 'til I got back to America. But now it's on Netflix so I can watch it.
MS: How pumped are you? I mean, there probably hasn't been this much buzz for a final season since The Sopranos.
LF: Yeah, I'm so excited. There's been quite a build-up. God, people keep asking me, Did you see this, did you see that? It's a little scary and worrying because you always feel when there's such a big build-up, it could only disappoint. You have to have low expectations. But I'm sure it's going to be fine.
MS: It must feel bizarre being part of something this historic.
LF: It's surreal. The whole experience has been surreal as fk. I still don't totally feel like I'm really part of it. I mean, I know I'm in the show, but I feel like it's their show, and I just gate-crashed this party and I'm just along for the ride.
MS: But your character has played a pretty pivotal role in this last season. Can we expect some more fun stuff out of Lydia in the remaining episodes?
LF: Well, as you know, I signed the secret pact once again under penalty of death if I say anything, but I guess I can say that Lydia certainly gets into more mischief. What else can I say... [Laughs.] It's really hard to say anything!
MS: It's funny seeing all these Breaking Bad cast interviews. Everyone's been so deft at avoiding revealing anything at all.
LF: Yes, occasionally I'll hear something, like I believe Dean Norris mentioned something about a showdown and I was like, What? He mentions the showdown? I mean, I guess that was pretty obvious from how the last episode of the previous season ended, but I was still like, Oh my God! They actually revealed a few words! They actually said something! It's shocking whenever another actor reveals even a tiny iota of anything.
MS: I totally get the secrecy. When Seinfeld shot its final episode, actors weren't allowed to walk away with a physical script.
LF: It's kinda silly, but all my friends are asking for details. They're like drug addicts — just gimme something, gimme anything! It's really bizarre, like fever pitch. It's mad.
MS: It must feel good knowing how it ends before the rest of the world.
LF: Yeah, I feel pretty smug, I gotta tell ya.
MS: You should. You're like one of those contestants on Survivor who gets kicked off the island but can't tell their friends or family for months 'til it airs on TV.
LF: [laughs.] Yeah, there should be a support group for people like us. Though I don't think there'd be much sympathy for us.
MS: We need to set this up. Support for Characters from Really Popular TV Shows with Really Curious Friends.
LF: Weekly meetings in an anonymous location.
MS: Would you say this is one of the biggest secrets you've ever had to keep?
LF: [Laughs.] No. Well, actually maybe it is the biggest one. But I've kept far worse secrets. This is a lovely secret. This is delicious compared to some of the horrible secrets in my past, which we cannot go into because it's a secret.
MS: How close have you come to letting something slip?
LF: I feel like I'm constantly on the edge of spilling it because... What's that disease when you can't stop swearing?
MS: Tourette's?
LF: Yes, Tourette's. I feel like I'm gonna be on a radio show and suddenly just spurt it all out and go Fk! and ruin the whole thing. It's a horrible feeling. I live in fear of spilling it by accident.
MS: That's why you're in Scotland right now, avoiding the rest of the world.
LF: Yes, they've sequestered me.
MS: So I read that Bryan Cranston got a BR BA tattoo to commemorate the show's conclusion. What was the vibe on the set for these final episodes?
LF: It felt to me that they were all savoring the last moments, especially the closer we got to the wrap. It felt like the end of an era — not exactly end of school, more like the end of college. I felt like an observer because, you know, I wasn't part of the family for so long. But there were a lot of mixed emotions. Some said it was nice to move on and they were glad it was ending when it did and it didn't continue 'til it was shite, but others were pretty sad.
MS: By the way, I saw a YouTube clip of your audition for Lydia.
LF: Oh, man.
MS: Was there any added pressure knowing that you were trying out for the final season of such a major show, or was it business as usual?
LF: When I was actually doing the scene, I was more in the character. But previous to that, with the build-up and the recall when they give you the real scene, I was really intimidated, like, Can I handle this? This is pretty scary. But it was amazing at the same time because what a brilliant character. It was kind of like an experiment in how much pressure my person could withstand. It's like even if your heart's beating real fast, and you're thinking, Oh, God, I'm totally gonna blank or I'm gonna fuck up or all the horrible things that could go wrong, and then they don't and you're like, Oh, okay, another day done.
MS: So I read that the initial pitch for Breaking Bad was rejected by HBO. Do you think the show would have been better if it had the license to use swearing and nudity, or do the limitations make it stronger?
LF: Well, I certainly don't miss the nudity. Occasionally, I, as the character of Lydia, would have loved to have said "fuck" or "cunt" because I think she would have. But there are other ways of articulating that, with body language or with some amazing visual or sound effects or a piece of music. It allows them to be so imaginative and inventive and maybe that was because they were limited.
MS: I kinda like the fact that Walter White never says "fuck" — it forces him to keep the rage bottled up, or to find a more clever outlet for releasing it.
LF: Yeah, I agree. It does seem to produce more creative results when there are limitations. It's like in wartime with rations — people became more inventive with cooking. Maybe it's something like that.
MS: Finally, we've seen some amazing deaths throughout the series, from wheelchair bombs to getting crushed by an ATM. Your character even ordered a few of them. But if you got to choose how you'd die in real life, how would you wanna go?
LF: So it's suicide, and I get to decide how I would do it?
MS: Not necessarily suicide, more like you've been given the God button and you get to choose how you'll die. It could be in your sleep, or in a skydiving accident...
LF: I would be very selfish and I would take my daughter and my husband with me and I would get us all to jump off an amazing cliff into a beautiful, beautiful sea so that none of us would have to grieve, and we'd have fun on the fall down. What would you do?
MS: I'd die saving a hospital full of babies and puppies from a terrorist attack.
LF: [Laughs.] Oh, great. Can I change my answer?
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