10 Breakout TV Characters Who Went From Bit Parts To Series Regulars

10. Jesse Pinkman (Breaking Bad)

It's impossible to imagine Breaking Bad, widely considered to be one of the best TV series ever, without the dynamic relationship between high school science teacher-turned-meth kingpin Walter White and callous junkie-turned-good guy Jesse Pinkman.

The meth-making ex-partners made for the perfectly imperfect team, cooking up a series so successful, fans with too much time on their hands held a mock funeral for the now-dead drug dealer—complete with a hearse and a replica of the famed RV meth lab.

However, Pinkman (aka Cap'n Cook) was intended to die in Season 1, but Aaron Paul’s depiction of the brash and emotionally-conflicted meth addict grabbed the attention of critics, fans, and even the show's creator, Vince Gilligan.

By the second episode, Gilligan was so impressed with Paul’s portrayal of the hot-tempered, multi-faceted, “Yo, bitch”-yelling fan-favorite, he rewrote the scripts and kept the character.

Originally, Pinkman was to solely serve as a plot device, whose death would haunt Walter for the rest of the show. Thankfully, Gilligan found a way to make Jesse still haunt Heisenberg for 6 full seasons without having to kill him off.