You wouldn’t think a bad guy from “Breaking Bad” would be a ton of fun to interview, but guess what? Jonathan Banks is more fun than a barrel of monkeys on meth. Well, that might not be all that fun. Might be kind of crazy and violent. But he’s really fun. Promise.
When I had the chance to visit the set of his new gig a few months ago (before “Better Call Saul” was announced, unfortunately), “Community,” Banks not only wanted to do the interview while he was getting his TV make-up fixed (no time like the present!), he wanted to take some playful jabs at his co-star Ken Jeong (“do you really think his in-laws wanted this?”) and invite the network publicist and a few other people standing around into the interview. He got all serious about his enduring love for “Breaking Bad,” but jeez, who wouldn’t?
He plays a grouchy Professor Buzz Hickey on TV, but we’d take any class he taught, any time.
Which character do you like best — Buzz Hickey, “Breaking Bad”s Mike Ehrmantraut, or Wiseguy”‘s Frank McPike?