Penn Badgley recalls losing the role of Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad to Aaron Paul

Penn Badgley recently opened up on acting projects he auditoned for but never got. The thing he regrets the most is missing out on Jesse Bruce Pinkman's role in the critically acclaimed series, Breaking Bad. The actor revealed he and Aaron Paul were the final choices but, at the end, it went to the Westworld actor. 

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Badgley was asked about the role that he auditioned for but didn’t get. To this, the actor replied saying, “One I got so close on was Breaking Bad. It was between me and Aaron Paul. We tested. And actually that was the best television script I’d read at that point. That was the one that got away.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Paul, who played Jesse Pinkman, went on to win three Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the show.

Aaron Paul on competing with Penn Badgley

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, even Paul talked about how he and Badgley were competing for the part. He said, "Penn Badgley was one of the guys that was testing. It was so long ago I am blanking on two of the guys, I did not recognize them at the time."

"This other guy just really brought...when he walked in I was like 'Oh my god that guy looks like a meth addict,' in a good way you know...he was just like in the role. This guy is gonna gonna steal it from me but after the test it took about two weeks for them to finally let me know," he added. 

Badgley rose to fame for his role as Dan Humphrey in the popular rom-com series Gossip Girl, a part he played for five years from 2007 to 2012. He now plays a stalker and serial killer named Joseph Goldberg in web series You.