Comments Aaron Paul made to Entertainment Tonight Canada at a recent SAG-AFTRA rally are gaining traction on social media after the Emmy winner suggested he is not seeing any money from Netflix when it comes to “Breaking Bad” residuals.
Paul starred opposite Bryan Cranston on all five seasons of the acclaimed AMC drama series. Netflix is credited with greatly boosting the show’s popularity after making the first three seasons available to stream before Season 4 started airing on AMC. “Breaking Bad” then became a Netflix fixture, so much so that the show’s sequel film, “El Camino,” which starred Paul, was a Netflix original.
“I don’t get a piece from Netflix on ‘Breaking Bad’ to be totally honest and that’s insane to me,” Paul told the publication while striking alongside former co-stars Cranston and Jesse Plemons.
“Shows live forever on these streamers and it goes through waves,” Paul continued. “And I just saw the other day that ‘Breaking Bad’ was trending on Netflix, and it’s just such common sense, and a lot of these streamers, they know they have been getting away with not paying people just fair wage and now it’s time to pony up.”
Netflix did not return Variety’s request for comment.
Cranston has joined picket lines in both New York City and Los Angeles since the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike. He notably gave a rousing speech in Times Square in late July in which he directly targeted Disney CEO Bob Iger.
“We’ve got a message for Mr. Iger,” Cranston said. “I know, sir, that you look [at] things through a different lens. We don’t expect you to understand who we are. But we ask you to hear us, and beyond that to listen to us when we tell you we will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots. We will not have you take away our right to work and earn a decent living. And lastly, and most importantly, we will not allow you to take away our dignity! We are union through and through, all the way to the end!”
Watch more of Cranston and Paul at a recent SAG-AFTRA strike in the video below.
