‘Breaking Bad’ Showrunner Vince Gilligan Begs Fans to Stop Throwing Pizzas, Says It’s Not ‘Original, Funny, or Cool’
It’s been more than a decade since the infamous Breaking Bad episode “Caballo sin Nombre” aired on AMC. The second episode of the third season has plenty of memorable scenes that drive the story forward, but the most important is the moment when Walter White tosses an entire pizza onto the roof of his house.
The scene, which actor Bryan Cranston accomplished in a single take, is both dramatic and funny just like Breaking Bad itself. But fans can’t let it go. Even 10 years later, people continue to show up at the real house in Albuquerque and waste pizzas by throwing them on the roof.
Things got so bad that Vince Gilligan went on record urging fans to stop vandalizing the home where people actually live.
Fans are obsessed with the pizza-throwing scene in ‘Breaking Bad’
The scene in question shows Walt arriving home with a gift offering for his family. At this point, he and Skyler are fighting because she’s not exactly thrilled her husband is a meth manufacturer. Walt tries to smooth over the situation by coming home with pizza, but Skyler won’t accept his apology and locks the door. In frustration, Walt hurls the pizza into the air. It lands on the roof of the house.
And ever since, fans have been seeking out the house and arriving in droves to waste pizza. Things got so bad that Gilligan had to plead with people to stop doing it.
Real people live at Walter White’s house
The White’s house isn’t just some Hollywood set — it’s a real residence where people live. Homeowners Francis and Louis Padilla said that at the height of the show’s popularity in 2013, they’d catch up to 200 people per day flinging food at their home.
“We’ve had pizzas on our roof. We’ve had pizzas on our driveway; pizzas until we’re sick of looking at pizzas,” Francis told NPR, Time reported. “I’ll sit outside with a shotgun in a rocking chair. You know, like Granny from Beverly Hillbillies.”
Vince Gilligan doesn’t find the prank humorous
Even though the showrunner must be pleased that so many people were moved by the episode, he’s not proud that fans are terrorizing the Padillas.
“There is nothing original or funny or cool about throwing a pizza on this lady’s roof,” Gilligan said during a podcast interview. “It’s been done before. You’re not the first.”
He didn’t specifically suggest violence, but he did encourage fans to stop anyone who was trying to vandalize the home.
“People live in these houses. They’re trying to go about their lives just like we all are,” Gilligan continued. “If you see anyone acting like an a**hole, well, I’m not saying go after them personally or anything, but maybe take down their plate number. Something within reason.”
The homeowners were forced to erect a fence
Unfortunately, even Gilligan’s warning wasn’t enough to dissuade fans. The homeowners eventually had to erect a 6-foot high chain-link fence to keep people from trespassing onto their property. But they said even that didn’t stop Breaking Bad fans from throwing pizzas.
“We feel like we can’t leave because when we, do something happens and that’s ridiculous,” the Padilla’s daughter Joanna Quintana said. “We don’t want to gate ourselves in. We’re the ones who’s [sic] being locked up. We did nothing wrong.”
A Breaking Bad RV tour guide confirmed the accusations. “Francis Padilla has made it very clear that you’re not going to come to her house and do whatever you want,” Frank Sandoval told Time. “She doesn’t mind people coming to see the property, she just wants them to respect her privacy.”
That sounds reasonable enough.
