Things have been breaking good for Bay City native Betsy Brandt.
Since debuting in 2008 as Marie on the AMC series “Breaking Bad,” Brandt has also squeezed in some guest roles on other TV shows, done some stage work, spoken at Bay City Western High School's graduation and had a baby.
Now back in Albuquerque, N.M., in production for the show’s fourth season, Brandt said she can’t understand where the time has gone.
“My God, I can't believe we're doing Season Four,” she said. “I feel like I just shot the pilot.”
“Breaking Bad,” which has become a hit for AMC, airs at 10 a.m. Sundays. The show follows protagonist Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a chemistry teacher who lives in New Mexico with his family. White is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given two years to live. To secure his family’s financial security, White uses his chemistry skills to create up a rolling drug lab and eventually becomes a drug kingpin. Brandt plays Marie Schrader, White’s sister-in-law.
Brandt says the dark comedy has improved over the years.
“I had a fantastic Season Three,” she said. “I got some really great material and it felt like the show really hit its stride. After Season Three, I really noticed a difference. There are a lot more fans.”
And her character is growing.
“We've seen things from Marie that the audience wouldn't expect,” Brandt said. “I felt pretty comfortable with creator Vince Gilligan, that I could make some bold choices with my character and he wouldn't let her be just one note. There are things about her that are not likable, but not totally unlikable.”
For “Breaking Bad,” Brandt's day usually begins around 5:30 a.m. for hair and makeup, followed by breakfast while the crew sets up. The cast goes through rehearsal for a particular scene. While the actors get into costume, the lighting is set. Scenes are shot in multiple takes.
“We shoot from one camera angle, turn around and shoot the other character from another angle,” she said. “If they get everything they need, we move on to the next scene, which may be in the same location. They lump locations. Whatever the location, we stay at that location until we're done. It costs thousands of dollars to move.”
Some of those scenes are shot at a private residence in Albuquerque. Brandt says the owners are a lovely couple who have become part of the crew, showing up at wrap parties and getting to know everyone.
“They have to live with a purple wall and with a big photo of me in a purple wedding dress,” she laughs.
When she's not being Marie, Brandt is stretching her acting wings by guest starring on other TV shows and on stage. Her credits now include “Miami Medical,” a new show from Jerry Bruckheimer, “The Whole Truth,” with Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney, and “No Ordinary Family.”
She also performed in a new play, “The Language Archive,” by Julia Cho in Los Angeles.
“(Cho is) best known for her TV writing,” Brandt said. “She is a writer for “Big Love.” She's a playwright, very prolific and wildly talented. I had the time of my life doing it.”
She also did the play “Ridiculous Fraud” with Beth Henley, and worked with novelist Mark Danielewski doing pieces of his novel, “The 50-Year Sword.”
“I did that project for him at the Red Cat Theatre in Los Angeles,” she said. “It started out as a stage reading, but it was a production; some pieces of one of his novels that has not yet been released in the U.S.”
She's also had some inquires from Steven Soderbergh, who lists “Ocean's Eleven,” on his list of credits, as well as the upcoming film “Liberace,” starring Michael Douglas. He is a fan of “Breaking Bad,” and is partial to Marie.
“He called my agent about me,” she said. “He's one of the best film directors we have. He ended up not using me for his new film, but I'm hoping he calls me for another film. He's threatening to retire. I hope he doesn't. I really want to work with him. To me that would feel like getting the Pulitzer.”
But, says Brandt, she’s not in the business to pick up an Emmy or an Oscar.
“To me, I work with one foot in front of the other,” she said. “Luckily, I'm working with really great writers. I just go where the writing leads me and where this character is going.”
As for the future, Brandt is hoping for a film she can really sink her teeth into, and perhaps a guest starring role in “Detroit 1-8-7,” which is shot in the Motor City.
“These are my people,” she said. “I sound like the real deal because I am the real deal.”
Guest-starring on the show would also get the 1991 Western High School graduate back home to Michigan, where her parents, Gary and Janet Brandt of Monitor Township, still live.
Source: mlive
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