says Michael Mando of Nacho’s pill-switching scene.
The characters weren’t the only ones being put through their paces so were the actors who inhabited them.
“That was like, ‘This is you on the stand.
Michael McKean as Chuck McGill on ‘Better Call Saul’.AMC/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION
Those are really complex things.”
Chuck begins to lash out defensively at Jimmy before noticing the hearing board staring at him.
Chuck’s tragic day in “court” held extra poignancy for McKean.
Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler and Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman on ‘Better Call Saul’.Greg Lewis/AMC
“So it’s kind of fraught.
It was difficult and it was very rewarding, too.”
“It’s very hard for them to lie to each other.
Tony Dalton as Lalo Salamanca on ‘Better Call Saul’.Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
Rhea and I would have to go over [those scenes repeatedly].
It’s going to be fine.’
And then he hugs her and then you see his face drop, over her shoulder.
Michael Mando as Nacho Varga on ‘Better Call Saul’.Michele K. Short/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
“So I’m playing photographer there.
and then go back to him and kick him.
That was a little complicated.
Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler on ‘Better Call Saul’.Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
But it was fun.”
If he fails, it’s immediate death for him and his whole family.
And in that particular moment, he becomes his own man.
Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
And he embarks on this journey that he can never turn back from.”
Viewers saw Nacho fastidiously rehearse this high-stakes sleight of hand the previous night.
“There’s a lot of things going on.
Reed Diamond as David and Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring on ‘Better Call Saul’.Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
you’re able to feel it as an actor.
It’s a long scene, and I think it’s almost a whole act dedicated to that moment.
It happens literally within two meters with two people and no guns, no nothing.
Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin on ‘Better Call Saul’.Greg Lewis/AMC
It’s all psychological.
“They both were very, very tricky, very challenging,” she says.
“And it was important that the emotions there be authentic, but not take over the scene.
Many, many, many different nuanced ways to do those scenes.”
“Where it is a hot argument.
Where it is defensive.
Where it is quiet.
When is it loving?
When are you trying to let somebody off the hook versus pinning them to the mat?
What do these two different dynamics look like?”
It looked like one of the show’s standout, heartbreaking scenes.
JONATHAN BANKS (Mike)
Jonathan Banksalways felt challenged when he had to rattle off technical information as Mike.
“You gotta get that rifle set up there, and the rifle’s heavy…
But yeah, no, come on.
‘I f—ing loved it.’
It’s just physical discomfort, that’s all.”
“I’m so used to walking into a room and controlling it,” says Esposito.
To me, it’s just not natural, you know what I mean?
I found routes and different ways to control the chaos of any given situation.
And I’m always inquisitive and ask a lot of questions.
I would have to say that scene was one of the most challenging.”
And I recognized how important it was and I didn’t want to fail.
I didn’t want to let the writers or the show down.
So that made me do a lot of thinking and meditation."
