Michael McKean on the awfulness of his 'Better Call Saul' character: 'I know what it's made of' 

Vegeta's Piano music intensifies just like skyler white

Vegeta's Piano music intensifies or maybe hes good at being an asshole

It depends on the character being played, not all characters were meant to be hated. Chuck, is a very great performance, he was meant to be hated and the actor does a phenomenal job. However there are some shows where a character is unlikable not because of the acting but because the character doesn't make sense o the acting is bad. A good example would be the Sand Snakes in GoT, Lori or Andrea in Walking Dead, to name a few.

Vegeta's Piano music intensifies Yes...exactly.

+Vegeta's Piano music intensifies If only the people who harassed Anna Gunn used this logic

Truly outstanding, he went out of his way to unburn himself and endure all that electricity so he can make this interview

WHAT A SICK JOKE!

@@TheKickboxingCommunity AN ONLINE -COURSE- VIDEO? WHAT A JOKE!

@@TheKickboxingCommunity You think this is bad, this chicanery?

@@babbisp1 YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE THESE SHORTCUTS AND SUDDENLY YOU THINK YOU'RE MY PEER?

Dick Chappy lmao

I can't help but read this in his voice, it's just impossible for me to not xD

😂😂

Dick Chappy And i saved him!, I shouldn’t have!

WHAT WAS I THINKING

In Chucks eyes, Jimmy has been a bad person since they were kids but he watched everybody still love him cause he had that swagger lol. Meanwhile Chuck did everything right. He surpassed your average Joe as far as career/income goes. Got married. Then he had to watch his “loser” brother try to enter workspace. Chuck hated jimmy with a passion. It gave him that fake electricity mental disorder. And later drove him to take his own life

This show is something of another world, and I don’t say that lightly. It is a complex psychological train that doesn’t stop chugging along, and it keeps accelerating all throughout both of their lives that eventually ends Chuck’s life and therefore stops his train which was accelerating at light speed. It started as children when Chuck was naturally gifted, he got into Georgetown law while Jimmy resented that. But Chuck also knew Jimmy was the charismatic person that everybody wanted to be around, despite not having the superior intelligence that Chuck was blessed with. Chuck resented that, so it’s dual resentment among people who are supposed to be lifelong allies- brothers, for goodness sake. They both felt inadequate and desiring each other’s traits in secret, and could never have a heart to heart about it. The secrecy of resentment and despise for each other was a flame that kept growing and growing. However, Jimmy had a law career, despite not being of the prestige of Chuck’s. However, Chuck didn’t have a glimmer of hope in becoming as charismatic as Jimmy, which is why we see him get progressively more resentful and wicked towards Jimmy. Jimmy knew he wasn’t on Chucks level, and Chuck always accused him of being an inadequate lawyer, but this was only out of jealousy of his personality and possibly looks. Thus, Chuck couldn’t handle the fact that despite all of his accomplishments, he wasn’t the favourite brother. He felt that all his life’s work of becoming the successful lawyer he is was for nothing if he couldn’t please his mother like Jimmy could. This is why Chuck killed himself, not because he hated Jimmy, but because he was jealous of him, despite Jimmy being much less successful.

@@ProdByAD21 your average joe? who's joe?

there was never a rivalry. jimmy was a piece of shit loser/criminal and chuck still gave him a job despite that. chuck's "hatred" only grew because of the "why is this happening to me?" syndrome. just think about it, even cancer patients have access to electricity. sure, chuck ultimately became an asshole trying to impede jimmy's career, but the bigger part of the reason of becoming an asshole is because he got dealt monumentally shit hands (brain damage).

@@ProdByAD21 the cause for the mental disorder was never confirmed. chuck loved jimmy, chuck didn't need to bail jimmy out, chuck didn't need to give jimmy a job, and chuck most certainly didn't do those things just because his mother asked him to (what is he 12?). chuck had jimmy's back. the resentment only started when chuck discovered jimmy was going to become a lawyer, and nobody can really blame chuck for not wanting jimmy to practice law in his firm, he is "slipping jimmy" ffs. yea chuck eventually became a piece of shit, but to be fair, when person's hard earned successful life SUDDENLY ALL GOES TO SHIT, that person tends to act like a piece of shit as well. i can only sympathize with chuck,. if only chuck had a more competent doctor, and if only chuck was more adamant of treating his condition instead of adapting to it. in the end, the purpose of chuck's character was to be the ultimate catalyst to jimmy becoming saul goodman.

absolutely. the courtroom scene was amazing.

agree

I know this is off topic but have any of you guys seen him in star trek voyager?

Rafael C --Incredible to think I first saw him on Laverne & Shirley as Lenny the somewhat smarter 1/2 of Lenny & Squiggy. I’m not sure of the ‘asshole’ assessment of Chuck tho. I had a family member who was charming and got away with a lot because of her slickness. It’s easy to be resentful of someone who craps on family, steals and lies but are so damn charming, they not only get away with it, they are liked better than the ‘upright’ members of a family. Chuck wants to see HONOR win but it often doesn’t and it can screw with your own sensibilities. Since it’s JIMMY who puts the ‘Fun’ in dysfunctional, it’s CHUCK who sticks with the ‘Dis’ and pissed.

@Mitchell Knight I didn't realize that was him

Exactly, he played himself. Lolz

Except it would never be recorded lmfao

except all lights would be turned off

The typewriter in the background 😂

Well-played, Sir

charged with battery 😂

I can't lie, I laughed!

Lol 😂 I would

@@ReviveR6 well played, sir 😄

Like garlic to a vampire.

Finally a good comment after all the boring "did they turn the lights off?" shit.

You clearly didn't see his totally legit Acting Certificate from University of American Samoa...

@@seijisawamura000 Go land crabs

An online acting course . What a joke. i worked my ass off to become an actor . You dont slide into it like a cheap pair of slippers

Showmanship Is sacred

perfectly said.

Completely agree.

Jimmy is kinda morally good crook while Chuck is well-behaved and law-abiding ruthless asshole that's gonna sell his own brother out just so he can come out on top.

He also resents Jimmy for being liked more by everyone, including their parents.

intelligently well put, man!

Out of all the ways for him to go out, that wasn't one I'd have expected.

I wish he and Jimmy could have worked it out somehow but it was a lot of things piling on top of Chuck that pushed him

It's one of the only times I felt something from BB/BCS is somewhat out of character, I think Chuck would've been too stubborn to kill himself, but he needed to get out of the series so the story could move on, though I wish he stayed for more seasons and have a different send-off

@Harry Baals yeah, but Jimmy actually had a chance to change and turn his life around, but Chuck wanted to keep him locked in the mail room because he didn't want to give Jimmy a chance. That just made Jimmy go deeper into the bad life. Then, Chuck got Jimmy banned from practicing law, which led to him tripling down on the scummy conman lifestyle. To paraphrase a philosophical quote on the subject... "Evil is created when someone gives up on someone else. It appears when everyone gives up on someone as a lost cause and removes their path to salvation. When someone gave up on someone and they become cut off from everyone else, they became evil." Of course, some people are genuinely beyond redemption, but when you deny it to those are can be redeemed, then you leave them no other option.

@@InfernosReaper kinda obvious his whole house was a fire hazard plus the gas lamps

The scene where they're taking down the foil really points that out perfectly. You have Jimmy who's taking the easy and much faster way by ripping the tape off but destroys the varnish on the wood, then you have Chuck's method of slowly rolling the tape down. It's gonna take forever but there won't be any damage to the varnish.

@@brettuhl7818 Great comment, I have never thought of this that way, shows how great the show is.

@@brettuhl7818 Yes, then there's _that_ foil. :-)

Totally agree, except I’m defiantly not going to miss chuck 😂

Did you see what Jimmy did to those poor elderly women? That was despicable. No way does he have a "good heart".

Pretty sure he did for best guest appearance in Season 4.

@@PwnZombie No just nominated

I really wouldn't call him a villain, his character is way too layered to simplify it like that, but I totally agree that his performance deserved at least an Emmy. I'd argue Chuck's the greatest character in TV history and Michal McKean portrayed him impeccably well.

what a sick joke!

Half the ppl in BCS deserved an Emmy

And then later on when he's alone with his wife, he swallows his pride as an "officer of the court" and cracks a lawyer joke of his own. To which she just looks at him blankly and then forces a laugh when she realizes he's telling a joke. I genuinely felt sorry for him then, it was just a good a joke as any of Jimmy's but he just couldn't match his brother's easy charm. Moments like that fed his resentment of Jimmy, the two-faced swindler who people just loved to be swindled by, when Chuck's own wife wouldn't even crack a smile for him.

Honestly the first time I watched that scene I interpreted it as jimmy stealing chucks girl

@@chasm671 Jimmy stopped being two-faced after Chuck saved him from prison and the sex offender registry tbh

And later Jimmy banged his wife with flashing discolights flashing throughout, that's also why Chuck developed his "condition" for being "allergic" to electricity. It just gives him vietnam flashbacks of Jimmy plowing her on Chucks case files. Thats also why he stopped being a lawyer. He couldn't work on another case anylonger. lul

@@mezmezzy1870 Not to Chuck, he didn't. In his mind there is no redemption for Slippin' Jimmy.

He has his space blanket under his suit.

Good one. I was waiting for him to wince or flitch at some point in the interview.

I was wondering if he was going to go nuts with the mic taped on his lapel

...lol

💀💀💀

actor*

actor*

What's an Acor?

@@Defiring He meant acorn. >_>

@@Ubersuntzu Oh makes sense, my bad

yeah only came into my radar coz of BCS, i've missed out alot on Michael Mckean the world is missing out alot as well, hope he gets to be in more projects preferably in drama roles just like this one haha

Lenny from Laverne and Shirley!!!

The guy wrote Sex Farm for Christ's sake!

Fortunately I grew up in 80’s, so I was familiar with Lenny, Spinal Tap, and many other roles, I am happy he proved he is a great actor

I loved watching Lenny and Squiggy

Exactly. But you got through it. You didn't let the jealousy consume you and transform into hate. Instead, you improved yourself as a person. Chuck didn't.

AttentionJunkie s

​@@1994mrmysteryman I don't really think that's the only thing going on with Chuck. It's not really jealousy so much as bitterness at perceived unfairness. He's clearly got a serious Luciferian syndrome going on from watching Jimmy be rewarded for sloppiness while he's being "punished" after doing things the "right way." So he feels like the gods of justice have forsaken him for his inferior. If Jimmy became a successful car salesman, I don't think seeing Jimmy be successful would bother him so much. But seeing Jimmy successfully enter his own profession (and thus his perceived status) at the same time that Chuck's health and marriage have fallen apart is too much for his ego to bear.

​@@1994mrmysteryman Also sorry for the necro post. Just needed a place to say my piece on the subject and didn't look at the date. >_>

@@Ubersuntzu I love how you write, man.

Oddly, a lot of comics make great dramatic actors. I never liked Robin Williams' comedy, but damned if he didn't do some heart-wrenching drama.

@@michaelsutherland5848 I always tell people that I really liked watching Robin Williams performance in his dramatic movie roles than watching his stand up

He's got a clip-on mic.

He would've died if he'd been next to it

They probably told him the camera pointed at him was turned off

Are you grounded?

But they couldn't do anything about the exit sign

lol

He had so much empathy that he helped Walt poison a Brock, now Chuck was no saint he played a part in turning Jimmy into Saul, but acting like Jimmy was a blameless victim is bs, plus Chuck had legit reason to think that his brother would never change since he was given oppurtunity after oppurtunity and he failed every single time. Both of them are terrible human beings.

Michael McKean was already a true legend in my book before BCS.

Weirdo

have you seen him on the X-Files ?

Ed McGuigan he was on Friends, I think he was Monica's boss for one day

Mockolate!

EAT IT! EAT IT! DON’T YOU MAKE ME REPEAT IT!

More like best unsupporting since he never supports good ol jimmy

Oscar? It's not a movie...lol

Oscars are for movies dummy, you're not a real commentor

You mean emmy, dork

they don't give Oscars for television work.

Lalo's killing it in the final season. Literally.

@@armorvil He just wants to talk to his lawyers.

They are almost two diffrent shows and I could see somebody liking either more but from episode 1 I knew the drastic difference there would be in lets season 3 compared to season 4 so it wasnt an out of left field change I wasnt happy to see nor was I bored with the later plot lines

@@h3ck774 I understand that it must progress.Just as how I like Breaking Bad season's one and four the most from that series.Just a matter of preference.

Same, I have rewatched the first seasons so many times. There isn't the pressure on the show for increased stakes or to start wrapping things up. It can just breathe and explore itself.

The actor who played his partner Squiggy later developed MS, which curtailed his career. He was very good also.

Oh, how I loved Lenny and Squigy as a child. I had to show my kids Laverne and Shirley scenes to contrast Chuck’s character.

A running joke on the show was when Laverne or Shirley said something like "Can this day get any worse?" L&S would be at their door.

I loved Laverne & Shirley. Lenny & Squiggy were the best supporting players for the girls.

@@spaceghost8995 he found his second career as a successful baseball scout (he was on A radio show and ended up doing the Squibby voice and it was awesome

This is what I love about the story they made, their relationship is so debatable, who's right and who's wrong. But to me I think that Jimmy was a terrible person, he was 100% down to change but Chuck never gave him a chance and never tried to see the good in him and help that side of him out, did everything in his power to turn the whole lawyer business against him starting by Howard another authority in that world, and through these actions Jimmy started developing the idea that he will never get a chance because he's branded forever and you see that fully blossom with that girl trying to get a scholarship story arc. Quite the sad story when you put it this way

@@kurasai6009 they both had issues, chuck's problems hurt jimmy more than jimmy's issues hurt chuck

I think Chuck is part of the cause of what made Jimmy become Saul. Jimmy tried so hard to get on track and make Chuck proud once he saved him from his Slipping Jimmy days. Yet Chuck couldn't take Jimmy call himself a lawyer because it insulted his ego.

@@baifomet6425 Maybe, maybe, however, to me it seems that Chuck couldn't stand Jimmy being a lawyer because he understood the risks, not because of his ego.

This just isn't correct though, the show made that very clear imo. There was an entire plot point about it, when Chuck purposely let Jimmy figure out about the secret recording, and was discussing his plan. He said that he figured Jimmy would sneak in during the middle of the night and try to steal the recording to save himself, Chuck specifically said that he "knew his brother" and "knew what he would do" The scene was immediately followed by Jimmy showing up, middle the day, wanting to confront Chuck about betraying their relationship. Imo that scene alone made it very clear that Chuck only saw the worst in Jimmy, he saw Jimmy as a cold emotionless person that would sneak into his house during the night to steal, while in actuality Jimmy did, and was the exact opposite of what Chuck thought. Chuck didn't have him figured out at all.

sertic1 no. Are you?

Not to the point of thinking an actor playing a role with a similar voice - that stems from the same vocal chords, is worthy of surprise.

sertic1 I meant the actor and the interviewer...

The interviewer looks like Steve Martin, but doesn't sound like him.

oh I'm soooo sorry haha

Exactly! I love that his character (and I think his does it more than any other on the show) is so complex that you can't really put your finger on where you stand on him. Also, I think Chuck and Kim were the only two people that Jimmy (/ Saul) genuinely cared about, so when Chuck was gone, a lot of Jimmy was gone with that too (meaning his more human and caring side, Saul took the center stage then - greed and lust for money without genuine care for other people). And when Kim left as well, Saul took completely over. Man I really hated him by the end (as Gene became Saul again) and wanted him to get caught so badly. Without these two people there was nothing left of Jimmy's caring side. So Chuck was completely right about him, he wanted him to be Jimmy and not Slippin' Jimmy (Chuck's name for Saul Goodman), but the way he acted only had the opposite effect. I think if Chuck was more compassionate towards Jimmy and if they could hang out like brothers without him judging Jimmy all the time, maybe Jimmy would turn out to be more prominent rather than Saul. But the brilliance of the show is that they are all flawed character as people are in real life.

That's what I came here to say. Yes, he obviously has an ugly jealousy/vendetta against Jimmy that goes back to their childhood, and that's something that will always make a person seem like a villain/bad guy, but Chuck was 100% right about Jimmy. If given enough time, Jimmy will destroy the lives of absolutely anybody he comes into contact with. He won't mean to, but he will destroy their lives. You know what else he was right about? Jimmy really wasn't a real lawyer.

The you're not all that important to me scene really cemented it for me.

sgtgiggles his surname was the patron saint of quality footwear

Chuck was cruel. When he tells Jimmy he never really mattered all that much to him, I wanted to kill Chuck with my bare hands.

Micah Buzan Mental illness can only be your safety blanket for awful treatment towards others for so long before the scales tip. Chuck wasn’t just tipping the scales, he was actively jumping up and down on his end.

@@peg202xo7 True but you didn't have to put up with Jimmy's lies and tricks your whole life.

@@peg202xo7 he obviously didnt mean it, u saw later that he had a full mental breakdown and committed suicide. he only said that because of how hurt he was and what jimmy put him through

He did make a lot of bad choices but his death was still horrible

I don't think Monster is the right word....Chuck is definitely flawed and has done some petty, vindictive, and even malicious things but I don't think he has done anything I would actually consider "monstrous".

I think Chuck is the most hated character, and we love him for it. Mike is my favourite character, but I also think he’s the most loved, so for me they sit at opposite ends of the spectrum

If chuck is a "monster" then what is Jimmy? They're both incredibly flawed, dynamic characters, and that's why the show is so great. No good/evil dichotomy.

@@panterxbeats sometimes it feels like i'm not watching the same show. If chuck is a monster, then Jimmy's the worst person on the planet ... People get so stuck up worshiping the face of the show, they turn a blind eye to the horrible shit that he did and still does, shit that led to Chuck's suicide

Chuck deserves to burn in hell. He ended up creating a monster from his brother instead of helping him be on the right path.

Lmao I wasn't watching, I thought the intro was Chuck

Not really, had Chuck been more supportive of Jimmy’s endeavors and properly mentored him, there would be no Saul Goodman

jimmy & james the same person my dude

what

It is hinted at that Jimmy did steal from his dads business.

@@IsomerSoma Not just hinted. We see him steal from the till one time, but we also see someone scam Charles Sr. as well, so it's unclear how much of the $14,000 discrepancy Chuck refers to was caused by Jimmy and how much was caused by Charles Sr. letting people scam him. That ambiguity is an important aspect of the show because it forces the audience to look at things from each character's point of view. From Jimmy's point of view, it doesn't matter how much of the missing money went into his pockets because someone would have stolen from Charles Sr. no matter what, and from Chuck's point of view, Jimmy was solely responsible. Both explanations make sense from their respective points of view. Since Jimmy is the protagonist, most people tend to sympathize with him more so than Chuck, especially since Chuck never mentions that other people besides Jimmy also stole from Charles Sr.

ehhh tbf he gets strong armed from the beginning

After i saw that subtle switch from Jimmy to Saul in the season 4 finale, i wondered for the first time that maybe Chuck was right? Jimmy always possessed hints of Saul in him so maybe chuck saw him for the devil he was since he knew him better than anyone else and knew that eventually he would become Saul completely. One point i noted was that chuck always lashed out at Jimmy when he did something devious to get what he wanted. So isn't it possible that everytime Chuck saw Jimmy turning into Saul more and more

Why isn't anyone mentioning that the two people in this clip sound the same?

Except the american dream can be a great thing, chuck can't be a great person.

Very well stated!

There's a component that is misses that though. Chuck isn't just jealous of Jimmy's way with people. He's enraged by the fact that his little brother's used car salesman type charisma wins him friends when we know Jimmy uses it to swindle and rob people with little to no remorse. Jimmy constantly evades consequences because of the affection he wins from others. Jimmy has admitted without compunction to seeing anyone ge can com as sheep. He's in many ways pretty much a monster and yet people lower their guard and love him in away they rarely if ever do for Chuck a man whose gotten everything in his life without petty shortcuts just the fruit of sincere hardworking and authentic brilliance. Who wouldn't that drive crazy?

Isn't it a "known story" how the loser of the family is preferenced over the "successful one" by a mother. Happens in all families. And the successful one probably sacrificed good times to get where they are. The Prodical Son theory.

Yeah, everyone who full-on HATES Chuck is sorta missing the point, in my eyes. They're right in there with the Skylar haters for me. Yes, Chuck is awful to Jimmy, but Jimmy is equally awful to Chuck, and the difference is Jimmy is willing to go to all sorts of criminal lengths to screw Chuck over, and meanwhile all Chuck wants is for Jimmy not to be in a position to be able to do that.

Racist comment you bigot

TheMovieSequelDude49 “...... and I’m going home to sleep with my wife!”. Great last line