Marie Schrader , the wife of DEA agent and the sister-in-law of the chemistry teacher-turned-drug dealer Walter White in the popular Breaking Bad series was a study in contrasts. She was funny, loved her family, cared about her niece and nephew, but loved gossip and was a kleptomaniac. In a telephonic interaction, Betsy Brandt, who plays the character in the series says, “It was one of my first roles in television. I loved the character and the show from the moment I read the pilot episode. I wanted to play Marie and felt that her sidestory will be more interesting than the one involving Walter and Skyler. I wanted to see how my character would develop and the series would pan out. I enjoyed working on the series. It was a drama with many comic elements thrown in. Many of Marie’s personality quirks, such as her kleptomania came into the picture much later. It was fun getting a chance to create a new personality.”
She adds, “Marie was a character that did not change much and was a very important part of the series. She loved her family and did everything she could to protect it. I think in that aspect she was quite similar to Skyler. She is not the most likeable character, but very relatable. I am sure the audience will have members in their families very similar to Marie. The beauty of the show is every character has their place in the story and in the family.”
Betsy says, “Marie started off as someone who stole and loved to gossip. However, she evolved to be someone who stood up for what she thought was right and would stand by her family. It was a tough character to play. I think the character changed once Hank was injured in a shoot-out.”
On Breaking Bad being a inflection point for good TV is concerned, Betsy says, “It is a great time in television. There are great plots, characters and huge budgets. However, there has been a lot of good TV before Breaking Bad came to the scene. Shows like Seinfeld were spectacular.”
Breaking Bad airs on Weekdays at 11 p.m. on AXN.
