Aaron Paul breaks away from ‘Breaking Bad’ with high-octane ‘Need for Speed’

TORONTO – Now that “Breaking Bad” is done, breakout star Aaron Paul says the challenge is breaking away from his widely acclaimed turn as the drug-addled Jesse Pinkman.

Paul says that was a key factor in picking “Need for Speed,” a high-octane car-racing flick in which he plays a talented driver bent on revenge.

With the recent wrap-up of his Emmy Award-winning TV series, Paul says he was keen to find “something just completely different than ‘Breaking Bad,’ completely different from Jesse Pinkman.”

“And this had that on every level,” Paul said during a recent stop in Toronto to promote the film, an adaptation of the EA Entertainment video game franchise.

“‘Breaking Bad’ was such quality and so I had to be picky. There were a bunch of scripts I was reading and I read ‘Need for Speed’ and it was such a fun story and I just really related to these characters.”

Paul’s involvement was cemented in a meeting with stunt man-turned director Scott Waugh, who laid out his vision for a throwback to classic muscle car films of the ’60s and ’70s like “Bullitt” and “Vanishing Point.”

“That really excited me because I was such a huge fan of Steve McQueen, just this blue-collar (tough guy),” said Paul.

Waugh, son of the late longtime stunt co-ordinator Fred Waugh, says he saw a bit of McQueen in Paul.

“Steve McQueen defined the word cool. He just did,” Waugh said while seated alongside Paul for a round of interviews.

“I was looking for somebody to be the next young Steve McQueen and when I saw Aaron’s work I was like, ‘Man, this is the guy.’ Because he has all of those qualities that Steve had for me personally — he’s got that edge, he’s got that sexiness but he’s also so lovable and likable and humble and I just said, ‘But can he drive? That’s the problem, can he drive?'”

After months of practice on a closed-course racetrack, it turned out he could.

Paul says he picked up fundamentals including how to drift, pull-off 180s and handle some tricky backwards manoeuvring, all while being mindful of cameramen and extras also on set.

His character is Tobey Marshall, a blue-collar kid who runs his family’s auto shop and races in an underground street circuit with his buddies.

When he’s framed for a crime he didn’t commit he’s consumed with desire for revenge and sets out on a cross-country road trip from New York to San Francisco with police hot on his trail. It culminates in a car race against his cocky rich-kid enemy, Dino, played by Dominic Cooper.

Waugh says he was keen on doing everything “for real” — that is, without computer-generated images.

The shoot relied heavily on professional drivers who used pod cars — vehicles that allowed the actors to sit behind the wheel and deliver dialogue while a stunt driver steered remotely.

Waugh bemoaned a general reliance on digital tools to create excitement in more recent driving movies.

“The landscape in cinema has changed and it seems we’re always doing (stunts) in CG now,” says Waugh, who strapped himself to a helicopter skid in order to get one especially tricky close-up shot.

“And I just find that I don’t know why. I still think we can do it practically.”

The car-lover made sure to stack the film with classic ’70s muscle cars and multimillion-dollar European supercars, many of which have been featured in the video games.

Tobey’s “hero car” is a customized Ford Mustang adorned with blue stripes and chrome, a design based on the 2013 Shelby GT500.

Then there is a roaring ’69 Ford Gran Torino, a ’68 Chevy Camaro and a ’66 Pontiac GTO. Modern cars include a Swedish Koenigsegg Agera R, a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, a GTA Spano, a Bugatti Veyron and a Saleen S7.

Paul’s foray into action territory comes as “Breaking Bad” lead Bryan Cranston — who played teacher-turned-drug lord Walter White — collects raves on Broadway for playing President Lyndon B. Johnson in “All the Way” and prepares for his own big screen release, “Godzilla,” in May.

Paul says he’s ready to put Pinkman aside and embrace his own array of roles, and hopefully showcase all that he can do.

“Jesse Pinkman was just the role that people know me as and so I’m just doing roles across the board — whether it’s this and this film or ‘Hellion,’ (about) a broken down father just trying to raise his kids in his own way or ‘Exodus’ where I play the Biblical Joshua. I just try to mix it up, do stuff that shows people that I’m not just Jesse.”

Nevertheless, Paul does admit he’d like to be part of the hotly anticipated “Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul” if possible. The prequel will focus on Jesse and Walt’s sleazy strip mall lawyer Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk, and his band of criminal clients.

“I love that family, it’s a lot of same writers — we got Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould who created the Saul Goodman character, they’re both showrunning the show and it’s going to be an incredible show,” he says.

“It’d be nice to kind of jump into the skin of Jesse Pinkman again in his lighter days, before he (made meth) with Mr. White. It’d be good.”

“Need for Speed” opens Friday.

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