Dean Norris on reprising Hank Schrader on Better Call Saul: "I don't want it to be gratuitous. I don't want it to be jokey"

The Hollywood Reporter

When the Breaking Bad alum was first contacted by creators Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan, Norris says he didn't want his DEA agent character to be "there for the sake of being there." Norris adds: "That was my main concern. I got a call. My agent said Peter and Vince wanted to talk, and I knew what it was going to be about. I told them, 'Look, if you think this is legitimate — if you think it's fair and justified to have him back — then I would love to do it.' And Vince said, 'Absolutely.' So I was in. Peter said something interesting to me. He said that Saul's development as a character, maybe Hank had something to do with that. That was great to me. It made sense, and it wasn't gratuitous. It was great to see early Hank. The last half of Breaking Bad, he was just so depressed. It was a tough time for Hank. It was good to see him in all of his glory and swagger and loud-mouthed self. (Laughs.)" Steven Michael Quezada says of reprising Gomie role: "It's a pretty awesome blessing. You just never know how writing goes. When we got the call, and Dean called me about it, we were so excited. It pretty much fell on Dean. If Dean said no, then I'm out of the loop, man, so I'm glad he said yes. (Laughs.) I'm glad we got to go play and bring back characters we love so much."

ALSO:

• Co-creator Peter Gould on bringing back Hank and Gomie with Vince Gilligan's help: "Oh my god, what a thrill it was," he says. "Look, we love Dean (Norris). We love Steve (Quezada). But those characters had a perfect, devastating end on Breaking Bad. So when we were talking about this season, we didn't say, 'Oh, let's bring this character and that character back.' But once we started thinking about episode 3, it seemed obvious that Jimmy would be facing off against two DEA agents. And as soon as you say the letters D-E-A in our world, that means Hank Schrader. So we got very excited and we started talking about the scene, and of course (Better Call Saul writer-producer)Ann Cherkis just wrote a tour de force, that very long scene in that interrogation room. It's fantastic."
• Dean Norris was able to easily slip back into Hank Schrader role "because they wrote him so well, as they did in Breaking Bad"
• How Kim Wexler became Better Call Saul's "impending tragedy": Rhea Seehorn looks back on her Better Call Saul journey, from landing the role in April 2014 to her character's perfectly coiled ponytail
• Read Bob Odenkirk's oral history of Saul Goodman