Out of all the bald sons of guns who appeared in the “Breaking Bad” universe, Mike Ehrmantraut (portrayed with the coolest stoicism by Jonathan Banks) is probably the toughest and most resilient. But as it happens, the character wouldn’t even exist without Bob Odenkirk and his role on CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother.” According to an interview Odenkirk gave to Rolling Stone in 2015, Ehrmantraut was created because Odenkirk couldn’t do the fourth “Breaking Bad” episode he signed up for in Season 2 because he was also shooting “How I Met Your Mother” at the time.
Odenkirk explained, “I thought I was up for three episodes of ‘Breaking Bad’ — well, they wanted me for four, but I could only do three ’cause I was in ‘How I Met Your Mother.’ They actually added the character of Mike because I couldn’t make that fourth week, and they needed another character to get that information across, so that’s amazing right there. Thank you, ‘How I Met Your Mother.'”
Although the two standout stars of “Breaking Bad” were Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul playing a chemistry teacher/drug lord and a failed student/drug dealer, respectively, the show became what it is today because series creator Vince Gilligan populated his universe with remarkable and painstakingly written characters. One of those was Mike, a Marine Corps veteran and former beat cop, who served as a fixer, private investigator, and head of security for various criminals.
Banks received multiple Emmy nominations for the role (once for “Breaking Bad” and four times for “Better Call Saul”), though he never took home the trophy.