Quick question, who’s your favorite character on Better Call Saul? Is it Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk)? Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks)? Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito)? It could be any of the characters on the show really, but if you ask me my favorite is Michael McKean’s character Chuck McGill, played by Michael McKean. Why? Because he’s great at playing the role of an interesting and complex man with a fascinating back story and some intense emotional issues that make him extremely compelling to watch on screen. Why Michael McKean’s Character on ‘Better Call Saul’ Is So Fascinating
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Michael McKean
What intrigued me most about Chuck McGill was that I have a brother, so I know how your relationship with siblings can be very, very close and then it can fall apart in a second. It’s just because you go out into different worlds and you become different people. Then there’s what did Chuck do to Jimmy? Or what did Jimmy do to Chuck? I think they both contributed to whatever tension or animosity is between them. In my mind, it goes back almost 50 years because when we first see them as boys, they’re having an argument—and it’s not an argument that two brothers who were fighting over something like a toy would be having at that age. They seem much more grown up in that scene.
How does he play?
Chuck McGill is one of my favorite characters in television right now, and his portrayal by veteran actor Michael McKean is part of what makes him so fascinating. Just like Jimmy, Chuck has a tendency to ham it up and be histrionic, as he doesn’t always know how to effectively express himself or deal with people (though Chuck’s issues are far more complicated than Jimmy’s). One of my favorite moments in Better Call Saul comes during season 2, when Jimmy visits Chuck at his house after finding out he may have cancer. Rather than just express condolences for Jimmy over a potentially serious health issue (which would have been easy), Chuck instead decides to make his brother feel bad about getting into another fistfight with a client.
What makes him so fascinating?
Chuck McGill is Jimmy’s elder brother and a founding partner of HHM. He is also an incredibly intriguing character, thanks to a layered performance by veteran actor Michael McKean. Chuck has several conditions that interfere with his daily life: he is severely allergic to electricity (and even smartphones cause him extreme discomfort), he has atypical Parkinson’s disease, he suffers from agoraphobia and electromagnetic hypersensitivity, and he has clinical depression. The latter of these conditions manifests itself in episodes where Chuck experiences intense mood swings and breaks down emotionally; when in one of these episodes, we see just how deep his mental illness runs.
His storyline in Better Call Saul
The character is both darkly funny and incredibly tragic. Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) has yet to transform into Saul Goodman, but that time will come soon enough. For now, we follow Jimmy’s elder brother Chuck (Michael McKean), a founding partner of HHM who is confined to his home by electromagnetic hypersensitivity and expresses disdain for his brother’s legal career. Chuck believes Jimmy never had what it takes to be an attorney—and he might be right.
Who is Chuck McGill based on?
In case you haven’t noticed, Better Call Saul (also known as Breaking Bad 2.0) has a lot of characters that are quite literally ripped from its predecessor. The show is so brazen about its nods to Breaking Bad that it features cameos by Gus Fring and Hector Salamanca—who both died in season four—in almost every episode. (Fring even managed to die again!) But arguably no one references Breaking Bad more than Jimmy McGill’s brother Chuck, played by veteran actor Michael McKean . His reclusive nature, disdain for his brother, and aversion to electricity scream hint at something more sinister down the line! without actually saying anything about him or what he might become later in life.
Why does Jimmy not care about Chuck’s death?
Jimmy cares deeply about Chuck, but his feelings have changed over time. In early seasons, Jimmy is willing to do almost anything to get back into his brother’s good graces. But as we see in season three, Jimmy has a new family now and Chuck’s lack of support has left a mark. At times it seems like Jimmy truly doesn’t care that Chuck is dead — or even that he himself may be responsible — and at other times it seems like he just can’t deal with all of his own pain and guilt. Maybe in those moments when he makes eye contact with Kim, we’re seeing some real acknowledgment of what happened, of how much pain he caused her. Maybe there is love underneath all of that anger after all.
What happened to Chuck McGill in Better Call Saul?
Better Call Saul has a deep bench of standout characters, and yet none are more compelling than Chuck McGill (played by Michael McKean). The elder brother of Jimmy McGill is brilliant and methodical, but he struggles with mental illness. The result is one of TV’s most fascinating characters—and also one who’s easy to misinterpret. So as Better Call Saul returns for its fourth season, let’s take a closer look at Chuck—what makes him tick and why his story is so captivating.
Are Bob Odenkirk and Michael McKean related?
How old is Michael John Mckean? 65 years old (birthday: September 9, 1951).
Does Jimmy get Sandpiper money?
On Better Call Saul, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) has a bright future ahead of him. The lawyer is well-respected in his community and has high hopes for expanding his business, Mesa Verde. He knows he’s going to have to work hard to make his dreams come true, but that hasn’t stopped him from dreaming big. This is something we learned during Something Beautiful, an episode of Better Call Saul Season 3 that explored what could be Jimmy’s last foray into sleazy client dealings. Specifically, he worked with a sketchy partner named Sandpiper Don (Ray Proscia), who had plenty of money and was willing to pay Jimmy handsomely for help with getting out of legal trouble at home.
Is Chuck’s condition a real thing?
According to IMDb, McKean was born in 1947, which makes him 70 years old. In real life he is approximately two years older than Bob Odenkirk. One of Mckean’s most famous roles was as Daniel Simpson Day, better known as Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Bob Odenkirk played Dr. Everett von Scott in both The Real Live Brady Bunch Movie and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
What did Chuck’s letter say?
I’ve spent years trying to understand why you do what you do. It’s taken me all that time to realize there is no reason, at least not one that matters. You were given a gift, Jimmy: a chance to pursue justice in an imperfect system. But instead of using your talents as our parents wanted and dreamed for you, you threw it all away like it was meaningless… or worse, didn’t even matter. That was your decision, not theirs or mine… or Chuck’s
Why did Chuck’s wife leave?
Jimmy and Chuck are brothers. They’re very different—Jimmy is charismatic, gregarious, and athletic, whereas Chuck is reserved, pedantic, and scholarly. In season one of Better Call Saul , we get a taste of how these personality differences play out in their professional lives: Jimmy is a crafty attorney with an entrepreneurial spirit; Chuck is an up-and-coming attorney at HHM who has his sights set on becoming managing partner someday.
How did Jimmy feel about chucks death?
The show has done a great job at keeping us guessing about Jimmy’s true motivations. In Episode 2, for example, he tells Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) that Chuck is basically dead to me after Chuck refuses Jimmy entry into his house to get his copy of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill: A Practical Guide to Personal Injury Law.
How old is Michael John Mckean?
Michael John Mckean is 73 years old as of May 21, 2017. He was born on October 27, 1943 in Neptune City, New Jersey. His zodiac sign is Scorpio. He was a member of The Credibility Gap and Lorne Michaels’s The National Lampoon Radio Hour before he broke out into mainstream film and television roles in 1977.
