Anna Gunn experienced "extreme sexism" when she starred in ‘Breaking Bad’.
The 50-year-old actress was stunned by the outpouring of hatred she experienced when she portrayed Skyler White – the wife of chemistry teacher-turned drug baron Walter White – in the AMC series, leading to her writing a New York Times article in 2013 about the abuse and she’s "not sorry" for speaking out about what happened because she hoped she could help other women.
In an interview with the Evening Standard newspaper, she said: "I feel like I came to understand what it was, which was just the undercurrent of extreme sexism. The idea of gender roles being so deeply ingrained — it was shocking to me.
"But I’m not sorry it happened, because it put me out on the other side going, ‘Huh, that’s really interesting.’ And I felt compelled to say something, not necessarily for myself, but for my daughters and other women. The vehemence of it, and the fact that it was just allowed — it was the id gone wild."
And Anna – who has daughters Eila Rose and Emma with ex-husband Alistair Duncan – is proud of the fact that people still approach her to admit they were inspired to speak out about their own experiences following the article.
She said: "It was really wonderful to me to be called upon in that way, because I felt I was being of service to the people I loved and admired as well."
The creator of ‘Breaking Bad’, Vince Gilligan, is penning a film script for a two-hour production based on the drama, but Anna refused to say if she’ll be involved in the project.
She said: "I can neither confirm nor deny. [I know] A bit, yeah. A lot. A bit. I don’t know!
"It’s gonna be really good."
And opening up about if she’d ever star in the show’s spin-off, ‘Better Call Saul?’, she simply added: "Who knows? We’ve talked about just having Skyler and Walt in the background, walking past as unobtrusively as possible."
Anna Gunn horrified by sexism
