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Aaron Paul Aaron Paul Sturtevant , known professionally
as Aaron Paul, is an American actor. After appearing in American television shows, including
a recurring role on the HBO series Big Love, Paul came to prominence in 2008 for his critically
acclaimed role as Jesse Pinkman in the hit AMC series Breaking Bad. For his portrayal,
Paul won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, making
him one of five actors to win the award more than once. He has also won two Saturn Awards
for Best Supporting Actor on Television. Early life
Paul was born in Emmett, Idaho, the son of Darla (née Haynes) and Robert Sturtevant,
a Baptist minister. He is the youngest of five children, and was born a month premature
in his parents' bathroom. He has English, German, and Scottish ancestry. Paul attended
Centennial High School in Boise, Idaho, graduating one year early in 1998. After graduation he
drove to Los Angeles with his mother in his '82 Toyota Corolla and $6,000 in savings.
Prior to gaining fame, he appeared on an episode of The Price Is Right on January 3, 2000,
and won a desk, however he lost his pricing game and his Showcase in a painful overbid
(he was off by just $132). He also worked as a movie theater usher at Universal Studios
in Hollywood, California. Career
In 1996, Paul went to Los Angeles, California for the International Modeling and Talent
Association competition. He won runner-up in the competition and signed with a manager.
He starred in the music videos for the Korn song "Thoughtless" and the Everlast song "White
Trash Beautiful". He was also featured in television commercials for Juicy Fruit, Corn
Pops, and Vanilla Coke. He appeared in the films Whatever It Takes (2000), Help! I'm
a Fish (2001), K-PAX (2001), National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002), Bad Girls From Valley High
(2005), Choking Man (2006), Mission: Impossible III (2006), and The Last House on the Left
(2009). He starred as "Weird Al" Yankovic in the 2010 Funny or Die short Weird: The
Al Yankovic Story, and has guest starred on television shows such as The Guardian, CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, ER, Sleeper Cell, Veronica Mars, The X-Files,
Ghost Whisperer, Criminal Minds, Bones, and 3rd Rock from the Sun.
Paul first became known for his role as Scott Quittman on HBO's Big Love, appearing 14 times
on the show. In 2008, he began playing Jesse Pinkman on the AMC series Breaking Bad. His
character was originally meant to die during the first season, but after seeing the chemistry
between Paul and lead actor Bryan Cranston, series creator Vince Gilligan changed his
mind and modified the original plans to save the character. Coincidentally, Paul had once
unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Francis Wilkerson, the eldest son of Cranston's
Malcolm in the Middle character, Hal. For his role in Breaking Bad, Paul was nominated
for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2009,
2010, 2012, and 2013; he won the award in 2010 and 2012.
Paul starred in the film Smashed, which was one of the official selections for the 2012
Sundance Film Festival. In October 2012, he was interviewed by ESPN; he spoke about his
childhood experience as a Boise State Broncos fan, and discussed the challenges of portraying
a *** addict in Breaking Bad. In 2012 and 2013, he made an appearance on the show Tron:
Uprising, voicing a character named Cyrus. In September 2013, he was featured on Zen
Freeman's dance song, "Dance ***". He made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live's
39th season opener as "*** nephew", a relative of Bobby Moynihan's popular "drunk uncle"
character. In 2014, Paul will star in Need for Speed as a street racer recently released
from prison who takes revenge on a wealthy business associate. He will also star in the
2014 biblical epic Exodus, portraying the Hebrew prophet Joshua. In December 2013, Netflix
announced that Paul will have his own animated series called BoJack Horseman: A Tale of Fear,
Loathing and Animals which is set to premiere in 2014.
Personal life In 2001, Paul dated Samaire Armstrong, with
whom he had worked in an episode of The X-Files earlier that year. From March 2009 to April
2010, he dated Jessica Lowndes. He became engaged to Lauren Corinne Parsekian in Paris
on January 1, 2012. The two met at the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California, and began
dating a year later at the same festival. They were married on May 26, 2013 in a 1920s
Parisian-carnival-themed wedding in Malibu with music by Foster the People and John Mayer.
Paul emailed the entire guest list the song "Beauty" by the Shivers and asked everyone
to learn the words so that they could sing along during the ceremony.
In 2013, Aaron and Parsekian helped raise $1.8 million for the Kind Campaign, a non-profit
anti-bullying organization. The winners of the contest won a trip to the Hollywood Forever
Cemetery screening of the final episode of Breaking Bad. During a ceremony at Boise's
famous Egyptian Theatre, Idaho governor Butch Otter declared October 1 "Aaron Paul Sturtevant
Day". Paul has been noted as being very open and
welcoming to his fans and has been known to introduce himself to tourists who drive by
his estate in West Hollywood, California. In September 2013, his fame from his appearance
on The Price is Right came full circle when an ecstatic Breaking Bad fan, Jarod "Brice"
Evans, claimed to have gotten onto The Price is Right after being coached by Paul. The
two had bumped into each other twice in Los Angeles before Evans planned on attending
The Price is Right. On the second occasion, Paul spoke with Evans for around 15 minutes
outside of a Stanley Kubrick exhibit at LACMA. The entire meeting was documented by Nylon
Guys magazine and a YouTube video posted by The Price is Right, which Paul posted on his
Twitter account. The whole event inspired Evans to form the band Jesse and the Pinkmen
as an homage to Paul's assistance and kindness. Filmography
Web series