People are enamored with the Butterfly Effect on TikTok right now, even though half the people posting about it seem to have no idea what it actually means. Here’s a real one for you: if Aaron Paul had landed his dream job on The Class in 2006, he most likely would never have become the Emmy-winning star we know and love today. What’s The Class, you may ask? Well… exactly.
While the short-lived CBS sitcom doesn’t have anywhere near the name recognition that Breaking Bad enjoys today, a young Aaron Paul was convinced it would be his big break. “I remember after Friends, the creators of Friends were doing their next show. It was already picked up for two seasons. It was going to be, they were saying, the next big Friends,” Paul shared on a recent Hot Ones appearance (one he also likely wouldn’t have done if he’d starred in The Class.) “All my friends that were actors were trying out for it and everybody really wanted it,” he continued.
Paul initially tested for one role and didn’t get it, but the studio called him back to audition for a different role, and… he still didn’t get it. “I can’t tell you how depressed I was for just way too long,” Paul recalled. Now, with a few decades, multiple Emmys, and a successful tequila brand‘s worth of distance, Paul can admit that The Class, which was canceled after one season, “was good… and, you know, some people liked it, but it wasn’t Friends.”
The lucky actors who did get to star in The Class include Jason Ritter, Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jon Bernthal, and Sean Maguire. While they’ve all done well for themselves, the whole affair could have set Paul down a very different path. “If I were to have done that show, I wouldn’t have been available to audition for Breaking Bad,” Paul said. “So, you know, the point of the story is you never know what’s right around the corner.” There you have it! You can watch Paul’s full Hot Ones episode below:
