The Breaking Bad Actor You Didn't Realize Starred In Starship Troopers
Breaking Bad is the show that broke expectations. The series introduced audiences to Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston), a man who went from everyday high school chemistry teacher to meth kingpin — and audiences rooted for that transformation every step of the way, until he went too far. However, Cranston can't take all the credit. While filling the shoes of White, he worked with a lot of stellar actors.
Breaking Bad was nobody's first rodeo. Name a popular show or movie, and a Breaking Bad actor has probably been in it. Anna Gunn, who played Skyler White, appeared on Law and Order, Dragnet, and Quantum Leap, while Aaron Paul — the actor behind Jesse Pinkman — was in The X-Files and The Last House on the Left. Cranston himself was featured in Baywatch, Matlock, and most famous of all, Malcolm in the Middle. But before starring in Breaking Bad, one actor had a role in Starship Troopers. It was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit part, so if you watch the movie, you probably won't have enough time to realize you're looking at a Breaking Bad actor until it's too late. Would you like to know more?
Dean Norris appeared in Starship Troopers as Commanding Officer
Out of all Breaking Bad's characters, Hank Schrader is viewed by many as the show's true hero. Schrader was portrayed by Dean Norris, who gave him life as a loud, rude, and flawed — yet ultimately skilled and upstanding — cop. Schrader is the antithesis of Walter White and thus undergoes a mirrored character arc, which is ironic since he is White's brother-in-law. It's a shame Norris barely got one minute of screen time in Starship Troopers.
During Starship Troopers, the movie's protagonist, Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), unintentionally gets a fellow soldier-in-training killed during a live-fire exercise. Rico is then grilled by a commanding officer played by Dean Norris. Because of the scene's length, Norris' character doesn't get a name — he is only known as "Commanding Officer" in the movie's credits. But the officer serves an important role in the story: he sentences Rico to "administrative punishment" — which translates to ten lashes — instead of ejecting him from the mobile infantry. While many of the Starship Troopers cast have gone on to bigger and better roles, we usually pay attention to what the main stars have done. Nobody could have predicted that a bit player like Dean Norris would go on to play such a vital role in a groundbreaking series like Breaking Bad.