Gruff. Intense. Versatile.
From wise guys to cartel enforcers, Jonathan Banks is a maestro at orchestrating unforgettable performances. The clearest example of this is Banks’ brilliant portrayal of the hitman and fixer ”Mike Ehrmantraut” – undoubtedly one of my favorite characters in Breaking Bad.
Hailing from Chillum Heights, Maryland, the actor garnered six Emmy nominations for bringing life to supporting characters across three TV shows: Wiseguy, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul. According to himself, he began dreaming of becoming an actor at the age of 5.
Jonathan Banks young
During the mid-1960s, Banks dropped out of Indiana University after his girlfriend became pregnant, initiating his journey into the world of acting.
Banks has been a fixture in Tinseltown since the early 1970s.
However, it took some time before the mainstream audience truly took notice of his talents. His rise to stardom started in the late 1980s, when Banks portrayed FBI Special Agent Frank McPike in Wiseguy, a CBS crime drama.
”It spoke to the darkness in all of us,” he once commented on his breakthrough role.
Following Wiseguy, he played bad guys in well-received series like TJ Hooker and Simon & Simon. He also acted in one episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and in Little House on the Prairie.
Then, in 2009, he landed the role that would come to define his entire acting career. When Banks’ got the chance to play Mike Ehrmantraut, a former Philadelphia cop turned enforcer for the Albuquerque cartel in AMC’s Breaking Bad, his whole life changed.
”The hardman with a heart” made an everlasting impression on the series, and the actor infused many of his real-life experiences into the character.
”Well, I love that character. That broken, broken character,” Banks told Washington Post in 2022.
