SPOILER ALERT: This Q&A is for viewers who have seen Breaking Bad series five, episode 16 – Felina.



Hi, Laura. I just finished watching the finale. Congratulations!

Thanks! I haven't seen it. I'm going to wait until tonight and watch it with a few people.

You haven't seen it yet?

No. I mean, I read the script and I don't think anything changed that drastically. I'd be surprised if he was suddenly alive again.

Was it hard keeping the ending a secret?

It actually has been hard. Traditionally I'm not a very good secret-keeper. I've gotten better recently, but I was always in trouble with friends and boyfriends over the years, who've said, "Why the fuck would you say that?" I'm always like, "Oh sorry, I didn't understand that this is one of those things". But obviously I've got better. I didn't want to ruin this. And, you know, I didn't want to be under penalty of death from Sony and AMC.

It must have been weird up until now, to talk about the ending without ever really talking about it …

It's the strangest thing. I didn't know if I could do it. It's so weird. I just looked at some of the other actors from the show, and they'd all mastered this thing called teasing. They're all teases! I learned to become a tease from Bryan Cranston. It's so silly, but I suppose that people want just a little bit of anything that you have to say, because it relates to something that has – that has had – such a big build-up. They're like drug addicts. They'll take anything.

You hadn't seen the show before you got the job, is that right?

I caught up really quick, though. I did the first four seasons in, like, four days. I'd moved to America and heard of it, and I thought, Oh, I must get into that one. But then I got the part and I was just too frightened to watch it because I thought it'd be really intimidating. Also there's that thing where you want to see the actors as their characters when you're working with them – if you have those faces [in your mind] as famous faces, sometimes it's harder. But then I went and watched the whole thing like a crazy mass binger.

Breaking Bad had quite a close-knit cast. What was it like coming in so near the end?

I felt a bit shy, a bit worried, about coming in when everyone had been together for so many years, like the new kid at school or something. But they were very warm and very welcoming. It's a tightly run ship. You just fit in like a wee cog in a machine, because everyone there is working so intensively, and the level of concentration is so high, that you stay fixated on your stuff because everyone else is fixated on theirs. I just tried to slip in under the radar. They gave me a lot of support. No, not support. It's not a support group. It's not a Breaking Bad support group. It's like, "Welcome to the show, you're lucky to be here, come on." But I do feel very privileged to be part of such an amazing show.

Let's talk about Lydia. The most important question first. What sort of monster drinks camomile tea with soya milk?

I know! Clearly she's a monster! It's disgusting. Disgusting behaviour. I'm really sorry on behalf of Lydia.

The finale was very fastidious about tying up loose ends, except for one. What happened to Lydia's daughter?

I know. What will become of her? It's a wee shame, she's gonna end up maybe being in a group home with Holly or something. Her daughter was such an important factor of how Lydia justified what she did to herself, too. Terrible.

Based on the script, at least, what did you make of Lydia's ending?

I liked it. I thought it was kind of a divine justice, the kind of "Is it a red herring? No, it's really happening" ricin thing. I thought it was pristinely perfect. It made me laugh.

She was the recipient of Walter White's last words, too.

Oh, was she? "Goodbye, Lydia"? Is that the last thing he says?

Yes. Am I spoiling this for you? Sorry. Incidentally, how does it feel to be responsible for the collapse of the entire Stevia market?

(Laughs) Oh yes. Sorry, Stevia! Oh, I suppose it feels a bit rubbish. Do you think anyone actually bought it anyway? I've never actually tried it.

Lydia's death was a horrible way to go. She had all that advance warning …

I know! Why didn't she just dial 911 and go, "Help me"? Um, but, you know, that's telly. It was horrible, though. Lydia alone and choking. It's kind of hideous. But she kind of deserves it. She wasn't a very nice lady.

She seemed like quite an exhausting character to play. She was like a hummingbird.

But not as sweet. She vibrated at a very high-pitched frequency. I saw her as always in fight-or-flight mode. I felt like my body bore the brunt. At the end of each day I'd have a creaking back from it. It was horrible. It was like a horror movie. She was quite stressy, and it hurt a little bit. I'm kind of glad she's gone, to be honest.

Looking back at the series as a whole, is there anything specific that you felt Lydia represented?

In a way, she had vague shadows of Walter, but then [she] drifted away from that. She was kind of a creature of … It's hard to know. I'd love to just get an objective eye on her. What do you think?

She was very corporate, I thought. The massacre scene, where she covered her eyes to the damage she'd ordered ...

Yeah. I haven't spoken to the writers about what it meant when she refused to look at the bloodshed, but it does seem representative of those big faceless corporations where nobody's ever accountable for any of their actions. They hide under the protection of their corporation. She's there shielding her eyes. Maybe it's a comment on that. Maybe it's not.

What's next for you, now that this is all over?

I'm always getting asked that at the moment, and it's really embarrassing. I'm not working. I'm just chilling. I live in America now, and I'm over in Scotland visiting family and friends. I've got a job at the BBC this week, a little job as Eddie Izzard's wife in a thing about the guy who invented radar. Then I go back to America to hopefully get a job. I should really say something glamorous, but I'm just here, giving my kid fish fingers.

Still, at least Lydia gets to be with Todd in heaven now.

That was a relationship of heavenly proportions. Oh God, how sick was he to fancy Lydia? She's such a sick little bunny, and then he fancies her. Oh God!

I thought it was sweet in a way. His ringtone in the last episode …

His ringtone? Is it his She Blinded Me With Science ringtone?

No, it's a different one, just for Lydia. I won't tell you if you haven't seen it.

Oh! Is it Lydia The Bearded Lady? I vaguely recall being told something about that, but I haven't heard it. He's so sweet.