A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars

THE PERFORMER | The adorable girls playing Holly

THE SHOW | Breaking Bad

THE EPISODE | “Ozymandias”

THE AIRDATE | Sept. 15, 2013

RELATED | ‘Big’ News About Breaking Bad‘s Final 2 Episodes

THE PERFORMANCE | We don’t care that one of the most touching moments in this week’s episode was unscripted. We don’t care that the actress involved wasn’t, in the technical sense, “acting.” All we care about is that when Walt had a crisis of conscience over taking his young daughter Holly away from the life she’d known, a way-way-in-the-future Emmy-winner felt something and went with it. Her repeated, pathetic cries for “Mama” nearly did us in.

(Though the Internet Movie Database lists the role of Holly as belonging to Elanor Anne Wenrich, an AMC spokesperson tells TVLine that two actresses played the part in the episode. The rep declined to provide the girls’ names.)

The pint-sized actress in that scene fit right in with her castmates, many of whom turned in career-milestone performances during the disturbing hour. In fact, much of the bathroom scene’s success can be attributed to Bryan Cranston, who used his tiny co-star’s impromptu improv to make Walt’s anguish even more gripping.

The actresses may not remember a thing about this job when they get older. But we’ll have a tough time forgetting their part in Bad‘s epic final episodes.