Bryan Cranston Said He And Aaron Paul Started A Business To "Justify Seeing Each Other" After "Breaking Bad" Ended, And It’s Sparking A Conversation About Male Friendships

In 2023, Bryan revealed that he and Aaron chose to launch a business together because they “missed each other” after their iconic five-season series ended in 2013.

“Three years after Breaking Bad finished, we happened to be in NYC at the same time and had dinner. We realized how much we missed each other, and Aaron said, ‘We can’t work together on screen. The characters are too indelible in fans’ minds. We should go into business together. What about mezcal?’” he told Inc. magazine.

Months later, Bryan elaborated on his and Aaron’s reasoning for creating Dos Hombres during an appearance on the Jake’s Takes podcast.

“We joke that if we played golf, we wouldn’t have a mezcal business,” Bryan said. “Dos Hombres would not be a reality, because we’d be able to see each other on the golf course, and it’s like, ‘Hey, that’s good!’”

“But we don't play golf, so we had to justify seeing each other. This is where men fall way short of women, who are so much smarter,” he said, while Aaron echoed that women are the “far superior species.”

“When they miss someone, they see someone. Men have to go, 'Well, we have a business, we have to play golf’ — we have to justify, we can’t just see each other?” he said. “But that’s what created this opportunity.”

Bryan’s remarks resurfaced on Reddit this week and sparked an interesting conversation about “weaponized incompetence” and the difference in many male and female friendships.

“My husband sees his friends more than I do but it’s always around something. They never just hang out without something else. They are golfing. They are watching sports. It is a holiday and there is a BBQ. So yeah, I find this sentiment to be true in general. It isn’t a “I haven’t seen you in a while. Do you want to come over and hang?” The hang revolves around something else,” one user said.

“So true. I had a buddy who also worked on my old car. I wouldn't hang out with him unless I could find something on my car for him to work on,” another person shared.

Amid the discourse, someone suggested, “This is because it's not modeled for men, not because men are inherently dumb-dumbs who don't understand how to get together. You could also make a point to change that about yourself, guys, instead of the weaponized incompetence ‘Oh women are just better at this magically!’ stuff.”

“I find both of these people to be pleasant and fine, so it's not me just talking about them, it's the whole idea that dudes try to jokingly play off things like this and it's annoying. Please do like five minutes of introspection and ask yourself why you don't have these instincts, and then commit to learning them. It's not that deep,” they added.

On the flip side, some men noted that they’re more than comfortable hanging out with male friends without specific “reasons” or “events.” “Thank goodness I don't live with those complexes, because when I want to or when they need me, I just show up, I don't need to invent any event whatsoever,” one X user said.

Another person wrote, “I think [Bryan and Aaron’s] friendship is great but I hate they’re perpetuating this bullshit. I have close male friends and we call and visit each other all the time. They think they’re helping but they’re just continuing the stupid stereotype and making idiot dudes think they can’t reach out to a friend.”

Defending Bryan and Aaron, someone replied, "they're literally calling it out. being self-aware and acknowledging something that typically never gets discussed at all is a net positive in the 'helpful' category."

"Yeah, I don’t actually get the pushback here. They’re calling out their behavior and hopefully it serves as a model for others - because while it does probably happen most in M/M friendships, I’m a woman and have had friendships that revolve around doing stuff together," another user agreed.

Let us know what you think in the comments.