Every Major Breaking Bad Universe Actor Who Appeared in The X-Files

Vince Gilligan is most widely known for creating the Breaking Bad universe, consisting of Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story. Before that, he was a prominent figure in the iconic Fox science fiction show, The X-Files. Gilligan was a big fan of the show and wrote an episode that the series picked up in season two of their run. From there, Gilligan wrote over twenty episodes and went on to produce, executive produce, and supervise many episodes of The X-Files.

When Vince Gilligan went on to create Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, he sourced some of the actors from The X-Files for major characters in the world that he was building. The major characters played dramatic roles in the Breaking Bad universe.

13 Dennis Boutsikaris Played a Scientist in The X-Files and Was a Prominent Lawyer in Better Call Saul

In Better Call Saul, Dennis Boutsikaris played Richard Schweikart, one of the co-founders of the law firm Schweikart and Cokely, where he hires Kim Wexler to assist in bigger cases. He played a big role in demonstrating the ambiguity of what’s right and wrong within the law world that Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler tried so eloquently to manipulate. He believed both Wexler and McGill to be “smart cookies” and that Saul could’ve been a better lawyer had he cut fewer corners.

In The X-Files, Dennis Boutsikaris played Dr. Voss, a scientist at the Morley Tobacco Company, where he became a suspect in a fellow scientist’s brutal murder. The murder, however, was unintentionally carried out by Darryl Weaver, played by Tobin Bell (most closely associated with the high-concept horror movieSaw). Morley was experimenting on new cigarettes, which hatched beetles into second-hand breathers of the cigarette smoke. Voss ultimately helped the case by testifying against the company for using human test subjects.

12 Javier Gradeja Was a Desk Sergeant in The X-Files and The Cartel Underboss in Breaking Bad

In the Breaking Bad universe, Javier Gradeja played Juan Bolsa, the underboss of Don Eladio Vuente of the cartel. For the majority of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Bolsa acted as mediator and voice for the Cartel when communicating with Gustavo Fring, since Fring’s operation stretched across the United States. As tensions grew higher and Fring overtook the cartel, Bolsa grew suspicious just before an ambush on his home took his life. It was all orchestrated by Fring.

In The X-Files, Javier Gradeja doesn’t play a major role but is featured and credited as a Desk Sergeant in the episode “Tithonus.” The episode follows a crime scene photographer who works like a vessel of the Grim Reaper. It’s a unique retelling of Death, similar to Death and Ramen, taking a unique angle on the lore.

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11 Dale Dickey Was a Shape-Shifter in The X-Files and a Murderous Drug Addict in Breaking Bad

Featured in a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad, Dale Dickey played “Spooge’s Woman,” who robbed Skinny Pete along with Spooge. Skinny Pete was one of Jesse Pinkman’s street dealers, so Jesse decides to visit his house to recoup either the lost product or the lost money. When Jesse gets there, he is met by two drug addicts and a young boy living in the destroyed house. This episode provides a bigger scope into Jesse’s empathy for others. This episode also features the infamous head crush by an ATM when Spooge repeatedly insults his lady.

In The X-Files, Dale Dickey appears as an unnamed Game Warden, an alien super-soldier who has shapeshifted into human form. She helps deliver Scully’s miracle baby even after being outed by a fellow FBI officer, Monica Reyes, who throws boiling water on her once she realizes who she is.

10 Danny Trejo Was a Criminal Seeking Revenge in the X-Files and an Informant in Breaking Bad

Played by Danny Trejo, Tortuga was a cartel runner in Breaking Bad who worked under Juan Bolsa until he began giving information to the Drug Enforcement Administration, becoming an informant. When Juan Bolsa finds out about the informing, he cheekily throws it in his face with the gift of a tortoise and has the infamous Salamanca twins chop off his head. The twins then stick Tortuga’s head onto the tortoise and leave it for the DEA to find, causing a war-like catastrophe when the tortoise explodes.

In The X-Files, Danny Trejo’s Cesar Ocampo kills the wife of a lawyer, Martin Wells, who suppressed evidence in his brother’s case, which influenced his brother to die by suicide. When the same lawyer figures out a way to time travel, he finds a way to prevent his wife’s murder, which ultimately leads to Ocampo’s demise. Special Agent Doggett kills Ocampo in the end.

9 Michael Shamus Wiles Is a Hired Assassin in The X-Files and the Assistant Special Agent in Charge Until Hank Takes Over in Breaking Bad

ASAC George Merkert, played by Michael Shamus Wiles, was mostly Hank Schrader’s boss throughout most of Breaking Bad. It was indirectly Merkert’s fault when Schrader is attacked by the Salamanca twins in a revenge scheme for the death of their cousin Tuco Salamanca. He was one of the characters most unaware of the criminal operations of Gustavo Fring, being close friends with him, which of course, was to Fring’s design.

In The X-Files, the black-haired man is a secret operative who works under the Cigarette Man. His character flawlessly and carefully executes another Man in Black with a sniper rifle. He’s appeared a total of three different times in the show and is known for his rifle skills when hired for clean-up by the Cigarette Man. In season nine of The X-Files, he spied on Scully, but was ultimately killed by the Cigarette Man, who covered up his tracks of spying on her in the first place.

8 Jim Beaver Was a Coroner in The X-Files and the Illegal Gun Salesperson in the Breaking Bad World

In Breaking Bad, Jim Beaver’s Lawson was the man who sold weapons with serial numbers scrubbed off, with no ability to trace them back to him. Both in Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, he is seen selling illegal weaponry to Mike Ehrmantraut and Walter White, respectively. In the final episode of Breaking Bad, he sells the massive M90 gun that allows Walter to exact his revenge against Jack Welker and his neo-Nazi gang.

In The X-Files, Jim Beaver plays the coroner in the episode called “Field Trip” where he helps track skeletal remains that appeared only three days after two missing victims. The coroner then correctly identifies Mulder’s skeletal remains found by Scully, but those were just an LSD-like hallucination brought on by a mysterious goo trying to digest them. They ultimately expose the goo and successfully escape from the digesting goo monster.

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7 Michael McKean Was the Overseer of All Things in Area 51 in the X-Files and Jimmy’s Complicated Brother in Better Call Saul

In Breaking Bad, Michael McKean played Chuck McGill, the phenomenal lawyer and brother of Jimmy McGill, who inspired Jimmy to pursue law after many arrests and screw-ups. Chuck bailed Jimmy out many times and the last time he did, it helped Jimmy clean up his act. However, he never truly believed in his brother and did many things to prevent him from striving as a lawyer. He also suffered from a mental illness which convinced him that he had a hypersensitivity to electricity. In the end, he had one of the saddest deaths in Better Call Saul.

In The X-Files, Michael McKean’s Morris Fletcher oversaw that Area 51 stayed out of the press at all costs. In the episode “Dreamland,” Mulder and Fletcher switch bodies. The show recreates the infamous mirror routine from the 1930s classicDuck Soup, where Mulder sees his reflection as Fletcher in the mirror. His character appeared four more times in the show.

6 Jere Burns Formed a Cult in the X-Files and Was the Group Leader in Narcotics Anonymous in Breaking Bad

In Breaking Bad, Jesse was fresh out of rehab and enrolled in Narcotics Anonymous, where he spoke his mind as freely as he could to help cope with his loss of Jane and recover from his addictions. The group leader, played by Jere Burns, encouraged Jesse to speak his mind as much as possible until Jesse took advantage of that. Eventually, Jesse recruits his best friends to try to get people in the group to relapse with their drug product. When the guilt mounts, Jesse confesses this to the group leader, shocking him.

In The X-Files, Jere Burns’ character, Randolph Luvenis, is a specialist in nutrition and vitality but concocts a scheme to suck the youth from others with his partner. As they formed their scheme into a cannibalistic cult, they grabbed followers and killed them as fast as they recruited them until Mulder and Scully were on the case. The uniqueness of it all was that Luvenis would attach himself to his victims back-to-back.

5 Michael Bowen Was an Exterminator Turned Drug Dealer-Killer in the X-Files and One of the Worst Criminals in Breaking Bad

In Breaking Bad, Michael Bowen’s Jack Welker is the uncle to Todd Alquist, who worked closer to Walt and Jesse after their methylamine train heist. When Walt tries to clean up every angle of the meth empire he created, he recruits Jack to get his men in prison to kill off anyone that would inform the police of his empire. Unfortunately, when things go wrong in the end, Jack kills Hank Schrader and takes most of Walt’s money, and holds Jesse Pinkman hostage. In Breaking Bad’s finale , Walt exacts his revenge with an M90 gun, killing Jack and all his men.

In The X-Files, Michael Bowen’s Dwight Cooper is a criminal mastermind with impeccable gun shooting skills. His brother, though mild-mannered, had an X-ray ability that allowed him to see through things. With their combined efforts, they kill drug dealers until Dwight lets the power get to his head. In the end, his brother kills him.

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4 Raymond Cruz Is Infected With a Creepy Fungus in the X-Files and Is the Drug Dealer Who Pulls Jesse and Walt Into That World in Breaking Bad

Raymond Cruz’s Tuco Salamanca was the drug dealer and heavy user in Breaking Bad who tried to partner up with Jesse and Walt during one of his drug binges. He had intentions of moving their operation down to Mexico after he bought methamphetamine from Jesse and Walt. In coincidental fate, Hank comes looking for Walt and finds Jesse’s car occupied by Tuco, who he shoots dead. Tuco’s death unleashes major problems for the cartel, the DEA, and Walt and Jesse in Breaking Bad.

In The X-Files, Raymond Cruz’s Eladio was a manual laborer who became infected by a toxic substance that mutated his skin, leading many to believe he was the mythical being known as the Chupacabra. The extraterrestrial latched onto Eladio making him mostly asymptomatic, spreading it more than being affected by it. As the infection slowly begins to alter his appearance, he swells up and has multiple sores on his skin. Luckily for him though, Mulder and Scully save his life by the end of the episode.

3 Dean Norris Is a Smart US Marshal in the X-Files and a DEA Agent One Step Behind Walter in Breaking Bad

In Breaking Bad, Dean Norris’ Hank Schrader is Walt’s oblivious but very smart brother-in-law, who eventually figures out Walt’s role in the methamphetamine epidemic of Albuquerque. Throughout the show, he doesn’t figure out how much Walt is involved until the final season, where Walt finally fits in as the missing puzzle piece in all of his leads. When he finally has Walter dead to rights in the desert, he is killed by Jack Welker, and buried in a shallow grave, which devastates Walt and his family.

In The X-Files, Dean Norris’ US Marshal Tapia is called in when a man escapes prison. The weird thing for Mulder and Scully is that they’re usually not called in for prison escapes. They realize it relates to a potential airborne illness that two inmates could potentially spread across the country. They team up with US Marshal Tapia and other marshals in order to stop the spread of a potential disease caused by an enzyme-producing insect and catch the escaped convicts.

2 Aaron Paul Creates His Own Version of Jackass in The X-Files and Is the Empathetic Antihero in Breaking Bad

Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman is the unlikely sidekick to Walter White in Breaking Bad. While he doesn’t seem too smart, he makes up for it with his loyalty and street smarts. His empathy makes him a lovable character even after he does some terrible things for the sake of the meth empire that he and Walter build. After many losses because of Walt and a brutal kidnapping by neo-Nazis, he manages to eventually start a brand-new life with the help of the Disappearer who provides new identities.

In The X-Files, Aaron Paul’s David Winkle tries to create a prank and stunt show like the infamous Jackass show calling it “Dumbass.” When a stunt goes wrong, he thinks he caused the death of one of his friends, but it was a swarm of insects that killed his friend. Eventually, David realizes one of the students is controlling flies to kill other students. He he tries to confront them with other friends. Dylan, the infected friend, attacks several people and cocoons the special agents until they ultimately escape without a trace by the end of the episode.

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1 Bryan Cranston Plays a Man With a Head-Exploding Ailment in The X-Files and the Teacher-Turned-Meth-Kingpin in Breaking Bad

In Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston’s Walter White was the protagonist turned antagonist as he tried to make some money for his family before he died from lung cancer. As he initially fumbled in selling methamphetamine, he slowly grew into a Tony Montana-like figure, creating a drug empire that dominated the entirety of the Midwest until he ultimately was caught by his brother-in-law. In his final moments of cancer remission, he redeems the ones who did him wrong, provides a college fund for his daughter, and accepts his fate in his final moments of life.

In The X-Files, Bryan Cranston’s Patrick Crump takes Mulder hostage to drive at high speeds in order to prevent Patrick’s head from exploding due to Extremely Low-Frequency waves. Patrick’s wife suffered the same fate when hearing a crippling frequency noise in her head, so he attempted to escape the same fate as his wife. With all the speed and hustle toward Scully with intent to fix the problem in his head, Patrick’s ailment causes his head to explode before arriving, leaving Mulder in a state of disarray. Cranston’s ability to play a morally complicated character in this X-Files episode helped launch Breaking Bad.

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  Breaking Bad

  The Breaking Bad franchise consists of the television drama series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, as well as the film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. Exploring the desperate trials of a high school chemistry teacher turned drug lord and his former student/accomplice to the criminal enterprises of lawyer Saul Goodman, the Breaking Bad universe covers a timeline spanning the 1970s (through flashback scenes) through 2010.

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  Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.