The Sweet Spot

With a slew of hot new projects and a serious case of domestic bliss, Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul is exactly where he wants to be.

- Amy Spencer

About two years ago, Aaron Paul was flying back from Italy when the stranger sitting next to him in business class started to talk his ear off. It was clear the man had no idea he was sitting next to an actor—let alone a three-time Emmy award winner—and Paul found him so fascinating, he confided that his wife was pregnant with their first child. “I’d just found out myself, and he was the first person I told,” says Paul. That led to a deep dive into the life of this stranger, who, it turned out, had gone from living in his car to making hundreds of millions as an architect. He’d manifested his desires, he said, by writing them down and focusing on them.

Paul, 40, knows he risks sounding like an insane person sharing this, but the stranger on the plane, he says, “sort of changed my life. It just kind of reminded me that things don’t just happen, you have to make it happen.” And Paul—not one to dismiss a coincidence or a sign—has been making things happen ever since. It’s been almost three months since the Breaking Bad follow-up feature, El Camino, wrapped up the tale of Jesse Pinkman, his iconic meth-dealing character from the groundbreaking AMC series. Last July, he launched the mezcal brand Dos Hombres with his co-star and friend Bryan Cranston, and he continues to pitch shows with his production company, Lucid Road. Soon he’ll co-star in the Apple TV+ drama Truth Be Told and the third season of HBO’s Westworld. And the baby he told that stranger about on a plane? She’s now 2, named Story, and the other love of his life, along with his 33-year-old wife, Lauren. “I’m at a really great spot,” says Paul. “I’m madly in love, I have a perfect little baby girl...hopefully more on the way.” This is where the heart of Paul seems to live: Zen with a kick.