Betsy Brandt Goes From ‘Breaking Bad’ to ‘The Bad Orphan’

Lifetime

Betsy Brandt became hooked on Hollywood after her first TV job playing opposite Amy Brenneman on Judging Amy.

“I’d never done anything on TV,” Brandt shares. “And I could not have been more lucky because Amy Brenneman is just wildly talented and she gave that to me. Once I did that, I was totally hooked.”

Brandt, however, would secure her TV fame by playing Marie, wife of Breaking Bad DEA agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) for five seasons and later reprising her role on the Better Call Saul finale in 2022. “I miss her all the time,” shares Brandt of her character. “I kind of still pinch myself that I was part of it.”

Brandt is back on the small screen with Lifetime’s The Bad Orphan (June 22 at 8pm ET/PT), a new psychological thriller about a couple who, after years of trying to expand their family, adopt an orphan who might be more troubled than she at first seems. “It’s a fascinating story,” Brandt tells us of the film. “It’s not what it looks like. They adopt this adorable child, and then the rug is pulled out from under them.”

Brandt, who was also an executive producer on the film, plays Jessica, a mother who begins to suspect something isn’t right with Gabby, the girl she’s adopted. “She would do anything for her family,” Brandt says of her character. “And I think as the story goes on and she questions this little girl that she adores, it’s tugging at her heartstrings. It’s kind of like no matter what she does, she looks at Gabby and wants to mother her and love her.”

Newcomer Chloe Coco Chapman costars as Gabby in her first ever TV role.

“Chloe made my job incredibly easy because she is just really fantastic and a really special person. We were incredibly lucky. I don’t think this movie could have happened without her,” Brandt says. “Both these characters do things where they’re not their best selves. I leaned over to her after the first table read and I said, ‘It’s fun to be bad, isn’t it?’ She just got it. So, to watch her discover and experience that was incredibly fun for me.”