Vince Gilligan trivia: 87 facts about Breaking Bad writer

Vince Gilligan is an American writer and the creator of the hit TV series Breaking Bad and its spin- off Better Call Saul.

So let’s find out some trivia and facts about his life and career!

1. His full name is George Vincent Gilligan Jr.
2. He was born on February 10, 1967
3. He is an American writer, producer, and director
4. He is known for his television work
5. Specifically as creator, head writer, executive producer, and director of AMC’s Breaking Bad and its spin-off Better Call Saul
6. He was a writer and producer for The X-Files
7. And was the co-creator of its spin-off The Lone Gunmen
8. Gilligan has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Writers Guild of America Awards, two Critics’ Choice Television Awards and Producers Guild of America Awards, one Directors Guild of America Award and a BAFTA
9. Outside of television, he co-wrote the screenplay for the 2008 film Hancock
10. Gilligan was born on February 10, 1967 in Richmond, Virginia
11. He is the son of Gail, a grade school teacher, and George Vincent Gilligan Sr., an insurance claims adjuster
12. His parents divorced in 1974
13. And he and his younger brother, Patrick, were raised in Farmville and Chesterfield County
14. And attended the laboratory school run by Longwood College
15. Growing up, Gilligan became best friends with future film editor and film title designer Angus Wall
16. His interest in film began when Wall’s mother, Jackie, who also taught alongside Gilligan’s mother, would lend her Super 8 film cameras to him
17. He used the camera to make science fiction films with Patrick
18. One of his first films was entitled Space Wreck
19. Starring his brother in the lead role
20. One year later, he won first prize for his age group in a film competition at the University of Virginia
21. Jackie would take Wall and Gilligan to Richmond and drop them off at Cloverleaf Mall to see films
22. And encourage both of them to pursue a career in the arts
23. Gilligan was recognized for his talents and creativity at an early age
24. George Sr. described him as a “kind of a studious-type young man, and he liked to read, and he had a vivid imagination”
25. He introduced Gilligan to film noir classics
26. As well as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood Westerns on late-night television
27. Gilligan won a scholarship to attend the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts
28. After eighth grade, he moved back to Chesterfield to attend high school
29. He graduated from Lloyd C. Bird High School in 1985
30. Gilligan went on to attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts on a scholarship
31. Receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film production
32. While at NYU, he wrote the screenplay for Home Fries
33. Gilligan received the Virginia Governor’s Screenwriting Award in 1989 for the screenplay
34. Which was later turned into a film
35. One of the judges of the competition was Mark Johnson, a film producer
36. He was impressed by Gilligan, saying he “was the most imaginative writer I’d ever read”
37. Gilligan’s big break came when he joined the Fox television drama The X-Files
38. Gilligan was a fan of the show
39. He submitted a script to Fox
40. It became the second-season episode “Soft Light”
41. He went on to write 29 more episodes
42. In addition to being co-executive producer of 44 episodes, executive producer of 40, co-producer of 24, and supervising producer of 20
43. He also co-created and became executive producer of The X-Files spin-off series The Lone Gunmen
44. The series only ran for one season of 13 episodes
45. Gilligan created, wrote, directed, and produced the AMC drama series Breaking Bad
46. He created the series with the premise that the hero would become the villain
47. While pitching the show to studios, Gilligan was initially discouraged when he learned of the existing series Weeds and its similarities to the premise of Breaking Bad
48. While his producers convinced him that the show was different enough to still be successful
49. He later stated that he would not have gone forward with the idea had he known about Weeds earlier
50. Breaking Bad received widespread critical acclaim
51. And has been praised by many critics as being among the greatest television dramas of all time
52. Gilligan has been awarded numerous times for writing, directing, and producing the series
53. The Writers Guild of America has awarded him four times in straight succession, from 2012 to 2014
54. Three as a part of the Breaking Bad writing team
55. And one individually for writing the episode “Box Cutter”
56. He also received two Primetime Emmys in 2013 and 2014 for producing the show
57. In 2014, he won the Directors Guild of America Award for directing the finale of Breaking Bad, “Felina”
58. In September 2013, Sony Pictures Television announced a deal with AMC to produce a Breaking Bad spin-off prequel entitled Better Call Saul
59. To focus on character Saul Goodman from the original series, before he became Walter White’s lawyer
60. And to star Bob Odenkirk reprising his role as the title character
61. Gilligan co-created the series with Breaking Bad writer Peter Gould
62. With both of them acting as showrunners
63. The first episode, which Gilligan directed and co-wrote, premiered on February 8, 2015
64. In July 2018, it was announced that Gilligan had agreed to stay with Sony TV on a new three-year deal
65. In November 2018 Gilligan confirmed that he is working on a Breaking Bad movie titled El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
66. Gilligan has been with his girlfriend, Holly Rice, since 1991
67. In an interview in 2011, Gilligan stated that he was raised Catholic
68. Gilligan first had a screenplay produced in 1993 for the romantic comedy film, Wilder Napalm
69. While working on The X-Files, one of Gilligan’s early screenplays was produced as a film, Home Fries
70. Which starred Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson
71. Gilligan was hired by The X-Files creator Chris Carter to be a consulting producer on his new series Harsh Realm
72. After The X-Files, Gilligan wrote three episodes of the short lived police procedural series Robbery Homicide Division
73. And an episode of the ABC series Night Stalker
74. In 2007, Gilligan and fellow The X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz wrote a sci-fi pilot entitled A.M.P.E.D.
75. Which was not picked up for a full series
76. He also rewrote the screenplay for the 2008 Will Smith film Hancock
77. Which was originally written by Vincent Ngo
78. Gilligan made his acting debut in 2014 in “VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing”
79. The ninth episode of the fifth season of NBC’s comedy series Community
80. He plays a cheesy actor hosting “Pile of Bullets”, a fictional 1990s VCR-based video game
81. In September 2013, Sony announced that it struck a deal with CBS to produce a new television series created by Gilligan and David Shore entitled Battle Creek
82. Based on a script written by Gilligan ten years prior
83. The show follows the partnership of two police detectives who must compete with a seemingly-perfect FBI agent
84. Gilligan co-wrote the first episode with Shore, the showrunner of the series
85. CBS ordered thirteen episodes
86. Yhe series aired on CBS starting March 1, 2015
87. CBS decided not to renew the series for a second season