Jesse Plemons’ Todd’s Sudden Weight Gain in ‘El Camino’ Explained

Jesse Plemons came into the spotlight after portraying the evil sociopath Todd Alquist in one of the best television shows of all time — Breaking Bad. Six years later, he reprised the role for El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, released on Netflix on October 11, 2019.

But this time around, Plemons faced quite a backlash from the media and public, not because of his acting as it was perfect, but because of his different look. And that different look was because the actor had a subsequent weight gain.

Fans began searching for answers on the internet, asking, “Jesse Plemons weight gain El Camino,” “Why is Todd fat in El Camino?” and more. So, what was the reason behind Plemons’ weight gain for El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie?

Was he told to gain some weight? Or was there any other reason behind it? Here is everything you need to know about it!

‘El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie’ took place right after ‘Breaking Bad’

In the final season of Breaking Bad, we saw Walter White – played by Bryan Cranston – flee away from the DEA, and Jesse Pinkman – played by Aaron Paul – get captured by Todd Alquist and his associates.

In the final episode, ‘Felina,’ we got to see Walter White return to do one last thing; make some amends to his family by returning to Albuquerque and to free Jesse Pinkman from the captive of Todd Alquist.

During his plan to free Jesse, Walter empties a whole round of bullets and kills Todd and all of his associates. In the end, we see that Walter also got shot by one of the bullets and died later.

As for Jesse, he flees from Todd’s compound in an El Camino car and hides in some bushes as the police are approaching Todd’s compound. When the police vehicles pass away, he reverts his car and drives away.

Jesse’s journey of fleeing away from the police authority to start a new life in Alaska is later shown in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. The movie takes place right after the events of Breaking Bad, and there is no time gap.

Bryan Cranston, Jesse Plemons, and Aaron Paul in ‘Breaking Bad’ (Photo: AMC)

In addition, the movie also gives some glimpses of how Jesse was tortured by Todd and the horrible things Todd did while Jesse was captured. And when we saw Todd in the movie, one thing was instantly noticed; his appearance and weight gain.

As mentioned, there was no time gap between the events of Breaking Bad and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. However, there was a considerable time gap of six years between the filming of the AMC show and the Netflix movie.

At the filming of Breaking Bad, actor Plemons was 24 years of age, and by the time El Camino was filmed, he was already 30. Another factor that had a huge impact was that the Netflix movie was filmed secretly within 50 days.

So, Plemons might not have had enough time to get back in shape or undergo a weight loss journey to look like he was during the events of Breaking Bad.

Jesse Plemons had other acting commitments

After his stint in Breaking Bad, Plemons had multiple acting commitments before returning as Todd in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. And as many would know, different roles require different commitments.

Jesse Plemons as Todd Alquist in Netflix’s ‘El Camino’ (Photo: Netflix)

Some of the many acting projects Plemons did require him to gain weight to fit in character. Plemons’ first acting commitment required weight gain was the 2015 movie Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Likewise, for his role as Ed Blumquist in the show Fargo, Plemons did some weight loss, but it wasn’t significant. Afterward, he got more roles that required a heavy character, including Black Mirror, Vice, and The Irishman.

And as The Irishman was filmed around the same time as El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Plemons didn’t get much time to lose weight.

Moreover, the filming period for El Camino was only around 50 days. So perhaps, it would have been a hassle for Plemons to reduce weight for El Camino and again gain it for The Irishman.

Jesse Plemons’ Todd Alquist in ‘Breaking Bad’ (left) vs. in ‘El Camino’ (right) (Photo: Reddit)

Due to these and maybe other undisclosed reasons, Plemons decided to show up with a heavier look to film El Camino, and thus people saw his weird-looking weight in the movie.

Jesse Plemons on his weight gain

Plemons had reportedly gained around 30 pounds more weight during the filming of El Camino. However, the media were already asking him questions about his weight gain. During his 2016 interview with GQ, he was asked if gaining weight for Black Mass was worse or if having to talk about it was.

He replied, “Doing it or having to talk about it? And then it carried over to Fargo, too. Everyone’s like, ‘You gained all this weight!’ I was like, ‘No, I’ve been fat for a while now.’ Yeah, talking about it, if anything, makes me a little more empathetic — sympathetic? — to what women have to go through.”

“My God! Men in general are just not held under the same microscope in that way. It’s bizarre that that’s all people wanted to talk about. Why is that some sort of a badge or some sort of accomplishment? Like, anyone can do that. You just have to eat shit.”

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In addition, the interviewer told him that people were cavalier about bringing the topic of his weight up, although they didn’t feel great about it. “No. And I had lost a little bit of weight at the Fargo premiere,” the actor said.

Plemons continued, “And I remember this guy, like, ‘What’s your secret to losing the weight? Tell us!’ I was like, ‘Well, I was eating everything, and then I just stopped eating terrible food.’ It’s not too complicated.”

Well, that does it then. Plemons’ weight gain led many to backlash or “fat shame” him, but many defended him as well. And upon knowing the reason, the fat-shaming shouldn’t continue — although fat-shaming is something that shouldn’t exist in the first place.