Walter White 3D print model

Walter Hartwell White Sr., also known by his alias Heisenberg, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American crime drama television series Breaking Bad. He is portrayed by Bryan Cranston.

A graduate of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Walter co-founded the company Gray Matter Technologies with his then-girlfriend Gretchen Schwartz and his close friend Elliott Schwartz. He left Gray Matter abruptly, selling his shares for $5,000.[1][2] Soon afterward, the company made a fortune, much of it from Walt's research. Walt subsequently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he became a high school chemistry teacher. Breaking Bad begins on Walt's 50th birthday, when he is diagnosed with Stage IIIA lung cancer. After this discovery, he resorts to manufacturing and selling methamphetamines with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), to ensure his family's financial security after his death. He is pulled deeper into the illicit drug trade, becoming more and more ruthless as the series progresses, and later adopts the alias Heisenberg, which becomes recognizable as a kingpin figure in the local drug trade. Series creator Vince Gilligan has described his goal with Walter White as turning Mr. Chips into Scarface and deliberately made the character less sympathetic over the course of the series. Walt's evolution from a mild-mannered school teacher and family man into a dangerous drug lord and murderer is the show's central focus.