On Being Bogdan

How a scientist ended up on Breaking Bad:

"The strongest connection is the desire to create something of value, either a scientific product or a character in a TV series, for example," Stan said in his lab office on a dreary morning. Over his shoulder was a white board with scribblings about the hydro-thermal stability of oxides. "That gives me pleasure and makes me very happy."

...Wolynetz/Stan has his own distinction. Hollywood.com chose him as one of the characters most likely to kill White.

"I don't know anything about that," Stan said in a clipped Romanian accent. "I may or may not be in one of the last episodes but ... I do hope that I'm going to kill Walter White. I'm preparing every day. Should there be a call for duty, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in his head."

...While the world waits for the finale, Stan, who travels to Albuquerque for filming, enjoys his bite-size portions of acting, grows fonder of Bogdan and receives praise from viewers and critics. Someone even created a Facebook page to honor his eyebrows.

...Born, educated and married in Romania, Stan moved his family to New Mexico in 1997 for postdoctoral work at the national lab there. The couple's two children saw a newspaper ad announcing a general casting call for the show and wanted to audition.

When Stan, his wife, Liliana, and the two children arrived in Albuquerque, casting coordinators suggested the entire family have photos taken for the show's database. A few days later, "Breaking Bad" called and asked the children, Tiberiu and Patricia, to be extras in a scene.

The show's representative also suggested Stan attend. Gilligan wanted to meet him. When they did, Gilligan asked Stan to read a line, and liked what he heard.

"He said, 'You know, this is great. I think we found the person we wanted,'" Stan said. "I was happy. The kids were happy. We were all happy we would be in the pilot."