Patrick Fabian goes from kissing Kelly Kapowski to ‘Better Call Saul’ bad guy

By Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press

TORONTO – For a certain segment of the TV-viewing audience, Patrick Fabian is best known as the guy who romanced Kelly Kapowski on “Saved by the Bell: The College Years.”

Now that he’s logged a few episodes as a smarmy lawyer on the “Breaking Bad” spin-off “Better Call Saul,” Fabian says he’s ready to finally shake that long-ago role.

“When I got the job, actually a friend of mine texted me and he said, ‘Hey, maybe “he kissed Kelly Kapowski on ‘Saved by the Bell'” will no longer be on your tombstone,'” Fabian chuckles during a recent phone interview from Los Angeles.

“It seems to be my claim to fame when I go through airports … there’s a bevy of 16- and 17-year-olds constantly who know me as that.”

Fabian’s “Better Call Saul” turn as Howard Hamlin follows dozens of mostly guest appearances and supporting roles all over the dial, from “The Newsroom” to “Scandal” to “Castle” to “24.”

He gushes over his current role as a hotshot lawyer on the quirky AMC series, which traces the origins of “Breaking Bad” strip mall lawyer Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk, to when he was known as struggling public defender Jimmy McGill.

Monday’s episode racheted up the tension between Jimmy and Hamelin. Jimmy erected a highway billboard advertising his floundering legal services, while also aping Hamelin’s blue chip firm.

A fuming Hamelin is on a mission to put Jimmy in his place, and Fabian hints that could lead to more clashes between the two lawyers.

“He didn’t get to be the head of a 125-employee top white collar law firm in Albuquerque by being nice the whole way,” Fabian notes of his sun-kissed character.

“I don’t think anybody rises without a few bruises along the way and so consequently I think he’ll tolerate Jimmy as long as he can but when it starts interfering with business and the money of his business, I think Howard has lines that get crossed. So he has to figure out what he’s going to respond with.”

Fabian says he can easily sympathize with Hamlin’s perspective.

“From Howard’s point of view, he tolerates Jimmy and tolerates his behaviour a lot,” he says. “I think it remains to be seen how heavy Howard is, ultimately, you know what I mean. I think there’s a lot of conflict but I think a lot of it is being generated by Jimmy and his actions.”

Of course, there’s not much Fabian is willing to reveal about future episodes.

Not that he’s necessarily privy to all of the show’s secrets. He says plot surprises were heavily guarded on set, with scripts often partially redacted.

Fabian didn’t even know the “Breaking Bad” character Tuco would appear on the show until he saw the finished episode.

“It was like we were working in the NSA or something like that,” he jokes.

“So when I saw the pilot and all of sudden Tuco comes out, I’m like, ‘No way, man!’ I was thrilled of course, it was such a great thing. I had so many people texting me. All they did was just text: ‘Tuco!'”

“Better Call Saul” airs Mondays.

— Follow @cszklarski on Twitter

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