Aaron Paul reveals why he stopped reading the news
The actor said he now feels like he has ‘cracked a code’.
Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul has said he stopped reading the news because all he ever saw online was Donald Trump and the coronavirus.
The US actor, who is largely inactive on social media and uses a limited-function mobile phone, said he felt like he had “cracked a code”.
Paul, who is joining the cast of Westworld, said he could not describe how much better he felt having spent time away from the news cycle.
He told the PA news agency: “I have to be optimistic. We have to be optimistic, otherwise what are we doing? So that’s why I choose to drop the news.
“Truly, you guys should try it. But the news, because it’s only Trump, or now, sadly, the coronavirus, it’s only one topic. It feels that way.
“Written publications, for me, is different because you’re getting everything.”
Paul said he doubted he would return to the news even when Mr Trump was no longer US president.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“Honestly, I feel like I’ve cracked a code in a way, where I cannot begin to tell you how much better I feel.”
Asked whether he felt less stressed after reducing his technology use, he said: “Yes, I have 20,000 plus unread emails. People that need to get hold of me, they know to just call me.
“Like I call my friends and talk to them on the phone. And it’s first of all so much better and also if you’re trying to get a point across, if you’re trying to figure something out, rather than having a 20-minute texting back and forth conversation, get on a call for five minutes.
“Catch up and feel like you have an honest connection. That’s what we all used to have. But now we’re just used to something different.
“So everyone buy a light phone, I cannot recommend it enough. It’s really just about changing your routine.”
Paul stars opposite Evan Rachel Wood’s sapient android Dolores in the third series of Westworld, which will see the so-called Hosts go to war against humankind.
He said his first day on the set of the sci-fi drama had been “insane”.
He added: “From multiple departments, everyone told me: ‘Welcome to war’.
“All the rumours are true. It is a hard show. Good luck, but welcome to war. Oh my god, what is happening? And it really was that, in a great way.
“But you know on Mondays we’d be doing our daytime shoots, but then starting on Tuesdays, it kind of splits so our call time would be two or three in the afternoon.
“And then by Wednesdays we’re doing nothing but night shoots and then Thursdays, Fridays, sometimes Saturdays, night shoots, and then back on the Mondays day shoots.
“It’s just, my God, so hard, but also so fulfilling.
“Everybody in front of the camera, off-camera, were just so excited to be there and to be a part of telling this story.
“And you could just feel the energy on this massive set.”
Westworld airs on March 16 on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.
