Charles Baker (actor)

Charles Edward Baker (born February 27, 1971) is an American actor, writer, and director. He is known for playing Skinny Pete on the AMC series Breaking Bad, and currently has a recurring role on the NBC series The Blacklist.

Early life

Baker was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Hawaii. He is the son of an army colonel. His father was written up in the Los Angeles Times in 1994 by famous writer Robin Wright. He had traveled around the world by the time he turned 17. His father was stationed around the world, including Israel and England. Baker studied at many schools including Southwest High School in Fort Worth, Texas and London Central High School in Buckinghamshire. He gained a vocal scholarship at Tarrant County College in music and later attended University of Texas at Arlington.^[1] He was a music major and took theatre as a means to improve his singing career. After a few early acting stints, he decided to pursue his acting career. He worked at some of the better known theaters around Texas. He met his future wife, Rachel, at one of the theaters (The Hip Pocket Theatre).

Career

He started off playing small roles in small budget movies including Playing Dead and Fat Girls. He also dubbed for Japanese anime series, One Piece. In 2006, he wrote, composed, produced, and directed his own short film called The Waterson Project. In 2007, he was cast in the direct-to-video sequel of Walking Tall. In 2008, he was cast in the horror film Splinter.^[2] He was cast in Terrence Malick's To the Wonder in 2011.^[3]

He was cast in Breaking Bad as Skinny Pete, a close associate and friend of Jesse Pinkman who served time in prison. His original character name was supposed to be "skinny stoner" in the audition. He was called back a few days later and his part was expanded and after the filming of his first episode, he was called and told to return for future episodes.^[4] His ability to play the piano was noticed by the writers of the show and in one Season Five episode, he plays an intricate piano melody (CPE Bach - Solfeggietto) on a keyboard.^[4] In early 2013, he was cast in the television pilot of The Blacklist starring James Spader, which was later picked to series. In mid 2013, was cast in Ain't Them Bodies Saints.^[5] In Mid 2014, he was cast in Wild starring Reese Witherspoon.^[6] He was also cast in a recurring role in TNT's Murder in the First.^[7]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

• Charles Baker at the Internet Movie Database
• TV Guide
• Q&A – Charles Baker (Skinny Pete) at AMCtv.com