Julie Ann Emery Calls Playing Betsy 'Terrifying'

TV

Julie Ann Emery plays Betsy Kettleman in 'Better Call Saul' Season 6, and her character is a real challenge to portray.

Published on April 25, 2022

Better Call Saul Season 6 brought back two familiar faces that haven’t been seen in quite some time. Jeremy Shamos and Julie Ann Emery returned to their roles as white-collar criminals Betsy and Craig Kettleman. Betsy is still furious with Jimmy and Kim for what transpired in season 1, and her scenes in “Carrot and Stick” were fantastic to watch. As for Emery herself, she finds her character especially challenging to portray.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Better Call Saul episode “Carrot and Stick.”]

The Kettlemans returned in ‘Better Call Saul’ Season 6

The Kettlemans first appeared in season 1 of Better Call Saul. Craig, the county treasurer, has been accused of embezzling $1.6 million. These accusations turn out to be entirely true, however, Betsy refuses to admit to any wrongdoing. While meeting with HHM, Kim Wexler urgest them to take a plea deal that would reduce Craig’s sentence from 30 years to only 16 months. However, Betsy refuses to even consider a guilty plea and storms out of the building.

When Kim gets in trouble for losing the Kettlemans as clients, Jimmy enlists Mike’s help in collecting the couples’ stolen money. He then informs the Kettlemans that their money is on its way to the DA’s office, so they had better return to HHM and accept the deal that Kim offered. Reluctantly the couple eventually complies.

The Kettlemans pop back up in Better Call Saul Season 6. Jimmy finds them running a tax service business in a familiar-looking trailer, and continuing to scam people through their business. He and Kim trick them into their scheme of implicating Howard Hamlin in drug use. Betsy eventually figures out what’s going on and threatens to report them to the police, but she is stopped in their tracks when Kim reveals she knows Betsy and Craig are defrauding their customers.

Julie Ann Emery calls Betsy ‘terrifying’ to portray

Betsy is a ridiculous person in some ways. She refuses to admit to any wrongdoing even when there is mounting evidence against her husband. Betsy stubbornly turns down an incredible plea deal that Kim manages to finagle, which could have disastrous consequences. Still, Betsy is no dummy. She figures out Jimmy’s scheme in Better Call Saul Season 6.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Julie Ann Emery discussed the difficulties of portraying her character. “So I find Betsy terrifying to play as an actor because the pocket for her is about six inches wide. If you go outside that pocket, it’s just bad acting, and nobody wants to be bad in the Breaking Bad–Better Call Saul universe because everyone is brilliant in it,” Emery said.

Emery discussed returning to her character after many years

The actor also discussed how working with her co-star Jeremy Shamos helped her slip back into the role after so many years. “I never feel I have her until I’m with Jeremy, and I think Jeremy has a similar experience. We created them very collaboratively, more so than any other thing I’ve ever done on screen.”

“Until we’re behaving together as the Kettlemans, we don’t have them. So when we arrived in Albuquerque, the first thing we did was get together and run lines and talk until we slid back into things. So I don’t think she’s the easiest role to slide back into, but she is the most exciting.”

New episodes of Better Call Saul air Mondays at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.

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