Better Call Saul actor John Christian Love has revealed he is currently working as an Amazon delivery driver after his role in Vince Gilligan’s critically acclaimed Breaking Bad prequel failed to become the breakout opportunity he had hoped for.
Love, 35, starred as Ernesto, a friend and former mailroom colleague of lawyer-turned-criminal Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) in seasons one to four of the Emmy-nominated drama, which ran from 2015 to 2022.
Since his departure from the series — following the death of Jimmy’s older brother Chuck (Michael McKean), for whom Ernesto worked as a personal assistant — Love has only had minor appearances in a handful of independent TV shows and short films.
In Reddit’s AmazonDSPDrivers thread, Love recently shared his temporary career pivot in a post titled, “Delivering smiles & autographs.”
“Hey it’s me John Christian Love. Just want yall to know that as the actor who brought you the character ‘Ernesto/Ernie’ in Better Call Saul, that I too am out here delivering with you!” he wrote.
“It sucks. But 1 delivery at a time. Be blessed out there! #IMissTheMailroom,” he added, alongside a selfie in the driver’s seat of an Amazon van and a picture of a signed photo of Ernesto and Jimmy.
In the comments, one person asked whether the role wasn’t enough to continue acting. “I haven’t given up on it,” Love replied, “just really slow right now. And BCS wasn’t the breakout I was hoping.
“Did a significant film working opposite Lily Gladstone / Bryan Cranston but film ran out of money and I was never paid,” he claimed. Production on Lone Wolf, directed by Mark Pellington and starring Gladstone and Cranston, was abruptly halted last July amid funding challenges, which left several cast and crew members unpaid, according to Deadline.
Responding to another question about what it was like working with Odenkirk, Love said: “Great guy, very hard worker, was memorizing a full episodic script every 9 days or so and then doing standup on weekends, etc… nothing bad to say.”
Love shared that he would send signed photos to any interested fans who sent him a self-addressed stamped envelope.
The Independent has contacted a representative for Love for further comment.
Better Call Saul also starred Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, Giancarlo Esposito and Kerry Condon. The popular series, which arrived two years after the conclusion of Breaking Bad, served as an origin story for Jimmy, who transformed from an earnest elder law attorney into the morally compromised lawyer known as Saul Goodman, working with drug cartels.
