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Lydia Rodarte-Quayle is returning in Season 5 of Better Call Saul

Lydia Rodarte-Quayle played by Laura Fraser in AMC's Breaking Bad drama series, sitting opposite Todd Alquist (Jesse Plemons) with her chamomile tea and Stevia. (Photo: Ursula Coyote/AMC)
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle played by Laura Fraser in AMC's Breaking Bad drama series, sitting opposite Todd Alquist (Jesse Plemons) with her chamomile tea and Stevia. (Photo: Ursula Coyote/AMC)

Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, the ruthless, Stevia-loving female drug lord from Breaking Bad played by Laura Fraser, will be making a return to the currently airing Season 5 of the spin-off series, Better Call Saul.

Yahoo Lifestyle SEA got confirmation of this news from the actress herself, when we spoke with her in an exclusive interview as she promotes her latest TV series, Traces, which premiered on Friday (13 March) on BBC First (StarHub Channel 502) and BBC Player.

Fraser was tight-lipped about what she could reveal about her upcoming appearance in Better Call Saul, only letting on that “I do pop up”. She also wouldn’t answer our questions about which episode she would appear in, or what her role this season would entail – “sorry for being boring,” she said – which is par for the course, we suppose.

Netflix is releasing new episodes of AMC series Better Call Saul weekly on Mondays. Season 5 of the show premiered on 23 February. Better Call Saul acts as a prequel to Breaking Bad, which has been described as one of the greatest TV shows ever.

If you recall, Fraser’s character in Breaking Bad, Lydia, was part of meth producer Gus Fring’s crime network, who ended up working with Walter White to make and distribute meth within and outside the US. She was a dark character who, despite her nervous disposition, had no qualms about ordering the murders of people who were liabilities to her.

Lydia has appeared briefly in previous seasons of Better Call Saul, which charts the journey of the character Saul Goodman from a small-time con artist to the amoral lawyer that he was in Breaking Bad.

We couldn’t let the Scottish actress go without asking her about Lydia’s notorious choice of beverage in Breaking Bad: chamomile tea with soya milk and Stevia. Did she ever taste the concoction on set?

Picture Shows: Prof. Kathy Torrance (JENNIFER SPENCE), Prof. Sarah Gordon (LAURA FRASER), Emma (MOLLY WINDSOR) (Photo: BBC Studios)
Laura Fraser (centre) plays Prof. Sarah Gordon in Traces, alongside Prof. Kathy Torrance (Jennifer Spence, left) and Emma (Molly Windsor, right). (Photo: BBC Studios)

“God, no. That would be absolutely vile. That is so disgusting,” Fraser said.

So what was she drinking in those scenes with Walter (Bryan Cranston) in the cafe?

“I think I had it black. They didn't have soy milk in the diner so I just had black tea with some sweetener in it, yeah, some Stevia,” said Fraser.

How does she know the drink tastes bad if she’s never tried it?

“It just sounds really bad,” Fraser said. “I mean, just the combination. I love chamomile, I love soy milk, and I like Stevia, that's fine. But I just like my herbal teas, you know, just with water. Yeah.”

In crime thriller Traces, Fraser plays a nerdy forensic science professor who tries to help her latest hire solve the mystery around the latter’s mother’s death. The 43-year-old actress has appeared in various TV series in the US and UK since her role in Breaking Bad.

According to Fraser, it seems somehow that it’s mostly computer geeks who still recognise her for her time on the Breaking Bad set.

“It happens more in certain demographics,” said Fraser. “Like, if I go to a computer shop to get my computer fixed, then they’ll instantly know. But if I go to the supermarket, I don't get recognised for (Breaking Bad), I get recognised for other things that maybe have just been on TV more recently. Yeah, there's certain demographics where they're like, you’re Lydia!”

Traces premiered on 13 March on BBC First (StarHub ch 502) and BBC Player. New episodes of AMC’s Better Call Saul Season 5 arrive each Monday on Netflix.

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