“No doubt some folks are going to say, ‘Wow, just what our city needed.’ And I get that,” creator Vince Gilligan says at unveiling ceremony

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO - JULY 29: Actor Bryan Cranston (L) and actor Aaron Paul pose with bronze statues depicting television characters Walter White, played by Cranston, and Jesse Pinkman, played by Paul, from the series "Breaking Bad" at the Albuquerque Convention Center on July 29, 2022 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The statues were commissioned in 2019 by Sony Pictures Television and were sculpted by artist Trevor Grove and cast by Burbank, California-based American Fine Arts Foundry. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)

The city of Albuquerque paid tribute to its most infamous (fictional) meth manufacturers Friday with the unveiling of a statue dedicated to Breaking Bad.

Actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, who played Walter White and Jesse Pinkman on the acclaimed series, along with Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan were on hand at Albuquerque Convention Center for the ceremony.

The bronze statue — which was commissioned by Sony Pictures Television, and not New Mexico taxpayers’ money — captures White in his “Heisenberg” stance alongside his protege Pinkman.

“No doubt some folks are going to say, ‘Wow, just what our city needed.’ And I get that,” Gilligan said at the ceremony. “I see two of the finest actors America has ever produced. I see them, in character, as two larger-than-life tragic figures, cautionary tales.”