¡Colores!; 1927; Actor Bryan Cranston

THIS TIME, ON COLORES! AS BREAKING BAD COMES TO AN END, JOIN US FOR AN EXCLUSIVE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW WITH THREE TIME EMMY WINNER BRYAN CRANSTON. "I've never been in it for fame and recognition or money. My juice is the thrill and the empowerment that I get out of making people laugh or making people angry or scaring people or whatever the case may be. That's where I get my excitement from." IT'S ALL AHEAD ON COLORES! ACTOR BRYAN CRANSTON SHARES HIS BITTERSWEET EMOTIONS AS THE ICONIC SERIES BREAKING BAD COMES TO AN END AND HE SAYS GOODBYE TO WALTER WHITE. Bryan Cranston

Interview >>Mr. White! >>Hey >>Hold it! Hold it steady >>Now!!! >>The methylamine keeps flowing no matter what >> Hey! Happy Birthday >>Matt Grubs: How do you leave

a role like Walter White behind? >>Bryan Cranston: Kicking and screaming. Its been the role of my career, so to see it come to an endis satisfying in one sense that Vince Gilligan, the creator of the show, didn't have to dilute any of the story lines by going too long. You never want to have a show get the reaction like "Breaking Bad? Is that still on the air?" You want people to say "I miss that show." We did six seasons, 62 episodes all together, and I think they're concentrated and tightly woven andbrilliantly written. >>Grubs: When you sit down at that final episode, how'd

that feel? >>Cranston: There's a part of you that doesn't want to read it because there's a finality to it. Youknow, once you read that last one you realize "Oh, there's not going to be anymore episodes to be written." And there's a bit of sadness to that. In 34 years that I've been doing this, coming together as an acting troupe and as a crew, working intimately together and passionately on a story, and then voluntarily trying let go of that grip that you've become so fond of, you know both the execution of the show and the people, and you just have to let go and allow yourself to back off and seek other opportunities. As accustomed to that practice as I am, it still affects you emotionally. And it should, it should, so there will be a lot of tears shed. >>Grubs: Do you have to leave roles like Walt behind

for a while for fear of somebody saying "Oh he's just reprising Walter White from Breaking Bad."? >>Cranston: Oh I try not to be redundant on any of the characters I do. It's difficult. Well I, I did a show called Malcolm in the Middle for seven years and when that was ending I was offered two television shows that were very similar. They said "Oh he's a goofy fun loving dad!" And I said "Well Ijust did that for seven years, and so no thank you." It wasn't a temptation for me because I was never in it for fame and recognition or money. My juice is the thrill and the empowerment that I get out of making people laugh or making people angry or scaring people or whatever the case may be. That's where I get my excitement from it. So it was easy for me to turn that

down. And then all of a sudden, coming across my plate is this odd show called Breaking Bad. >>Grubs: Vince Gilligan had said "It couldn't sound worse if you put it on paper and pitched it to someone." But it really came together for him. One of the things that is interesting is that he knew you from this episode of The X-Files that you did where you played this character with this monster arc in one episode. Talk to me a little bit about that experience and how that led presumptively to working with Vince again. >>Cranston: Well I think that in order to have a successful career in this business, in the entertainment business, whether you're writing, directing, acting, or producing, or whatever the case may be, there are components that are necessary for that to come about. One is talent. You really do, you have to work hard and get educated and learn your craft, learn your business. Aside from that is personal development; patience and perseverance. But there is also a component that is necessary that's kind

of the wild card and that's luck. You have to have a healthy dose of luck to become successful, and that's just the way it is. You can't, you can't prepare for it, but you can be ready for it if it does come to you. I was very lucky to get that role on The X-Files, simply because I was in the city where it was casting, and I was out the city for three weeks prior. I very easily could not have been in town. And they just go on and someone else could have gotten the role. Then who knows where I would have been. Odds are very high that I wouldn't have gotten Breaking Bad, had I not meet Vince Gilligan before. Its one of those things where you just have to do your work, do the best you can, and hope for the lucky breaks here and there. >>Grubs: As you worked with Vince to cerate the character of Walter over the first couple of seasons, did you that you had it locked in at some point? Were there those days

where you look over and think to yourself, I nailed it, and you look over and they are like no, no you didn't. >>Cranston: [laugh] well I don't think they would make that face, even if they felt that and said, oh what will we do? That is the joy of well written material. It moves you immediately. When I read the pilot script of breaking bad, it conjures up thoughts and ideas and inspiration with in and actor that moves you along involuntarily. I wake up form a dream and go, oh you know what would be great is if he had this and he weighed thismuch and his hair was kind of... And I am writing notes the whole time. Then I pitch Vince on theseideas and he goes, that's a great idea. Then you start keying off each other. Pretty soon you are developing together the look of the character the tone of the character the pace. You know I wanted Walter to feel the weight

of the world, so his posture is round shouldered, his head was bowed from the weight of this tension and depression that he was carrying. >>Grubs: Is he more up right now? >>Cranston: He is more up right now. When he took on this persona of Hisenburg, where he is this desperate desperado, his shoulders are back, and his posture is much better. He felt more comfortable with more control and power. I wanted that to manifest in his stateliness. >>Looks like you're about a thousand gallons light here Mike, where's the juice? >>Methylamine isn't coming, >>Why is that? Who the hell are you? >>I'm the man who's keeping it >>Grubs: It must be

tremendously challenging and fun to play a character with this kind of arch? There where almost slapstick moments in your tidy whiteys in the pilot and to begin really dark episodes in the beginning of this last season. >>Cranston: It is the role of my carrier playing Walter. I will forever be grateful to Vince Gilligan for being my champion to get this role. There was some concern about the goofy dad from Malcolm in the Middle, transferring and becoming Walter this mastermind chemist who creates this awful drug and puts it out in society. Who would want to watch this? It is crazy. Yet, if you see Breaking Bad it is not about the glorification of drug use of drug manufacturing. Noone in their right mind would want to trade places with Walter.

He is a troubled despicable man andcaught up in his own ego. That's the story. It is a cautionary tale about poor decision making and what can happen. >>The methylamine keeps flowing no matter what. We are not wrapping now. We are just getting started. Nothing stops this train, nothing >>Grubs: When you go to those really dark places, this is a question you've heard before I am sure, are you just making that up or tapping in to personal stuff? Do you want to keep a line between those two so that it is not your life on display? >>Cranston: No. I think the success of an actor is being willing to go into those dark places and display them publicly. We have to have that

kind of courage and vulnerability to do that. In high school and all the way through school, I remember trying to stay the same. I did not want tostand out wearing what everyone else is wearing. I don't want to be isolated or ostracized certainly. I don't want to be embarrassed or have someone point a finger at me, oh look at that guy. What happened is you think that if you are vulnerable and sensitive and open, that you will be ridiculed. As adults, as we mature, what we realize is that if we have the audacity to display those human honest emotions that the opposite is what happens. People embrace someone who is in trouble, someone who is vulnerable, someone who is frightened. They have a tendency to come forward and put their emotional arms around them. Once actors learn that

its like, oh the finger pointing is only by the uneducated and immature. The ones who truly count, the ones who enjoy literature and well-crafted storytelling are anything but that. They are open and welcoming to that type of personality. >>Grubs: I have read interviews with Aaron Paul where he just seems mystified that people still loveWalter despite all these unbelievably awful things, is that part of it? >>Cranston: Well my job is to be honest when I depict Walter and not to judge him or justify his actions so I can honestly play him when I step into his shoes. It is difficult because the sensibility of Bryan at that as awful behavior. Yet, you realize that

we as human beings are fully capable of a wide spectrum of emotions. I believethat if we chose the sweetest meekest person, that person, given the right set of circumstance, canbecome dangerous. Any human being is potentially a dangerous person. If the right buttons are pushed, if the conditions of that person's life are in such despair, it is humanly possible. >>Only you never told me that kid would wind up in the hospital, take that thing and get the hell out of here. You and me, we are done. >> Come on, hey, hey! >> We are done, when I say

we are done. I believe that we are all living in a gray area. It is not black and white like television shows in the past use to show us. It is all about the gray. I believe it is possible for a man, Walter, to goout and kill a rival of his. Then to go home and wash his hands and gently and lovingly pick up hisbaby daughter and caress her and love her as a father. We are capable of that, of those wide swingsas human beings. It is frightening really. >>Grubs: Is there some measure of the shows success in that? That we are not asked to judge Walt or really any of the characters. It doesn't seem like Vince has put that forward. And he's dwelled

in that gray area. >>Cranston: Mmm. Yeah, and all the characters have touched upon that some of that gray area. In factits odd, when we put the hook in viewers early on in Breaking Bad where we presented this man that was depressed from missed opportunities in life, I think people can relate to that. You know, I missed the boat, or I didn't do what I wanted to do when I was a kid, and now I'm doing some job I'm notreally passionate about, but you make the best of it. You put your best foot forward, and you move forward. And that's what Walter White is doing. Even though he is depressed, he took his responsibilities seriously. He has a special needs son who needs physical therapy, which is not covered by medical insurance, so it requires Walter White to have a second job at a car wash for instance. It highlights

perhaps the need in this country for valued, basic health care. It also illustrates the talking points about how everyone respects and reveres the role of a teacher in our lives, but yet they are not always paid the same amount of actual money that they are in respect. So there's social, political issues that have come out from the series. And I think valuable. >>Grubs: You directed a few episodes, and you directed for Malcom in the Middle too, right? What do you like about directing for TV and do you want to move past that, or add to that by doing filmmaking? >>Cranston: I did a film that I wrote, back twelve years or so ago, and I had a great time doing it.A tremendous amount of work, much more work

than my acting jobs have been. Because as an actor, andyou're trained to do this, you're self-centered and you should be. What does my character want, whose in my characters way, how does my character get there, what is my character feel about something?Actors find themselves in trouble if they take that self-centered nature, that is good and that works well for their craft, if they take that out in their personal life, "I want, who's in my way..." As a director you have to take on the mental of all concerns of a productions. Not the least of which is each individual actors points of view, their temperaments, how they approach a character, what motivates them. I might say to you as an actor, "C'mon Matt, lets go, lets pick it

up, you're a little lazy this morning, lets go" and you might go "he's right, I got to go", it might be that ra-ra coach point of view. With someone else I might say "You ok? How you feeling today? Ya know, I think wecan go further." I might be softer, I might be more calm. I always try to plant an idea that is suggested. So instead of me telling the actor, I need you need to be angrier. I want to get to the point of, this guy just came on to your wife big time, how does that make you feel? And let you go, "that would really upset me" well ok, bring it out, let it go. You know, its like whoa, whoa okay. It's fun. It's fun to do that. I have also been known to manipulate people. If I need an actor to show remorse, and they're not, and they're fine about things, I'm not giving the right direction for this actor to get it, I will then resort

to manipulation. Ill go up to the actor and go "Matt, the way youshowed tremendous remorse, was just fantastic, keep that, its working really well." Then I plant the seed in you, then you may not know it, but in that next take you will have some remorse. >>Grubs: Are there stories that you like to tell when you are directing, are you attracted to a particular...real strong characters or? >>Cranston: I rely heavily on the writing, it's all about that. I know for a fact, that if somethingis well written, weather it's a play, or a television series or a movie, if something is well written, it has the potential to be and become a good production. If something is not well written, it has no chance

to be a good production. No chance. You might have explosions, and pretty girls and all these things going on, but you know buzzes, and whistles going off but its not going to be good. Andwhat's good? Like we spoke of before, it has to please my sensibilities, it has to be in that high water mark. For instance, Argo or Breaking Bad, the writing is so good, it hits that level. It's hard to find consistent writing at that level, where the characters are well developed. And the story is just terrific and compelling, but if you find it, it's a joy. I don't want... and I don't need andmore working my life. I don't need to work for a living; I've been very fortunate in this business.So I don't make financial considerations when I'm deciding on what to do. And that has guided me well.

So I will do, I directed a Modern Family episode, and I'm going to go back and do another one, because it's so well written and its fun. It's fun to do. Good actors, and you know, it's just a niceplace to be. It's a nice environment. I did an episode of The Office last year, their final year, just terrific people, and good cast, and I want to be around that. I want to be around people in the arts who appreciate the gift that they've been given. I don't have, the older I get the less tolerance I have for moaning and complaining. That I realize, do you realize that you could actually be working for a living? >>Grubs: Right >>Cranston: Be thankful that we are in this position >>Grubs: That high standard, do you think that's why we see some main shows like Breaking Bad or something like The Wire that have this 5 -6 season run and that's really as far as the people who are running the show feel like they can push it?

>>Cranston: Personally I felt that Breaking Bad could probably go another season of 13 episodes, andsee where it takes Walt, but Vince Gilligan didn't think so, and that's far more important than my opinion of it, and I didn't want, and I'm glad that Vince is ending it where he wants to end it because now I don't feel that it has been watered down, it hasn't been diluted, we haven't been redundant in the stories, we are ending it at the right time, and I think that's a good thing. And the greatthing about a film, should be as long as it needs to be to tell that story thoroughly, and so too is a television series, or a play, or a book, the writers constant worry and we agonize, and I am a writer as well, is how much is too much and how much is

not enough. We agonize not only over the whole telling of the story but also each individual paragraph or moment, how much description, 'casue you don't want to bore the reader, I got it I got it move on. And you don't want to confuse them either, like wait a minute wait, I have to go back, and I didn't catch something, it's always walking that edge, which is the challenge. >>Grubs: You've been really generous with your time, we appreciate it >>Cranston: Thank you NEXT TIME ON COLORES! ARTIST SUZANNE VILMAIN SHARES HOW BOOKS CAN BE MUCH MORE THAN WORDS. "The book holds the possibility of just about anything. And I've seen books made about unbelievablethings." MOTIONHOUSE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, KEVIN FINNAN, SHEDS LIGHT ON HOW DANCE CAN REALLY ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE. "We are about making things

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