Starring Bryan Cranston, of “Malcolm in the Middle” fame, “Breaking Bad” explores what happens when a seemingly average yet absolutely brilliant high school chemistry teacher has a major midlife crisis. And then decides to start cooking meth.
Cranston dished about his new role, his penchant for tighty whities and how being a troublemaking kid paid off.
In this show, you find out you have a terminal illness, then pretty much lose it. Did you feel like the show was limiting its timespan with a dying main character? I mean the series can't go 300 episodes with that…
Well, “M*A*S*H*” was able to stretch the Korean War to 10 years, so we can make cancer work can’t we? [Laughs] We can do that scene, you know, “Mr. White, I made a terrible mistake. It wasn’t you that was a…”
[Laughs] Well, what was your first reaction to the character of Walt White? What pulled you in initially?
I read it cover to cover in one sitting, and I rarely do that nowadays reading scripts. It’s just the storytelling—it was compelling. I related to him, I understood him, I knew who this guy was…I know people like that. There is a massive amount of people who have that feeling of I should’ve, I could’ve, I wish I had taken the opportunities that were present to me. And that’s ultimately tragic and sympathetic.
Somebody described this character as having the worst midlife crisis ever. But wasn’t that the same case every single week on “Malcolm in the Middle”?
Yes. [Laughs] Well for comic reasons, you want to create as much turmoil as you can…and actually the same is true in drama. More turmoil means more conflict. Conflict drives story. What was so important to us was, you’re not going to agree with the choices this character makes, but you’ve got to relate to this guy. If the audience doesn’t sympathize with this man, the show’s not going to work. You’ve got to be able to feel for him.
Sympathize with him making a mobile meth lab. It's kind of a crazy concept, but truly genius. Are you all up for exploring cooking meth in a helicopter, or maybe meth in the back of a taxi cab?
Well Albuquerque [where we shot] has the longest vernicular—the tram—in the world. It’s a beautiful tram ride up to the top of the Sandia Mountain. And so I was fantasizing one day about a storyline that could involve that. I did pitch [the show creator] Vince [Gilligan] on it. He looked at me like I had started smoking some of my own product. [Laughs]
Now, there are lots of different ways an actor can go in terms of comedy underwear, whether it’s boxers or a thong. Were the tighty whities the way to go from day one?
It was written in the script that way and, you know, my character on “Malcolm,” Hal, wore tighty whities a lot too. I remember the first day when I walked into the wardrobe meeting for “Malcolm,” and I kept going back to the tighty whities for one reason: It was funny to see a grown man wearing underwear that should be worn by a seven-year-old boy. And with Walt wearing it, it became not as funny but sad. This man, it’s like he’s stuck in a time capsule! He didn’t mature beyond a certain point. And it was kind of funny, bittersweet.
So is that your undergarment of choice in real life?
I’m wearing some right now…and that’s all I’m wearing by the way. [Laughs]
Were you an ace in high school chemistry? What would your teachers think of you now?
[Laughs] ”Oh, now he who knows the answer why iron is FE on the chart.” You know, I was kind of a troublemaker in high school. I wasn’t a very good student—I was smart enough to know what I had to do to get a C, and then the rest of the time I just goofed off. I’ve lead my life that way philosophically, and it’s paid off considerably. So I would tell all high school and college students, don’t work so hard. [Laughs] Goof around and life will be a bed of roses for you.
”Breaking Bad” premieres Sunday, Jan. 20 at 10 p.m./9c on AMC.
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