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Bryan did a bad bad thing
Bryan Cranston, who won the 2008 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, kindly spoke to me over the telephone yesterday about his role of Walt White in “Breaking Bad” that won him that award. “Breaking Bad” is drama series that airs on the American Movie Classics (AMC) cable network; the first season of the show is being released on DVD on Tuesday, and the second season is premiering on AMC on March 8.
“Breaking Bad” tells the story of veteran high school chemistry teacher White. The show begins just as White is turning 50; his surprisingly good-natured teenage son has cerebral palsy and his wife is expecting their second child.
When asked why he thought that White became a teacher, Cranston stated that he thought that it was because “he [White] developed a fear of failure. Cranston added that White had been praised highly by every teacher from elementary school through college and also by friends and family and had “thought that anything less than full success would be a failure.”
Cranston laughed politely when I said that it sounded that White was a krelboyne, which was the derogatory name for the child genius Malcolm and his equally intelligent friends in the hilarious sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle” in which Cranston played the father. Cranston said too that White was a krelboyne but that he had never thought of him in that way.
Cranston additionally shared the opinion that the fact that everyone felt positively about the work that teachers do was why White chose that profession. Cranston said as well that White had come to regret that career choice.
White discovering that he has lung cancer prompts concern about his family’s financial future. He responds by using his Nobel Prize quality knowledge of chemistry to secretly cook exceptional crystal methamphetamine for his literal partner-in-crime Jesse Pinkman to sell. As an added plot twist, Pinkman is an unmotivated former student who White flunked.
When asked about season 2 and the general anticipated path of the show, Cranston shared that White “made the decision to push forward into this career for which he has no skill set.” He added that White would be coming into more contact with violent and dangerous criminals who are “unreliable and untrustworthy.”
Regarding White’s family, Cranston said that White’s wife Skyler is going to come closer to learning the truth about how he is making the money that is paying for his expensive cancer treatments; Cranston added that White’s drug activity is also going to result in his son getting hurt.
Cranston summarized all of this by stating that “It would be irresponsible for us as a production to sugarcoat this.”
The fact that the acting is not flat is one thing that sets this well-paced interesting show apart from most modern TV dramas. Cranston reacts to each humiliation to which he is subjected and each setback that he experiences with the appropriate amount of emotion that earned him the Emmy.
Further, co-star Aaron Paul makes me believe that he is a guy in his mid-20s who realizes that his use and selling of drugs had messed up his life and that turning it around is difficult.
The interaction between White and Pinkman in a nice bizarre twist on a father-son relationship that is based outwardly on a profit motive. White essentially prohibits Pinkman from going out to play until they create a perfect batch of methamphetamine. He also experiences very paternal frustration when Pinkman defies his orders to not smoke their product and fails to follow very explicit instructions that White has given him.
Pinkman’s relationship with his biological family is interesting as well. He is from a solidly middle or upper-middle class background and his wonderful parents have been married for a long time. Additionally, it seems that he was once a “good kid,” and that his parents made several efforts to help him with this drug problem. This contrasts with the typical image that many people have regarding the upbringing of someone who makes his or her living dealing drugs.
When asked about this, Cranston stated that this was another way in which the program was being responsible by showing that “this kind of lifestyle could happen to everyone.”
Cranston additionally talked about how the role affected his weight; he stated that he brought his weight up to 186 pounds as one aspect of portraying the fact that White had determined at some point in the past 25 years that he did not care very much about his appearance. When asked if he ate anything special to gain the weight, Cranston responded with his infectious enthusiasm “I ate everything I saw; I had seconds of everything; I said no to nothing.”
When asked if he had lost weight because White had begun chemotherapy during the first season and would be continuing it in the second, Cranston stated that he began dieting during the first season.
Cranston told me that he cut out carbohydrates, saying “for a man, it’s the easiest thing to remember.” He said too that he otherwise ate everything that he wanted but did so as several small meals throughout the day.
Cranston also provided me his recipe for the breakfast treat that became known as “the Cranston” on the “Breaking Bad” set. He said that it consisted of scrambled egg whites, grilled vegetables and grilled turkey, feta cheese and a choice of red or green chilis. He shared too that he has lost 16 pounds over the course of filming the show.
Cranston then stated that chilis were a staple of people’s diet in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where all of “Breaking Bad” was filmed.
I had learned while interviewing actor Bill Daily of the sitcoms “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Bob Newhart Show” that Daily lived in Albuquerque and asked Cranston if he had run into Daily. Cranston told me that his home for the first season of “Breaking Bad” was an apartment in the same building where Daily lived. Cranston said too that he asked about Daily regularly and was always told that he was travelling or was just out.
When asked about other projects on which he was working, Cranston stated that an independent film called “Last Chance” that he had written, produced, directed, and in which he starred was being shown on the Women’s Entertainment network on March 7. Cranston also kindly granted my request for a copy of the film, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts about it.
The film is the story of the owner of a small café in the California desert who has given up on her dreams and learns the importance of the lesson that Cranston describes as “hope takes you a very long way.”
Cranston shared as well that he wrote the script as a Valentine for his wife, who plays the café owner. Cranston describes his own role as “the louse of a husband” to whom the café owner is married.
Please feel free to share your comments on any of the multiple topics that this entry includes as an addition to it or as e-mail to tvdvdguy@gmail.com. I may respond to any questions by stating “Yes; no; maybe; could you repeat the question?”
Comments
This series takes on new meaning when you realize what is being done to cut costs in health care.
I know that our government is trying to cut costs, but having my treatment determined by the government is scary. It took me eight years and six doctors to diagnose and treat a problem that was life altering for me. I can't imagine any government run agency allowing that type of cost for a problem that wasn't identified until the end of the eight years.
I can truely understand how someone could turn to alternative income to get treatment.
Gwen
Scarry, just don't get sick.
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