Bryan Cranston goes from meth lab to White House in 'All the Way,' a Broadway ...
Former 'Malcolm in the Middle' and 'Breaking Bad' star will make his Great White Way debut as President Johnson. Actor has a lot to say about politics.
Evgenia Eliseeva/Evgenia EliseevaFresh from his award-winning final season of 'Breaking Bad,' Bryan Cranston met the press Wednesday morning in advance of his Broadway debut as Lyndon Baines Johnson in the political drama 'All the Way.'
In a short interview with the Daily News, Cranston offered a wide range of talking points on the nature of government gridlock, why he chose 'All the Way' to make his Broadway debut, what LBJ has in common with the anti-hero Walter White of blue meth fame, how he prepped his version of President Johnson's drawl.
Here's the full transcript:
Q: You in a meth lab in 'Breaking Bad' and now the White House in 'All the Way.' Any common ground between the men in those rooms?
A: Oh sure. Both are very powerful, strong and strong-willed men, very determined, accomplished, smart and with character flaws that are very present. That both men could lose a grasp of a healthy ego and veered off into unhealthy ones. And they both wore tight whitey underwear.
Q: Was Broadway on your bucket list? And was LBJ a lure to make your debut?
A: There was that memo on my to-do list. To be able to do Broadway was a big goal of mine. But I wanted it to be important, not only to me but to what I was doing and the play itself. You only have one opportunity to debut on Broadway. And so I didn't want to do a play just for the sake of doing a play. I wanted to do something that meant something to me, that had some kind of social redeeming benefit to it. And I think this does. 'All the Way' really exposes the life of society in America back in 1963 and '64.
Q: Does it reverberate today? Why?
A: In a way, it holds up a mirror to today's governmental gridlock that we're exposed to now. And realize that back then those men knew that it was a horse trade, that in order to get something done you had to give up something. That's truly a compromise. What's happening now is that both sides are digging their heels in and no one's budging, so consequently nothing happens, nothing happens, nothing moves.
Q: How does a guy from San Fernando Valley in California, nail a Texas drawl?
A: It comes easy (Cranston slips into mesquite-flavored accent): He was from the hill country in Texas, that was where the drawl came from. You drop your g's so we're thinkin' and feelin' but not thinking and feeling. But it's fun, I love playin' with it.
Q: What was your main research resource?
A: Robert Caro's books (the multi-volume, 'The Years of Lyndon Johnson') Doris Kearns Goodwin had a great book ('Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream').
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