KPCS: Bryan Cranston #78

there was a polar bear family of them sitting around the dinner table and the youngest polar bear chewing away in the fine meal that his mother had prepared asked the question it was on his mind for quite some time Mom he cried they all turned his way Mom are you certain we are in fact polar bears few Chuckles around the table followed and of course his mother with a straight face said Yes dear bless you we're we're polar bears later that evening the young polar bear Timmy might have been his [Music] name went to his brother Lawrence Lawrence hey thanks listen are you sure where Paula Bez Larry smartass that he is said go [ __ ] yourself [Music] nespa Timmy wandered off found his father in the garage constructing a hat dad he cried Dad excuse dad dad are you sure what Paul Bear his father turned on the young boy and said dear God what's gotten into you it's enough already yes we're polar bears we've always been polar bears you come from a long line of polar bears you are in fact a member of a proud pride of polar bears Timmy looked up at his dad a small tear rolling down his cheek his furry cheek and said saralia he walked away he found his grandfather Gregory sitting in the den reading a book ironically about the history of polarz the timing was perfect for young Timothy as he walked up to his Grandad and said Grandpa are you looking it up are you making sure do we f in are we in fact polar bearss his grandfather turned on him sweet old bear glasses at the end of his nose and said Timmy you concern me why would you ask this question of all of us now over and over again been here reading about the family tree I've got to ask why why why do you keep asking if we're polar B Timmy gathered the strength and answered the question the wise old bear had asked well Grandpa it's because I'm freezing my balls [Music] off [Music] welcome back to each and every one of you happy Sunday to you it is in fact the 12th of September when we are indeed doing this live uh we've been off for uh a little bit we pre-taped last Sunday's show so we've uh we've been away from this studio here for a couple of weeks hope you had a lovely Labor Day how was your labor day did you relax I'm not sure what the protocol is to do on Labor Day You're supposed to just not labor what about all the children born um I was up uh in the town I was raised San Jose California uh at the lovely improv performing at that fine Theater which I'm proud to say is a historical landmark Al Jose performed on that very stage back in the 20s um it was a a Vaudeville room that they recently restored and uh I love this little theater so I had a great time visiting family and friends I want to thank one very important person from this visit I just met him on the on the trip Matthew Miller DDS that's right a crown came flying out of my face said Crown needed to be recemented I I found thanks to my other dear friend Charles lighter Charles wolf lighter cuz that's a name um a a fantastic dentist on the spot cemented me right up together and uh I wanted to thank Matthew Miller DDS for doing some incredible work I'm not sure why you had to put me under still feels a little strange and my sphincter will recover at some point I'm sure but thank you Matthew Miller um one of our very own Jamal otherwise known as jie uh celebrated Labor Day perhaps the best damn way which is to wait till the following day and then go to the less crowded Disneyland is that how it shook down for you oh I went on Thursday oh I'm sorry I need to keep track and read the bulletin um well I worked on Tuesday I have another show oh what what show is that uh this week in madman this week in madman you mean the new and noteworthy on iTunes this week in madman so we had a we had a fil on Tuesday you had it delayed because of the Monday holiday yes right I just remember the the week after Labor Day you were saying is one of the best single best times to go the because it's that weird in between time where it's like Summer's over and they're putting up the Halloween overlay on a lot of a lot of attractions so yeah it's a good time to go so is a fine time what would you say was maybe one highlight watching Cory love and eat a turkey leg ha that my favorite it is uh it is uh an epic caran Delight that's bigger than your head at the outside it was delicious I had some was delicious all right I always think those things are fake and now it's nice to know that they actually are real and you can eat them Sammy hey cable how uh how was your uh weekend off it was wonderful uh absolutely wonderful I went to uh my my dear Friend's Wedding did you uh I did uh but that's not what I want to talk about what it's beautiful service yeah to hell with your friends to hell with my friends I understand two things what's that a bus let's throw them under two things mhm one uh my uh uh number one fan in the world Sabrina is C celebrating her birthday today so happy birthday Sabrina and two uh for those people who enjoy uh laughing at things on the internets yes uh I am in a fantastic new web series called held up which stars the uh sclar Brothers Randy and Jason and uh Kevin you have been nice enough to uh allow me to run this little half a minute and a half trailer for the uh for the show so that the people can enjoy it and know what it is about right can do that now right yeah I don't know what you're talking about roll the uh roll the Tria too much to ask for something crazy to happen for once nobody move everybody down everybody down nobody go 30 seconds that's it we're out all right nobody mov this is a stick up obviously it's a stickup Well you pause I pause cuz suddenly there's a gun in my face two guns Best Day Ever You Are compl around right we going to have to work together if we want to get out of this thing with the money we are prepared to hear your List of Demands what we need are weapons and we need vehicles and if I don't get them I'm going shoot a hostage every 10 minutes I don't think we should be killing people for no reason you know I mean we're not Phil Spectre what's the deal here are you going to kill us or what you're asking these guys they don't know anything this guy's got dish gloves on and this guy looks like a gay Peter Pan whoa Peter Pan was gay stop I'm going to shoot someone in the head do you hear me I'm the guy Within I'm the guy who points out the guy who doesn't know he's the guy yet I'm talking about a guy whose time has come to finally step up and prove himself in life I'm talking about a guy who has a lot to gain from winning a fight like this I'm talking about a guy with a lot of heart and unconventional good looks you need to do it for her for us for [Music] America I cry a lot and my nose bleeds hope you're ready to get your shoes ruined [ __ ] brilliant there's episodes up now go check it out on CRA held up it's it's already up and running on the crackle there's like six or seven episodes already up out of how many out of 16 why so many I really that's too much I agree you know what I'm saying I know what you're saying um scar Brothers we love them we've had them on this very show John what's his story and I haven't seen him before Canadian comedian is he in fact the lead of the thing it looks like he's the lead he is the lead who knows who he is why is he the lead I think you'll have to watch the show and be informed so it's really uh and introducing a Canadian well he's done some stuff but he's see this is bothers me when the Canadians come across the border and take our jobs wait that's not that's not right at all I love Canadia yeah because it's 1978 um all right thank you Sammy and good luck with held up thank you sir we uh we will show more of that some other time uh we um oh I know forgive me it has something to do with me uh there was big announcements on the on the Twitter that uh this crazy DVD dropped uh was a standup comedy special first hourlong special I've done in quite a long time on the showtime Network um I want to thank them very much for the uh for the space that they showed the show on for five weeks it was very nice of them they um this DVD has lots of elements that was not in the special it's not important why they weren't in the special decisions were made um by showtime and um anyways this is uh just dropped on your Amazon and your iTunes and all these other places and I've been tweeting and trying to give uh copies of this DVD away uh six winners are actually selected um if you were not selected I apologize I'll give uh four to six more away next week live on the show so tune in then um Fred Willard I want to say next no why not Sunday I think of the 19th it's Fred Freddy Willard I believe you're right very excited about that I don't work here I don't know yeah thanks uh first winner will be Maggie Farley congratulations got that one off the Facebook uh Jason vigone is that right BG Leone sure why not at JVG uh Essie Olen is at V Vault a regular uh viewer of the show at Kim jordano uh at Karen Loveless that one was picked up today I remember at Keith Howell and congratulations to those winners uh to some of you these have already been shipped out because we gathered them while we were off for the Labor Day in fact one of you um set us a nice photo today because you got it in the mail already let's put up that photo look at that I I signed it wow I don't remember that incredible what you do when you're drunk uh but he got that uh the vigl at vigl I think was the one that sent that and he's off base um serving our fine military so we're sending copies to him and his mates as well um I got it and um now we take you to my one of my new favorite portions of the show called ask Kevin where I get a chance to answer some of your questions because I really do care what [Laughter] you think uh ask Kevin this one from topnotch awesome what we're reading a question from someone who goes by the moniker topnotch awesome nan oh that's right nran uh Hey Kevin got a question for you I've been watching for a couple few months now and I thought hey let's get in on this really you put that thought in quotes So this is me getting in on this and then repeated it Hey Kevin I've recently finished my first draft of my first screenplay and found the whole process to be really good for me see it's nran it is you've mentioned in the past that when you were read it it was Nirvana when you write it is nirvana uh and I was wondering if you write as a means to Zen out and get something off your chest or is it just a happy accent of the creative process also where do you get so many fine hats uh on the hats front none of your gu damn business um and in terms of writing uh yes we're going to talk to my guest today too who uh wrote and directed A Fine film uh for me the process about uh about writing is indeed uh creating a world and and characters and people in lives and things from thin air from your imagination limited by only that uh and I do uh find that process to be Nirvana not hell also I uh don't uh write an outline or put 3x5 cards on a board I begin the process process and I do not stop thinking that the first draft is a skeleton that I will rewrite till the end of time so just throw up onto the the used to be the page now it's not um so yes Nirvana indeed and good luck to you sir I hope that first effort of yours uh ends up on the big screen or whatever screen you'd like let's try the small one uh music at the end of your recent Special by space girl with three Rs love suspects did you thank you I was wondering about the song uh the special ends with what was that song who was that band space girl uh the answer of course Common Rotation uh some of the uh folk from that band actually uh the Adam Bush for example being um one of the two uh uh leads I guess um was a guest on this show uh in the past with the um the drones movie so his band Common Rotation Jordan Jordan was a guest too Jordan popped in as well yeah that's right thank you Jamie you're 100% I love it when you chime in with information that I forget I do uh anyways song's called True Hollywood romance and they were kind enough to uh Lan us that song um let's see what we paid them that's right nothing uh so thank you for that question last question buffering bit and a yinzer question from Josh Patton Kevin and the Gang I really enjoy the show and please give Jamie a big yinzer shout out from me uh in an earlier show you've mentioned traveling to Pittsburgh and I was wondering if you have ever attempted the to imitate the unique accent of that region given your proclivity for impression I imagine you could do it justice I don't care what everyone else says I enjoy the buffering gag every time at the beginning best Joshua Peyton well I'm glad you enjoy the buffering gag um and uh my Yer is not so great but I do Jam's dad and Tech technically although not a yzer he is from them Parts um Jim Fox no no how many times I got to tell you go you can't run that engine hot you'll kill it um the yinzer is more uh used going down to the park there that's kind of a little bit n that's bad that's more Chicago we need Jason Anon we need Jason yeah he does the best going down to I've heard him say a million times so I know that part is I'm just doing him just drop your L's yeah drop your L's would be uh well you're not a Yer either what do you know Yer is that really just the forgive me if I'm wrong for choosing these words the poor white trash uh it's like the you know it's like the blue collar see I knew I was wrong damn it poor white trash offensive blue white collar in support of what an [ __ ] uh the blue white the blue white collar is my favorite those are my favorite criminals by the way if you ever get thrown in the joint seek out the blue white collars cuz they're down to earth and yet they're business like a wealthy Smurf yes wealthy smirf um let's wrap up the ask Kevin and thank you for that and thank you for you and yours um a fine sponsor of the show of course is the mosey.com let's give a shout out to them please uh as always please remember with mod you can be sure your digital life will always be there when you need it online backup service with more than 1 million customers backing up more than 25 pides of information back up your critical data protect your personal files two offerings one for your home use stuff like your photos your videos your musics other for business which includes administrative features and 24-hour customer support set it once and then never think about it again unlimited online backup plans started only $4.95 a month how about this enter promo code Kevin at checkout to receive receive 50% off your initial purchase mosey.com we love their support of this show and thank them in fact we started a contest and we're uh giving away onee subscription is it a subscription onee Supply uh the contest winner for the moi.com one year um of their uh what is it what do they get exactly in the one year is it 60 UH 60 gab for year 100 gigabytes per a year Dan Hines no not Dan not Dan Hines no wow that's from last week what why Dan Hines in there big tid big TI big tid I just hear Dr Chan on the side go not Dan Heins I know it's the teleprompt and you just read it but not Dan Heights hey Dan just [ __ ] with you man we got another for you Zippo you know what Dan he's got big tits but you do have big tids Dan I feel I'm way off screen right now Dan but I'm getting something for you because I said Dan Hines if you are contactable if we have any idea who Dan Hines actually is check this out it's really cool got you again Danny yeah anyways at Big TI is one 100 gigabyte account on mosey.com a 6 do value free just for caring all right thank you one and all I've put off uh introducing my guests as long as possible um when I was sitting down to compile um the dossier along with the help of our very own jmac here on our guest today um and in formulating the introduction I started to think in terms of um we've had a few great car character actors on the show uh John Slattery not too long ago comes to mind JK Simmons and I I've already spoken greatly about um the art of the character actor and and the undaunting uh and never-ending respect I have not just uh dedicating my life to the participation of but just from being a child and watching movies and it was um Leo gorsy Jr and these these guys allegedly on the sidelines of Fame who uh caught my attention and um and uh struther Martin and oh God they're endless um and so many uh never really had a a chance the ones I'm calling out now um to say be the quote unquote lead and it's so unbelievably rare that to rise through the ranks um in case of my guest today of having an incredible uh career uh resume available for your viewing on the online um as a character actor for many many many years and um and in fact nominated for awards for doing great work uh on one television show and then to be presented with uh a a turn in life and in career that um meant going with that um uh Prospect he would be as they say and as we've said on this show number one on the call sheet and take on all the responsibility of that to be the leader of the pack um recently uh awarded not that these things [Music] matter third in a row Emmy Victory best actor in a drama um we've done research and believe it's only happened once before Bill Cosby pulled this off as this Mir for I spy back in the' 60s when they were just giving the stuff out like donuts um nowadays the field is much stronger and difficult and um um so unbelievably proud that this just went down uh within the last couple of weeks and we uh managed to land this uh great guest here today um please welcome Brian Cranson Brian uh all right let's uh let's start with uh since it's kind of hot off the press if you don't mind first of all thank you very much for joining us today well it's my pleasure to be here today okay start off as a dancer you know in New York and chorus boy aren you a chorus Boy A Chorus boy I love boys and girls at the time yeah he said that out loud hasn't he they were attractive have you seen his new show on Broadway by the way uh we went the Bingham Spokan yeah yeah it um was maybe one of the great I love black comedy so it may have been one of the great nights of theater of my life really yeah did you not I think it was the best non-m musical I've ever seen yeah I felt I was in two different plays I felt he was in a completely different play than the other cast members and it was like where's this you know and then Sam Rockwell who's terrific act and gives a monologue and I'm going now it's a third play what what is going on I think because of breaking the mold and and and breaking the rules it might have uh worked for me instead of against me in terms of my enjoyment um I but I could completely understand and respect why someone of the theater might um be taken out of it as it were it took me out a little bit Yeah I you know I I had seen some interviews by the writer and the director who said you know um he was the last person cast we didn't expect to have a big star you know in in this role wow I did not read that cuz I assumed they wrote it for him you'd think right he said he was the last one cast and of course we were great to have him and uh it's been interesting and it's always challenging uh and uh some on occasion he'll say the words I wrote on other occasions he won't you know and uh the director would say sometimes he'll do the blocking as we rehearsed and sometimes it's like you know and they they kind of have to give over to to uh you know his his Real Genius I mean he is the thing about him he is always watchable you cannot take your eyes off him I mean he's so fascinating you yeah and and we hear that about people or things you can't take your eyes off it and sometimes it's a train wreck and that's why you say that yeah perhaps in the case of Jersey Shore I'm not pointing fingers um I've never seen it but when it comes to to a talent to a specific individual yeah um who has spent a career now a lifetime being that that thing that you can't take your eyes off of and we've heard all the stories of taking all the uh um punctuation out of the paragraph saying it how he chooses but I'd not heard or read that he was doing his own rewrites and choreography yeah um that's got to be unnerving for the people involved but I will tell you watching it there really was a sense of I guess because I'm I'm drinking from his Kool-Aid and I've I've signed up for everything so to me I almost felt like this may be the and it was the first so it may be the only time I see him on the boards and so for that reason alone damn the torpedoes take me away calagon and oh Christ did he um so anyways three references that nobody of your viewers are going to Calon what's that I speak to my guest I've done my research it doesn't even matter christpher walking comes out he goes I was born and raised in Spokan Washington you go no you weren't no you weren't yeah I'm from the Pacific Northwest and you know it's like forget how they sound forget the Cadence it's how we speak and spokat spokat yeah um let's um talk about nothing else okay um let's talk uh I if you don't mind I I like to normally uh go back uh from whence we began but in this case because we are so hot off the press from this absurd moment of of your life as I can only imagine it it is to win the first Emmy you've been nominated from your dossier three times from the Malcolm in the Middle yeah so you've already been through the hey it's great to be nominated and as a past nominee I'm waving the flag the great thing about being a nominee is look if you win it's like a lottery thing you win for all the right or wrong reasons the nomination things I was the best of the five of the year of every single human that was uh available right um and that's amazing right that's truly that you can't take that away from me was what I remember about being nominated for anything um so all of that pressure and stuff you're going to win you're going to win everybody in your circle it happens once and then it happens twice and the second time there's got to be some sort of expectation of everyone in your face it's going to happen again right and you're thinking well I've already got one yeah nothing to lose I've already peaked it's now I have mine yeah so is there any way to enjoy I third because oh my God yeah well you know it it you you said it is how I feel about it and as as a fellow actor it is rather absurd to the public to the civilian population out there it's like oh it's fantastic and it's wonderful and it is but it's it's bizarre to go through that especially when I've been working for 31 years and and all I really wanted to do was be a good working actor make a living as an actor if I can do that that's my that's my goal that's my reward yes the idea of getting six Emmy nominations and three wins three in a row and it just it's it is absurd it's crazy yeah it's hard for me to believe and um I you know as we know there's a there's an EB and flow in in our business there's never a straight Ascend it's a big Rollo coaster right and I'm just I'm just on this wave for some reason I don't even know why I I was in the right place at the right time and uh I'm on this wave and I it's keep it's going you think that I would fall off or it's it's keep and and I'll stay on it for as long as I can go because I don't know how long it's going to go at some point absolutely it's going to stop and I have to be happy with what I've I've been able to achieve and and uh look back and then hand it off to someone else and it's the joy of being present yeah while it's happening yeah exactly and it takes I think many years doing this to really to really appreciate that and present while it's happening so that's the other great gift to me standing back and looking at at it all of this uh wave that you're currently riding is right place right time yeah I'm not going to accept that answer um having earned your place in this particular son uh at this particular moment in your trajectory that is your life and career uh it's quite easy for those of us on the sidelines to root for you to celebrate your victories in the job the trophies aside and then as a fan of the show it's just ridiculous um so let's talk about a parallel that I recently stumbled across that you've been aware of I'm sure for 3 years which is in a sense there's a parallel between you and your character on the show because where we've been served up a lovely morgus Borg of Duality MH for since the conception and execution of the pilot you live half the year in New Mexico mhm Albuquerque I do yes having shot there I can say from my own personal experience you are living a duality as you uh now again I'm going to foolishly I I have clearly foolishly assumed that your entire family does not move to ALU with you that's true they don't they don't this is what I based my parallel on so you leave your loving Nest yeah half of the year and become uh this person yeah this character uhhuh uh which is all consuming especially when you're out of the nest and really able to get as absorbed as you want to in all that that process is so I I would love first to talk about this Duality that you have in fact lived for the last three years because as an actor when my agent calls and says this is a really good part the Sho show shoots in Vancouver are you okay with that for the last many years the answer has been no no I'm not going to live there for 10 months right now you've got 13 episodes a year so now it's only 6 months is that six months at of time yeah yeah what has that been like I am abjectly unaware well um it's it's a challenge you know I'm married I have a we have a 17-year-old daughter and high school years so it's been all through high school now and um but if you think back to the origins of thesians and actors we've always been vagabonds we've always been in the back of a wagon and open it up hey Step Up Telly let's put on a show and then you sort of have to go with that um I I think I got spoiled for 7 years uh Malcolm in the Middle was 2 miles from my house boy is that studio the greatest job ever four miles on my car every day I'm a little ashamed of you for driving I know well just that I knew I could walk I never did but KN that's all I needed um and now this comes up and uh I I read the script without knowing where it shot and it was brilliant it was just a brilliant breath piece of work it really was and I handed it to my wife and I said you need to read this uh but before you do know that it shoots in New Mexico and this is after I had already met with Vince Gilligan who's our showrunner and who became my Champion to get this role creator of the show he created the show and I handed it to her and she read through it and then just went sh [ __ ] and kind of flopped it back on the bed because she knew it was you have no choice I I have to do this I have to do this um I do love that she said [ __ ] yeah it was because she knew what what it entailed and I think partly that it helps because she she's an actor as well we met 25 years ago on a TV show and so she gets it and I think it would be much more difficult if you were married to someone who's like wait a minut you've been there for 12 hours you you should be home and it's like no no no no that's just the way it works and then you have long periods of unemployment and you just you have to weather the storm but um yeah this is beyond making hay when the sun shines yeah yeah it is this is an opportunity as we've now seen from the success not only of the show but for you personally uh you could tell by reading that pilot script yeah well we all know actors we read these scripts for your audience we read these scripts and it's all about the writing oh award-winning performance are written as Paul Newman said when he won his Oscar they are written and we know that and as long as you have and I've always followed this um once I got to the point where I was making a living as an actor and not having to do other jobs because I when we first start you take anything sure um but a after you start making a living I made a promise to myself to really only do things that are have Merit uh in the artistic front and not make a a decision based on personal finances I don't in fact when I work now I don't even know what I'm making I honestly don't know how much they're offering or what the deal is it doesn't matter to me because I know the money will follow the and all I really need is to be able to make a living so and and that's now pass so uh my agents don't even tell me what the offer is I I make decisions purely on on the scripts and and who's involved yeah and that's the way it should be it is the way it should be and in fact that is um one of the Great Moments success as I know it yeah um that your decisions are made based on your personal taste and and what you want to try to do I don't think you ever you you you'll never you know there's there's that feeling when you first do a working on something that you really shouldn't have done and your your friend said why would you bring up Joanna man because why would you do that because I I would say tell me more so I would say so Kevin what are you working on and you your first move oh I'm just you know it's apologetic I'm just doing this yeah when I read the script Will Smith was supposed to be in it yeah yeah and you have all these this this sense of um of remorse going through that and I just don't want to feel that so yeah but now I I we work uh 12 14 hours a day especially in on Breaking Bad where I'm I'm busy the almost every scene and I come home and I'm exhausted I'm physically emotionally intellect just exhausted that's all you can do to do your pre-work for the next day yeah I I Bas you pass out I take a bath and I'm I'm reading my sides for the next you know day's work in the bath and maybe have a little chicken breast and a half a glass of wine or something and I pass out get up at 5:30 and do it again right yeah yeah yeah and uh during the first season when as much as your wife knew you had no choice when you're actually facing that um did you sneak home a couple of weekends during the first six months I I come home about three of the four weekends a month oh you do I do oh yeah and that's the way you started as well the the way yeah that's the way it works out and uh in case anybody's watching there's no fly or bug in here right there that's just an affectation of my guest wow he got it look Mr Miyagi holy crap see nail that little son of a [ __ ] can you see that oh that's no Freckle that's can he go zoom in get off your that son of a [ __ ] was was part of our crew until the moment that was Jeff Goldblum thank you're going need some sort it was just it was just buzzing around and buzzing around nice job robman just quit that's right our director is you can't kill anything guy is that right oh he's not he's just stunned yes you know that's why he did this because you don't want to kill it here you go you want to just show them to a new um whoever uh from the outer uh production staff has has has sent me a message via the message board here in the studio that says John larette won four in a row yeah uh there are a whole bunch of actors that won best supporting actor five years in a row we're looking for best actor lead actor in a drama so keep doing your research in the other room um okay so it's all you can do to get through this and then you add at the end end of season 1 well first of all um let's uh let's stay a little bit on the track here uh you read you read the script you hand it to your wife and you say honey I think you know what this means and by page 10 she knows what it means she doesn't have to get through to the end but by the end she tosses it down uh and that's just for the pilot now this being AMC a fairly new network uh what was the pilot process for this particular project in terms of getting the green light to do a ser series um I seem to recall the first season was broken up by was it the strike writer strike yeah we were scheduled to do a a full 12 and uh the writer strike stopped a short we ended up doing seven including the pilot right and um and that's why it was a surprise when the nominations came we got a few nominations myself and Vince Gilligan for the writing the pilot right or directing the pilot and um that's what was surprised because I didn't think it would would be enough episodes for the Academy to uh to sample right but um the process was the same when when when this script I I so cherished this script that I I in the negotiation process first of all it was very difficult um Vince Gilligan was my Champion to get that because and I'll this is why I'll I'll counter your you said you won't accept that that there was some right place right time but I I will tell you all right let me tell you this little story please um I wrote and directed this small little independent film for my wife as a birthday present called Last Chance called last chance it's a sweet little drama that we did and um and we went out to the middle of the desert to make it and I put all my money in I I just threw caution to the wind and just did it and this is 1999 which I just want to point out is before all the Malcolm in the- Middle money started coming in cuz let's keep that in perspective if if yeah I didn't I didn't have much and I I raised money through friends and family and and we shot this on 35 mm and we went out we did this and I I came back to LA and we were I was editing and I was broke and my agent called and said there's um there's a call for X Files do you want to go in on it but you're busy I know I go no no no I I need the money let me let me see if I can go get this job and it's a it's a a guy who was a backwoods kind of hick bastard he was a real uh jackass a real [ __ ] and uh this part I had in the movie movie was it had this big Fu Manu nasty mustache mutton chops like this and I I looked the part so I thought I can go in and get this and I got it and it was written by Vince Gilligan who was the writer producer of xfiles so we had this experience together and here's it shows an example of not only how lucky that was but also a little insight into the nuances of Vince Gilligan which is this character that he wrote was kind of a takeoff it's a tongue-and-cheek takeoff of the movie Speed where my character had something in his brain it it was a episode called um uh Drive I think and I and I had something in my brain where if I wasn't going 80 M an hour in a Westerly Direction my head would explode so somehow David doovy gets in the car and he's driving me and for most of the the episode it's he and I in this car and if he wrote my character to be sympathetic and sweet and nice then the audience would of course root for David to save this guy we like him save him but they wouldn't necessarily be invested in what he did was he wrote my character to be awful I mean one time I go Moulder was that was that a Jew name you yeah shut up you know and he's driving it because I was this awful person it put the it put the emotional dilemma right in the middle of his Central character right do I save this man just because he's a human being right perfect and beautiful right and that's the difference um so I got to know him there and it was because he felt that that my character had to be somewhat sympathetic in order to still have the audience engaged in this absolutely at some point at some point they still feel for him he's going through this hellacious thing and he remembered me from that now fast forward past Malcolm in the Middle seven eight years later he has this opportunity AMC is starting up they only want scripts that you cannot find on broadcast right so they said they the the note session for Vince Gilligan on to AMC was this is a great script go ahead make it and he holy [ __ ] yeah exactly he went okay yeah run before mind and uh so he he was like right he says I want Brian Cranston he said Mal the middle guy that's exactly what they said You [ __ ] nuts exactly what they said you were there I was in the meeting yeah I said me me I'll do it yeah yeah know we're still obsessed with the Malcolm in the Middle that's what Ben Gilligan said he said yeah I know um that's it and they they go no no he's the silly dad from Malcolm he's not right for this and he sat there trying to explain let me show you film on on on Brian from this thing we did together cuz I got to know him before he was a cartoon yeah uh for all tense and purposes yeah yeah yeah which is all that's in their head now right exactly right now where's the Serendipity to this had I lasted a week longer shooting this movie I wouldn't have got the call to go in an audition for xfiles I wouldn't have met Vince you see how it's like right place right time there's a there's a component that that actors need to have actors writers directors have to have in order to have a successful career that is not always included sure Talent uh perseverance patience are always mentioned luck is the other thing crazy you have to have crazy luck yeah and who how you can't account for that but you can be ready for it by being available and and knowing your craft yeah yeah all the all the um training and all the experience that leads up to those rare opportunities is just as important as the lucky opportunity but without that luck component no um um my career had uh without without question a ridiculous absurd luck situation where I was in Rob riner's face every day working on this little television six week episode thing that no one in time would see but um because I was in his face every day working on that yeah um one day at lunch he said you know I'm doing this movie it was a big Broadway play called A Few Good Men and you're kind of perfect for the co-counsel I've got an offer out to Jason Alexander but if Seinfeld gets picked up for a second season he won't be available in man now if I hadn't been in his face every day working on that project yeah there's not a chance in hell really truly yeah that uh it would have been so clear to him that that was an opportunity for me right that's exactly right and absurd uh what sort of a turn things took yeah after that but it's it's luck has that Al that element of luck is that you were prepared and you were working on the other not just having lunch EX actually serving what else can I get to Cappuccino yes as the buy yeah but earning my keep yes on a daily basis and and you know no one was more thrilled for Seinfeld success yeah um so you you're off to do the series that first year uh you're setting up camp you're you're living um out in the desert for all tents and purposes Albert ker God bless you and there must be a sense from fairly early on that the series as the scripts are coming in cuz Vince wrote several of the first yeah well he wrote The Pilot then he wrote the uh first two of season one and then like any showrunner he's rewriting every script com right every script he goes through not not necessarily rewriting of course but editing and and putting his stamp on it his Impressions which is he certainly uh needs to and I'm sure the people who are writing the scripts uh know that's a part of it and they depend on that's television so what point during the first season of shooting before it's aired uh do you start to get what I call the uh hedging of the heart which is I know how great this is I've also been around long enough to know that I can't count on anything being as received as it feels going out uh do you is that a part of your process are you just in there doing the work come what may or the reason I ask is because the show is so unique and so special for the fans who have latched onto it and claim it as their own and take such great pride and turning other people on to it it's one of those things uh that when you're in it when you're doing it there's a part of you that knows the potential and now you're part of this team and you're away from home and you're really part of this team right and now you just want your team to win you want your team to be successful right um your own personal experience aside is is how I would find myself in that world so I'm curious what you're going through shooting that first year before it goes on uh I think you know we have the same sensibilities really it's about uh it's about focusing on the work and knowing that it's good but when you're when you're in the business as long as we have been you cannot pick a winner in in the sense that you cannot predict whether or not it'll be successful in the sense that it will be picked up and yeah and at some point you don't even want to play that game I I don't play the game yeah I don't even think about it waste of time it's a waste of time all you have to do is focus on doing the best you can and knowing that what you're doing is is valuable interesting daring and and uh I knew from the pilot that we had a great show and if this show lasted only those first seven episodes I would be able to look back with pride and say this is one seven seven episodes it didn't last but that's okay it's the way it goes um there's no way you can predict uh the success of of anything and I think there was a perfect storm scenario uh coming up where uh AMC was just beginning they're aggressive and their they need by virtue of their newness to series television they need to be patient oh boy they don't have anything in the ah pull it off put this on nope no Take that off put this on no that's no good put this on righty let's get a black kid get the rid of the black kid J let get away you know I mean they do all kinds of stuff that that the showrunners going wait you're you're you're [ __ ] with the whole concept that we have here right and there was none of that it was here's the show you're making great we're going to be patient we we believe in this and I when we were negotiating um the contract I I said you know what I I I know I'm going to be away and I I want I want to know that AMC is going to be behind this so I I got the number of the uh vice president of production of AMC and I talked to him his name is Rob sorcher he's now with the Cartoon Network but he was good guy and he was nurturing this and I said Rob are you are you really doing this this is before Madmen came on the air AMC hadn't really been stamped right and so he said let me send you the pilot of our first series and then let's talk all right so he sent me the pilot of the non yet not yet aired madman and I was blown away and I thought all right never never mind we don't need to talk anymore we're good and he said it's the best sales job he's ever had is said you know and now with with Breaking Bad and mad men that that writers really good writers are are flocking to and they wanted because we only do episodes so they have a life and the other thing is they leave them alone they they let the creators create and so I mean it's it's it's that and it's also I I must say Sony TV has been a tremendous partner in this oh nice be here the story with Sony TV is the the two co-presidents of the of TV production went into uh the chairman and pitched this idea of of a high school chemistry teacher who is going to become a uh make crystal meth and become a drug dealer and he said that's probably the worst sounding idea for a a television series I've ever heard of good luck go make it you like well wait a minute you just said it it just showed that I I trust you guys you you you that we put you in that position to make these decisions and that's what they're doing and and What rarified er to have that conversation it just doesn't exist anymore it seems like all the network Executives and all the studios want to be able to point a finger in case things go wrong yeah well I didn't do it he he said he said to we should do this yeah you like that I don't know do I like it yeah let's check and see if I like it so let's um let let's I I realize they may have not uh finished the thought which is pretty delicious of Vince Gilligan saying you you have to hire this guy and them saying there's no way we're hiring this guy uh what was the end of that process in terms of how he won that particular battle did they just at some point say okay we trust you or did you have to jump through some hoops well there's a you know the the audition for your audience the audition process is a number of things and hopefully you get in to meet the director early which I did the creator of it and then um you you can either be offered the role or uh you have to test and um because they there was some resistance they they asked me if I would test and I said yes and that means there are three or four other actors um and you sign the deal and you go in and you you can either get the part or not well it's better to be offered a roll because then you you your odds are h% right it's like it's night and day so uh do you know who the other actors were that were also testing I I don't I um I can't remember who they were talking I it's just probably best that you don't or any I don't know no which one of us actually tested did you not important did you test for this no I would have killed to him I would have killed two of them but no I'm I was not no so I was about to test I pick up my daughter from from uh middle school and I take her to go bowling so we're bowling and I get a call on my cell phone from Peter legui who's at was a head of Fox at the time right and he says hi Brian how you doing good Peter how are you he says good I have't offer for you I want you to be in a pilot for us for Fox I'm sending you the script and what do you think oh it's always nice to hear thank you so thank you and I read it and it was uh a script called nurses kind of a graze Anatomy sort of thing where um you it's kind of sexy people you know and uh I thought not really there not really in that but he thinks I'm sexy that's nice you know so I started doing this and then all of a sudden nothing's sexy you know and then uh you passed the maror suck in the G um and so I had a thought though I thought I wonder so I make a call to my agents and I talk to them and I say tell them is there a way that we can f we can let everyone know that this offer came to me without letting people know are there people like in your inner circle yeah who cannot keep a secret when you right and you just say now remember don't tell anybody and you know oh my God so you had the wherewithal to create a leak so we created kind of a leak nice and so they said yes so much better by the way just to give folks an idea so much better to do it that way and and it's rarely ever done that way instead of having the agent call and say just so you know we've been off for this other thing and so we really need to know now yeah you know the hard ball the leak is sweet yeah I've rarely heard of this yeah other than the government work obviously but this is this is sweet it got out there and um Fox kept calling we need an answer we need an answer I keep going did they call no nothing had nothing yet it's like oh God we need it by Tuesday we need we need to know deadline Tuesday on the fox pilot and it's like Monday around 5:30 we get a call from Sony and they said don't have to test it's his it's the offer is his if he wants it for breaking B I was like wow nice I would say send maybe a monthly check to Peter Lori exactly yes not a weekly but a monthly I might s at least some flowers holy crap that's fantastic yeah um fun wow that's great uh uh one of the things we like to do here is to welcome in the folks uh who are uh fans of uh of yours uh to offer up a couple of questions okay um this is from Renee French at Renee French from the twitterverse could you talk a bit about the avocado face mask fridge rape sex scene you directed how many takes and was it difficult to direct an act in a scene that was so so intense yes uh yes you directed the season opener of season two and three yes okay so this is season two opener yeah and first time you're directing on this show correct right um yeah there was a it was a scene about Walter White's um displaced anxiety that he just just escaped this this beat uh brutal beating and uh came home and didn't know what to do with it and at first what I wanted to do was to to Crave just I just wanted someone to hug me and hold me and tell me it's going to be all right in a man's way and I touch my wife and I feel her I smell her and it I and it and it it sends the wrong signals and it gets aggressive and I get physical with her animal animal and uh so that was the idea and um it it was difficult we and in those kind of scenes whether I'm acting or directing I I I want to talk in generalities about those scenes but you don't want to rehearse it too much because then it becomes measured and and not animal and not animal and not not surprising so we talked in generalities with Anna gun about about that and how it was going to be and what I wanted to do um in shooting it from a director's standpoint is because it wasn't about love it was about aggression and and they are not connected that you'll notice in in the way it cut together is the way I wanted it where it was fragments that you don't see the two of us together ever it's like a piece of her and me and and then my hand and her underwear and the legs and the feet kicking out and the push and the hand and it's like it's all it's all messy and and and fast and aggressive unnerving and uh and it came out really nice it was it was tough to do because um well you're all in it's well I don't mean that as a double on tandre actually um um but uh uh it was it was it was difficult but I mean that's but when you succeed in scenes like that is when you really feel the joy of your work that you youve you've confronted difficult uh experiences and and felt good about him uh we mentioned last chance and you also directed some episodes of Malcolm in the Middle but had you indeed directed not alone something that intense but that that uh I don't know if there was that sort of intensity in last chance was there there were some yeah there was some um intensity in fight scenes and um some that your character was in that my character was in as well yeah and um it's interesting directing yourself is um is not to me I don't don't find it as difficult as um the other aspect of directing is when my character is in a scene but not in the foreground uh I don't know what the other actors are doing if my character is supposed to be reading a magazine in the back or something um I I don't really I can't really direct I asked the actors how'd that feel right did we cover this point and this point did you feel that you're that it was you know aggressive enough did you let's try it again and if you have an idea just try it again and basically it's all about trusting your actor and I'll I'll go to the writer who's always on the set with us who wrote that episode wow and I'll say here are the aspects that I'm looking for in this right and then I just print everything and in in film you you there are certain takes and you don't print every take uh in in my case when I'm in the scene I just print every take so I can take a look there might be some little also it saves you time for video playback you're going to print everything you don't need to stop and watch a tap that's fantastic yeah we don't have video playback and there's that debate whether or not it takes up too much time you know we sometimes have it yeah so do you in fact know who created video playback Jerry Lewis correct continues talented Jews for 400 uh this one from Facebook oh it's um it's time for a tweet five Mister Dave five TW five te forever now he's a funny guy he's absolutely crazy he's crazy funny and so very very uh uh organically funny that was the thing about him there wasn't any jokes there wasn't any yeah that's the part I don't like about him yeah finally we found something to argue about um I want to give credit here to uh it says from Facebook does does that mean uh Elaine Ying uh helped bring this one to us Vicky pezza Pizza pazza pazar p zza peza Pizza let's say piz let's say piz Vicky Piza uh tweet five and these are um Coke or Pepsi this or that no correct answer Coke right oh no sorry too fast Malcolm or Reese Malcolm Jerry SRO Larry David Jerry acting or directing acting Seth McFarland or Kevin Smith Seth lost or madman madman you know your bread is buttered um those were all correct answers [Laughter] um let's talk uh uh thank you Vicky pah toh allow us to Sidetrack a moment let's let's talk about what started out as a warer or a one-off episode of the Seinfeld show and became what six episodes yeah yeah and Jamie you were quoting the one where he um became a Jew and Jerry and they were jokes yeah they were they were pissed off because it was just for the jokes right is that the deal well actually Jerry Jerry was upset so he goes to my former priest and complains about it in the confessional he doesn't he sits down on the he doesn't quite figure that out and uh and he says uh my dentist he converted he converted Judaism that's not fair Jesus that's one of the bests I've ever heard and uh and so he says and it and this troubles you as a Jewish person you know no it troubles me as a comedian why is Jerry always yelling um and that's you know that that was the experience on that show you know Jerry is that the only time we ever stopped taping was when he would crack up when he would just laugh and so you see the takes that we that they kept he's big smiling and it's like we'll have to go with that at least he wasn't laughing yeah why yeah it's true the character on the his character on the show was always smiling smiling he always seemed so happy cuz he found a humorous it's it was a great show for that reason is that and I learned a lot from it and it was just great to hang around and to to see the difference of what Jerry Seinfeld brought to it and what Larry David would bring to it Larry David was you know he's he's kind of a in into his head kind of guy you know and he's thinking is that's funny that's funny that's good what were his you delay a little communicating skills as an actor in that experience terms of Larry being able to communicate was there an openness to it or was it that sort of confined no it was there was there was chances you you could take and and um cuz in TV of course in half hour yeah the showrunner instead of the director is really in charge at some point yeah well the the showrunner who is the the main writer producer of Any Given television show is always always has the last word as a director on in television it I you never direct for your own Vision it's always for the vision in servitude in servitude and so it's it puts you in a little bit of a box but you I always try to think that if I can surprise my showrunner a couple times an episode then I've done my job give him what he needs yeah yeah and then surprise him a couple times and I've done well uh and and uh you here was one example there was one time when when Jerry uh thought that I was um molesting uh people when I when I when they went under in my dental chair you know I had the uh uh I had the dental hygienist who was from you know who was a like a Playboy model type of thing and then he's in my dental chair and I'm to give him nitrous oxide and I put it on him and he goes out and I said now just relax and we'll see when you wake up and then he doesn't know his shirt is untucked and he go I don't know if I was talked her un talk you know and he didn't know if I molested him you know and um so as we broke from rehearsal of that we went on to another scene an electrician says to me hey you know it would be funny I go oh hi the guy up on the ladder you know what what what do you think he goes it would be funny if if you took the nitrous oxide and took a hit of it yourself first holy crap and I went that's good so dress rehearsal comes by uh nurse nitrous oxide and they go that's good and I put it on him boom it killed him Jerry bends over everybody's cracking up it stayed in and I said that guy the electrician and he and everybody turns and go really I said yeah he's the guy who got the idea Larry Shakespeare come down here and take a bow 17th generation yeah holy crap um pretty nice and so then when they're calling back to do several more episodes it's like are you kidding this is too good yeah but you know that show really set a a great um standard before the the the standard operation procedure on a on a sitcom was people sitting around drinking coffee like what I don't know what are you Seinfeld comes along and says no every single cast member has an agenda and they're out and then you got to cross them and have them relate to each other and it's this mix and mingle so no matter who they're cutting away to it's brilliant yeah and it hard work but brilliant and so they use their guest stars as they should to facilitate the main storylines so the only time that Tim wattley the dentist shows up on Seinfeld is when I have a specific purpose to to and function to to facilitate those those story lines and uh I was happy to do it yeah yeah it's pretty cool um from atw Florida art did Brian meet the family when making I know my first name is Steph anything odd about other son who later became a killer Steven Steiner I believe his name was I know my first name is Steven was based on the story of the kid who was kidnapped and um and they didn't and he he didn't know his name they changed his name and this whole thing and AR Howard played the the kidnapper and I played a a a policeman going to investigate this and and uh it was a really really good project and my first introduction to that world and then when I had my child um I became a spokesperson for the national Center for missing and exploited children and uh it's from based on your experience working on the project you got yeah and and obviously becoming a father makes you but and that was it that was the Tipping Point you become a father and and pretty soon you know for most men we we can take care of ourselves we get married we can take care of our wives then you have children and now you realize oh they're off at school or they're I can't I feel I feel a little weakened by and vulnerable so uh that was coming up and I I wanted to figure out a way that I can help and so I I created a thing called kid smarts which is a DVD program for families to pop in and learn how to keep their kids safe from abduction and where can folks go to check that out um I gave the I created and gave the program to the National Center uh which is really the a great organization and they are the best at finding missing children and now with the Advent of the internet and uh internet Predators they're really focused fed on on protecting kids from from that and uh so if you go to National Center for missing exploited children I think they're doing as part as a a premium so if you can donate then they can send this program to you it's a great program and it's for it's for parents especially when they don't know what to say to their kids just sit down with them pop this in and it goes through the scenarios with no violence no weapons no it's not scary wow and it really starts to teach the kids the fundamentals of how to be aware of of things that AR quite right well that seems unbelievably helpful I think to a lot of parents on so many levels one of which is it's a difficult thing to get your point across when you're the parent and you may be viewed as the authoritative person as opposed to The Helpful person uh also the Fear Factor that a lot of parents are dealing with no no this is serious kind of thing that might overtake their emotions as opposed to Let's watch this together and yeah and learn something yeah it really it really covers a wide range of it and you can you know from the age of six to 12 13 years old I think it's very helpful now did this have anything to do with how often your own parents uh tried to get you to run away uh it several times they would we'd go on trips their idea of a road trip were be to drive out as far as they can let me out to go to the bathroom and I come back out and that is funny funny for the family yeah yeah not so much for you uh the dossier says your father in fact was a character actor is a character actor forgive me um there was a little confusion as to whether there was any relation to another Joseph Cranston the writer of the corpse Grinders but Joe Cranston uh the character I yeah he wrote a lot of corpse Grinders your dad was also a writer he yeah did he go by Joseph L Cranston ever yes oh well then he in fact wrote the Corpse grinders holy crap yeah it seemed like it was starting on the research started to seem like this might in fact be two different people father was doing a lot of writing yeah he he was an actor for uh quite a while crawling hand crawling hand was another one yes uh he did that one as well um a movie called trauma oh my God a lot of things yeah and so he he um as as an actor right it was the up and down and up and down I remember one time we uh we got a a pool put in a built-in pool in the backyard hey look at this a you know Gunite and everything and put the whole thing and the following year I remember my mom saying we can't go swimming because we can't afford the chemicals to go in the pool oh man and like okay one year we got a new car the next year after that we got rid of that car and got an old car uhhuh I was like how old are you when this is happening I'm I'm a kid I'm eight seven 8 nine 10 was there much more explanation Beyond you know to kidss we don't really need much yeah it's a because we think that this is how things are done I don't know I guess yeah when you're seven or eight there's no keeping up with a Jones's Concept in your head doesn't mean anything it's not not until uh you know in retrospect you realize oh that was that was when things were bad I get it right yeah and what what age you think you were when it started to uh connect between just how things were and what that actually does for a living uh about last week last week I started wait a second last week it was ah now that's what um no when I was a kid we used to my brother and I were taken by by my dad into uh we used to see the you know go over see I Love Lucy and see uh um the Andrew Griffith Show and all these shows being shot right and uh and it was and it was always special it was there there was always a special feeling when we drove on to a lot I still feel that now I drive on to any lot I want I get a little tingle absolutely because it's like who am I why do I get to experience this this is fantastic that's where we differ also I get the same tingle yeah uh same sense of tingle but when I drive on the thought process is I can't believe I'm still not running this studio yeah that's so weird we would the chasm and where in your body is the tingle that's the question same place that dentist got to over the Labor Day weekend um so your father is an actor and a writer and your you're visiting sets of these shows that you see on TV and you're starting to get this sense there this makeb believe world that people do for a living and is there an age when something is that goes off in your own mind as this is a possible life for you as a not that didn't happen until I was 22 oh wow yeah so then it was just this crazy visit like an amusement park it was a crazy thing but I did a commercial with my dad directed a commercial for the United Way as when I think commercials were like 90 seconds some of them were back in those days yeah and uh I I played this uh kid who playing baseball and then baseball goes in the street and I run out and I get hit by a car the ambulance comes they send me to the hospital and they put a cast on me and they put a real cast on from my toes to my neck I was in a real cast like this for the commercial yeah and it hardened and everything and you know the you know people yeah and then in those days too they they Buzz sawed it off with a table saw thank goodness they they t and then don't move and then there was a period of where I'm on the on the parallel bar bars learning how to walk again and then the final shot was walking out with this woman who was supposed to be my mother and we're walking out of the hospital and into the street where I get hit by a bus and then how ironic and then we start the process all over again it's a happy ending and I knew it's like that was kind of fun and I got I got some money some like some spending money for that seven wow yeah and but that didn't take you're saying no I wanted to be a baseball player oh I I really love baseball I still love baseball right and I I wanted to be a baseball player and I almost became one actually what does that mean uh well I was only missing talent I see uh had I had that right it's about luck it's about right place right time yeah exactly right um and um no I I I I didn't get the correlation between practice and putting in work I didn't have a work ethic in high school so I kind of floundered and didn't really figure it out and it was really a confusing time for me and I wouldn't wouldn't want to go back to high school it was not good for me right but so you didn't actually play baseball in high school well I I I was good enough to on the team right but not a star but not I I just you weren't willing to put in the work I didn't put in the work didn't have the work ethic and now I have I just have work ethic now you have an annoying work ethic I unbelievable annoy my wife something awful I sense that you set the bar pretty high and I will say when working on a crew and in your case with with the show there is a family environment there is a sense there are people who have come back year after year who some of uh I'm guessing the majority of which also don't live the rest of the year in Albuquerque some do right I imagine now right um where as I mentioned before being number one in the call sheet you know there's the the showrunner there's the person who wrote that week's show there's the director but uh everyone's kind of looking over here a lot in terms of the creative tone at times but also the work ethic yeah uh if you bolt out of your trailer when they knock on your door saying we're ready for you now you set a precedent yeah uh and a tone yeah for the work I'm sensing that's what's going on I love the work yeah and I and I list we we for 30 years and you've been doing this a long time too we've worked with some people who are less than favorable oh boy less than people that you would not want to work with again and then there are great majority of people that you would love to work with again but through those experiences I I I realized that if I ever had the opportunity to influence a set I knew how I want to do it right and I was able to do that on Malcolm as well because Jan casmar didn't want right she and Frankie was too young sure so it was like it was really up to me to say here's what we're going to do we have crew gifts and I would organize all that and we're going to do this and we're going to do this with the crew and we're going and and set a tone that you carry on and it's about being kind yeah it's about focusing on the work it's about the the drama being in the scenes and not around the scenes and it's about working as a team and coming home like like in in Albuquerque we'll have a bowling night that I put on for the crew and the cast and everybody comes and everybody just gets silly and stuff like that but I think it's like a happy crew is a is a hardworking crew you know and and we have that reputation appreci feel appreciated because they are appreciated it's hard work um like I said most people don't realize that that an average day is 12 to 14 hours for us right and and that's a long time it's a long time to be away from your family on a day-to-day basis you know so at least make it enjoyable yeah and oh you're spending more time with these people than you are on your own family and that's true of them in many cases each of them also yeah um let's ask let me ask about um Jamie and I relate to the game which I've uh explained to you in terms of I know I know I know the show's amazing the show's amazing all right fine and then getting the DVDs and then falling deeply hopelessly madly in love with the thing but we got to be first educated about the show by watching it on DVD and uh I'm sure you're aware there are some dare I call them bonus features uh when you watch it on DVD the very first time and in fact uh it it devel a quote developed from this experience for us our de very dear friends uh Lan and Travis who are in the other room who you've met um had already been watching the show when it debuted and and were big fans and hadn't seen any of it on DVD cuz they were real fans from the beginning and when Jamie called Elaine to say what we had been watching on the DVD what was the quote that Elaine yells into the phone from to Travis hey TR Jamie says on those DVDs they're getting F bombs and cron ass F bombs and Cranston ass F bombs and cranon ass yeah yeah Nast [ __ ] yeah um that I told another girlfriend of mine this because she watched the show from the beginning she's like cranon ass oh man I don't get cranon ass yeah so the fans of the show who are watching every week and have not enjoyed the DVDs let us tell you there are some bonus features I I haven't seen them uhuh so when you're shooting the show uh obviously you're you're sharing F bombs which you're you must have been told at some point um don't worry about that we'll cut it out later or don't about that we'll put on the DVDs or was that ever really discuss I honestly haven't seen it all right I know you haven't but when you shot the show there were some f bombs are there yeah yeah yeah yeah okay also we're getting longer episodes on the DVDs cuz I remember the Pilot's like 55 minutes long or something was the pilot a little long they put in some some uh footage clearly that they had to cut what's great about uh AMC is that they if you you can convince them that this is absolutely essential so don't restrict us to this this a number of you know 43 minutes every single time or 46 or whatever um and they'll they'll give it pushing you know push and take so um that's great I I haven't seen the the DVDs we get your copy I'm pretty certain yeah um I've seen the jackets yeah yeah yeah they're nice the nice Jack are very nice no cranon ass on the jacket so cranon ass is that where I'm totally there may have been some love making moments in the first season that involved uh some footage that I personally didn't need to see but Jamie apparently but you're glad that you did benefited from I won't be the same no I know having experienced it you know it's funny because uh no no it wasn't oh yes it's funny it was funny when I was naked and Malcolm in the Middle and and then now it's just sad it's just just sad yeah no one really wants to see a a 50-year-old pasty white ass man you know well speaking of which the um the Tidy wies that you enjoyed so on the alcol in the middle mhm hell they they show it in the in the trailer for the damn show you're doing this I think right um I and some of putting together your dosier found a conversation with you and someone where where you were discussing the the creation from from your involvement and participation the creation of Walter White and one of those uh things that was in the script was in fact the Tidy whes and you had uh initial reservations about again with this yeah well it said you know that that page you know um a pair of trousers is floating down from the sky an RV runs over them in the middle of this red Painted Desert inside there's a man wearing only a respirator and tidy Whitey underwear driving frantically another guy with a respirator is passed out in the passenger seat behind him two dead men are sliding back and forth in a sea of glass and chemicals and I'm like that was the first page I know yeah I was like what the hell and so you you Dive Right In but yeah later later I went oh the Tidy whes and I brought it to Vince's um uh understanding that that I had done that a lot in in Malcolm in the Middle and when I chose I choose anything I wanted and I chose the Tidy whes for Malcolm in the Middle because Hal was just a big boy yeah he never really made that transition to manhood so I I thought this is funny all the boys are wearing the same tidy Whitey and so is the Dad we get it a nice visual for that and then there was a reason he wrote tidy whes in this and I didn't really know why he said well pick whatever you want so I'm going through there's boxes there're tall this and there that what's his style and I kept looking back at the Tidy whes wondering why he wrote that in there and I started thinking about this character and and when I go through to get a character I I keep looking and keep trying to find the emotional core of a character and for me that's that's what I hold on to for Hal it was was fear in Malcolm and and that from that his fear everything stemmed it was he was afraid of everything losing his job being a bad husband you know afraid of heights and everything was you know so um I couldn't find it for Walter White until I realized oh no wonder I can't find it he's so covered he's so calloused he's so depressed he we don't we can't see it what his emotional until it blows up in as it goes along and then it spews and I I realize maybe the Tidy whes in this case will represent a a stunted growth that that he stopped caring at a certain time he just he doesn't care about he had this silly mustache that looked you know ridiculous he had hair that always needed a cut and his clothes were weird he was a little ponchy his glasses are pretty glasses were everything was everything about him was what's the point yeah um and so I thought maybe that's the case too with the Tidy buddies yeah it it seemed like that uh there was a sense of fashion or appearance at all was the very last thing on his mind it was one of the early messages yes for that along with when we saw him fully dressed that that rang true as well um you're um I believe I read that the mustache and glasses were specifically your IDE is something about creating a mask yeah I wanted to I wanted to have this guy to me he was a depressed guy and and in a big umbrella um manifestation of depression to me there if you can pick two camps one is the the person who is angry and outwardly blaming everyone else for their Misfortune you know my ex-wife screwed me over that's why my boss is such a jackass or otherwise you know um and then there's the guy who imp looes who just takes one step and another step and you just see him silently dying dying and he's invisible to society to himself and that's what Walter White was so I wanted something that made him more invisible we took all the color out of my face um we didn't want any ruddiness I wanted my face to blend into the walls if you notice my in the early going the clothes that we chose were all taes and beige and sand and all these colors that are that have no remarkable feature to them whatsoever the hair was a mus a dirty Brown we took all the I have red highlights in my hair took all the red out just made it brown dull Brown I grew this mustache big thick mustache it looked like um Magnum yeah it was a big manly mustache and I there's something wrong with this so frea Valenzuela my my uh makeup artist said let me let me do a few things first of all what I learned if you want to make a mustache look impotent I I know how please okay I know I know there's guys out there just dying to know we will edit this and this one little piece will be a viral video seconds first of all uh you have to cut the mustache off at the corners of the mouth you can't let the mustache drop any further than the corners of the mouth it cannot go past that point yeah potentially could be sexy it or n or mean or badass or or baseball player y so you cut that off that's number one number two is you thin it out so that you can see the skin underneath it you don't want a big bushiness you thin it thin it thin it and number three is lighten it if you have like so we lightened the color and we thinned it and we cut it there and pretty soon it looked like a it looked like a caterpillar just resting on my upper lip yeah and that was perfect because I wanted people to go that's pathetic yeah what what is see and the glasses and the and I made sure I didn't get any sun cuz I wanted to be pasty White and and and I gained weight for it and I I had you know big love handles on the sides and this guy was you know pathetic right it a Sad Sack uh Vince might must have been awfully pleased not only for your commitment creatively but your uh uh Creative Design to sort of lift his uh image off the page in terms of just how pasty white and um and broken of a man not just in spirit but physically as well yeah um so I'm guessing he was pretty thrilled with well that's you know our first meeting was supposed to be 20 minutes and it lasted an hour and a half and um I was pitching all these ideas out to him about how he would walk and how he would look and that sort of thing and it seemed it it clicked with him and um it doesn't always Click by the way no for example your dossier showed that you came up with a beautiful piece of business for your one-armed character and Saving Private Ryan and then ran it by Mr Spielberg who said I love it we're not going to do it yeah yeah I I was the one armed colonel in the state department that gets we discover the the problem with the Ryan boy being killed and we need to find this one's we need to find Matt Damon and send him back home before he gets killed and um so he brings it to me so it says one arm Colonel so I had plenty of time to work on this and I we took off my left hand or my left arm and we folded up the thing now we didn't really take off my arm I don't know if wait a second what no uh we kept my real arm but if when the camera was shooting this way shooting me my arm was down right crazy behind you crazy behind me up into my crack because it had because I have long arms and and then the and then the the uniform was folded up right now when we were shooting behind me I had to I had to put it down and cup The Voice much more enjoyable on this yeah it's like too too much movement and so uh and that's how we did so I had to have this so I asked the prop guy to get me a a demitas cup and saucer and and Spoon cuz it said he was pouring tea and he he's pouring tea I have a better idea so instead of instead of you know pouring and putting the pcture down then picking up and then putting down and taking you know putting and I said what if I'm at my desk and I just come back and I'm looking over a dossier and I have the saucer here which I did I had the saucer like this and I had the spoon and I was stirring the coffee like that I tapta the spoon put it on the saucer without looking at it transferred it like this and put it down and then turned the page right nice business that's good it suggests he's had that one arm for a while for a long time that was my backstory I had a long so I'm I'm doing this whole thing and Steven comes in hey Houdini put down the saucer and I said but but let me show you something so he said all right show me what you got he said but I know I didn't want the coffee thing I don't want the he goes this is at the moment when the door opens and we push we Dolly right into you he's already cutting he's already cutting in his brain and it's like show me though show me I go okay like this and I did it right and he goes oh that's really good but we can't use it to this day you can do that trick yeah I can do that if I had a demit Time get him a Dem Town nothing nothing uh oh man I love that I love that what a that must have been by the way working on that yeah he's terrific Stephen um is so good with actors he's and so is Tom I've worked with Tom as a director before too Tom Hanks and uh as you might expect there they're fact oh what am I say of course we in the movie together we in the movie together you're the boss guy I remember you it's so funny so many times this happens though you know this where you're not in scenes together yeah and um you see the movie when it comes out you you know and then many years later someone says you know we work together and you're just okay great I guess we did [ __ ] I'm sorry I don't remember what have we work together in so yes and in fact I was reminded while putting together the dossier so I'm just as guilty um Gus grome yeah is who you portrayed in the that thing you do yeah um and uh so work I found Tom as a director you know what when I was going to direct something I I decided I wanted to meet with um people like yourself who uh start as an actor and then went on to direct something and directed themselves as well yeah so at the time I didn't have a chat show so I set up some sit Downs with Tom Hanks and Kevin spacy and a few other people who actors who had directed and I remember Tom saying I said if there's one thing on your first time out that you could now look back on and and change I'm trying to avoid all those pitfalls that are coming my way what is the one thing you said well I do remember uh the first couple of weeks I would have some epiphany the night before and come into to work and I would say to tac tac Fimo great cinematographer I would say to Tac you know t uh we're in the theater I think I want to start on the chandelier and the and the guys will be coming into the theater seeing it for the first time we'll be coming down off the chandelier and catching them instead of tracking them down nobody cares what it looks like to walk down a thing we'll start in the chandelier and we'll meet them at the same as they're going and T looked at him and said why don't we um why don't we uh bring in the actors and let them run the scene and Tom said oh normally how you do it you mean how when I'm an actor and yeah how I would like to do it yes they call the actors in you rehearse the scene and uh and you and I stand on the sidelines as director and cinematograph we we'll see what the actors will do and they would decide what the shots are yeah sure let's do that so he said I stopped having epiphanies yeah um that's a good point yeah but that's that's you can do that more in in a in a features where you have have time and money and when I direct TV I I usually start with an apology to the actors and say I wish we had the time to really rehearse every scene right you know just see what happens see what it feels like and but we don't we have to go go go go go so I have an idea see if this works and I'll say see if this blocking works for you if it doesn't we'll change it so but if it works for you then then we can get to it quicker you know it's part of uh the time yeah issue yeah uh do you use you were fantastic in that Thing You Do by the way boss Vic C boss Vic C boss Vic c i I remember seeing you looking in the mirr who's going to hit me who's going to hit me who's going to hit a who's going to hit a who's going to hit a that I really really loved that movie I thought Tom did a pretty fantastic job and you just worked with him on uh uh Larry Crown yeah he wrote this with Nia vardal yeah and you play Julia Robert's husband yes and um I believe there's a potential bedroom scene involved there was shall we call it a love making scene we can't call it a love making scene there was no love there was there was no making no no there was uh there was giddiness there was silliness sure and there was me wearing something smaller than this I see in my in my personals you know and actually it's funny because sounds like more cranon more it's right you just have this dark thing covering everything all your personals um yeah we we there was a scene first of all I to the time when when Tom called me and said uh I want to I'm interested in having you read this and maybe maybe play Julia's husband in Larry crown and I saw Tom uh and I was in Walter White mode I was bald shaved bald and when I play Walt I think of my dad I think of an he feels like an older man to me sure so he's kind of uned over and crinkly and you know he's all that kind of worried and heaviness to him and I and I was still in that mode and I said Tom you know I'm doing Breaking Bad and I'm I I look more like her dad than her husband right now so I don't know yeah no you'll be fine you'll be fine your hair will be back and it's like all right so we did the table read and it went well he say yeah that's good you're going to do it you know okay you know I'm still bald I'm like really and and I so I I got I got uh I was uh I was vulnerable to this and I was a little insecure yeah so I went out and I got a spray tan did you know yeah yeah I and I bleached my teeth well you're and I I did I was I I was so girl I went so girl oh no I'm not going to be pretty and I I I I wanted to I wanted the audience Julia Roberts yeah I know be a little respectful yes earn your place I got a Brazilian waxing I got oh no yeah that was wrong I did I go too far I'm not sure that part of the cron ass is what stepped over no uh I uh wow that's great I I sprayed tan I lost more weight you know I just and I started working out a little heavier I just wanted the audience to I didn't want the audience to see the two of us together and go what how how did they well good on you you did not want to take them out of the moment no I Tom's first reaction was what have you done oh want the other guy I wanted uh well that that must have been pretty damn fun it was fun it was fun and you know how tomm is he's and she's uh she's America sweet she's the Delight we would like her to be she is delightful and uh and silly and a mom and fun and brought her kids to the set and my daughter came and visited and Tom's you know I mean all the kids were there and and and I learned a lot from Tom from years ago about how to behave and how to and and I think that's instilled in me too it's like I want it to be a place where you can bring kids that it's not so costic not so cynical and and and um crude that you can't have a you can't have a familial feeling on the set you know what I mean and remembering back when your father was taking you and your brother to the set of Andy exactly yes I mean it was a more um congenial time obviously in the 60s yeah when visiting a set there might not have been F bombs and Cranston ass there wasn't no but I'll tell you one thing I do remember is that there was still a hold over of Crews still wearing suits oh my back in the day would and they suits would never see that these days it's really amazing everybody was all dressed up I didn't know why everybody was dressed yeah do we go to church after we shoot how does this work um okay let's uh let's let's Sil it up with a little tweet five thank you Mr love to involve the fine folk uh that's funny every time you see it yeah no no no it is it is it's on a continuous Sloop in my my house um at Becca piano offers up this tweet five favorite guest star role weirdest guest star role oh I see these are individual so it's not a this yeah like you see the numbers that are well but it's not a this or that is it no one ever stated that tweet five has to be this or that it's just don't fight you're so fired so hey come on no you know I'm just trying to explain my own insecurity tripping up over myself favorite guest star role uh favorite guest star role um well it was it was when uh doing Airwolf when uh in 25 years ago when I met wife wife yeah uh weirdest guest weirdest guest star role uh I played um a very [ __ ] character on um an episode of pearl with Ria Pearlman where I played an Isaac mahi kind of guy when I was like hello you know and oh oh you know this interesting thing is I was working that I was doing this guy and he's all over the place and he's just flipping around and and Tom Hanks calls the set and everybody's like Tom makes us on the phone he wants to talk to you and I go Tom how you doing and I'm going Tom how are you you know and he goes Hi listen I have a I have a question asked can you come down to Florida can you leave for Florida tomorrow to work on from the Earth to the Moon the other thing we worked on yes right that's right from the earth to the moon someone had had to go yes and I said yes he goes are you still thin I said yes come on down and I wait wait Tom what what am I doing he goes you're playing Buzz Aldren on from the earth oh okay I thought bye okay Sho you know I was like that's the weirdest I'd say excellent choice on weirdest yeah um weirdest day/ job if any day job day job day job job I was a oh they they put together I was a videotape interviewer at Great Expectations a video dating service were you not I was so were you so I would say no cuz Cory did that too that's yeah that's why so you interview people I would interview people and uh men and women and and try to get the best quality out of them and uh I had a secret button where I would interview because I wouldn't I I wouldn't do my interviews like okay now we're starting the interview right tell me about the long walks on the beach that you love some you know I would just start talking and then hit a button when I felt that they were becoming the best of themselves nice you know and then animated and and fun and exciting so and then uh it it really worked it was a great organ now of course it's it's into e e-harmony and all that stuff but at the time it was a great great job great day job nice very nice um favorite author tough one um God I I think of playwrights really right now author Miller is probably probably my favorite at this time favorite fish I like that one I did too it made him laugh um Go Fish sure yeah yeah yeah yeah uh yeah Red Fish Blue Fish that's the correct answer yeah down with Mary Mary fish Mary Ah that's a no fish well she drinks like one come on nice um stay in your corner let's see myology sir although you debuted on chips uh there was no looking back professionally after portraying Doug Donovan no reason to go back over that uh then it brought you to New York where you lived for five years after growing up in Los Angeles in Los Angeles yeah um so that must did you do theater in New York while there I did not I did uh I I was on on a soap opera for a few years when you talk about uh amazing training people don't even realize for a young actor in terms of not just the voluminous potentiality anyways a voluminous dialogue to memorize and those skills and that muscle that needs to be created Created and exercised but just the scheduling and and the the sense of uh of having a so-called day job on a regular basis I found it really difficult yeah I found it difficult because if you're if you're a conscientious about your work then you don't want to go okay let's see what's today oh anger look I'll give number two on that one and which surprise look number 17 you know and and then it you know it's stilted and that sort of thing so you kind of have to try to work against it because there were times when you know I'm playing in a scene where and I was a good guy in in my show loving and uh my girlfriend was cheating on me and my then I got married to another woman and she was cheating and I was that guy yeah and so I had to do scenes like she's looking like this like don't call me here I don't want to and I'd go who's on the phone honey and we see nobody I go okay you know it's like it's that's hard to do you know it's like and I'm going please I mean it's obvious there's something wrong can we just let me kill her no no no no you know I like God so that's tough work uh okay one of my favorite little cameos that you did uh came about from one of uh Jamie and my uh favorite lines from a movie that we then quoted for years afterwards and to this day Stan Grossman's calling ah um yeah littlea Sunshine fantastic beyond belief yeah uh and you got to work in a movie with alen Arin and there's really no greater thrill in one's life can I be honest I'm sorry we didn't have any scenes together that's great we didn't have any scenes together and I went on to win an Academy Award but you were terrific in uh you were like you were at a pool you came out of a ballroom in a hotel fantastic um what a a great little film but also um one of those uh there are no small roles you know there's so much in the movie yeah for Ker's character yeah had created this there's going to be a door opening up and who's going to come through it right so in a sense not as easy as it looks on paper to show up as that guy and I thought the full beard as I recall yeah was a a show of power and and interesting decision um I'm hoping one that uh you were involved in the creation and it wasn't just left over from a job you were doing before you were brought in to do that no what I what I as you see here I uh in between jobs I always grow hair okay facial hair um head head hair everything just so just let it grow so back hair um and um and then then I can sculpt what I want uh for my next job I could either leave sideburns long or short or make them thick or mustache no mustache fum menu I could do a thin if I want to you know play something fidus or something so it gives me a variety of looks um and so I was growing hair and um and Little Miss Sunshine came along as a as just a reading sample my agency sent it to me said it's really good script we represent the writers uh the directors and uh I just thought you might enjoy reading it I read it and I went this is really terrific this is really really well uh written and I'd love to meet on this and they go there's no no Greg caner is already cast Steve Carell's already cast there's nothing in there for you you can't play the the gay ex-boyfriend that's not I go no no no there's a guy Stan grman what about him and my agency said he works one day yeah and I went so so it'll be in and out you know and they're going you want to meet on that and I go yeah they started shooting already the scenes at the house where they're around the the beginning of the movie and I met them uh uh Jonathan uh and uh um oh gosh now I'm blanking on their name Valerie uh the directors and I convinced them that I should do this role and they said the same thing he works one day this guy you know trying to talk me out of it and I said here's my take on this is that I would just be kind of aloof to it to Greg caner to his character everything is writing on every damn egg is in that b every egg is writing on this he needs this to work and I said I think I should just like H it's just uh one book call me on the next one didn't work it's all right you know just say hey look at her she's pretty you know and just kind of be this guy who's like I'm in his own separate world and it's just one little piece of of you know for me it's not that big a deal well it's a beautiful choice because it cries for that as a viewer of the film you're You're Breaking Inside for this idiot who has put all these eggs in one basket and quite frankly any other choice on your part doesn't pay off wouldn't be yeah I didn't think so so I pitched them that idea and they liked it and we did it I worked one day did they ask if you could handle a a de demich CHS and a saucer yeah I said I want to I'm going to use this somehow they go where does that nonchalant and not give a [ __ ] one arm or actually do it and I've got this arms I just happen to like theater of the Absurd so um the interesting thing about it is that uh it did turn out and well and of course I told Jonathan Valerie I said you're going to be surprised the reaction of this people are going to love this movie and they they try to play it down um the interesting thing from my aspect was I fulfilled my job I had a very small part in very little piece Little Slice that I needed to do boom okay I did I did fine boom but people Lov this movie so much that they got swept up in it that there was so much hyperbole surrounding that that when friends and people that knew me I was in it oh my God you were so good in that movie oh you were so great and I went oh that's interesting wow that is thank you thank you oh my God you were so I thought that's wild they're so caught up in how much they love the film as a whole exactly that you they pouring all of that you're the entire you get swept up and that so solidified my theory of go with the real well-written word you will never be sorry you will never be sorry yeah yeah yeah even if the if it didn't work at the box office you can say you know what you want to see a little gem take a look at this no one ever saw this movie and you'll love it yeah that was that was actually one of those films that's a great barometer for uh don't do your best not to build up anyone's expectations because there one of those little movies needs to be treated as a little film and you need to not be told it's the greatest thing that ever lived I never do that whenever I want someone to see a movie I really want somebody to it's worthwhile you should you should see that movie you really should put that on your list it's a it's a I think you'd like it I'm not going to tell you why I think you'd like it yeah uh speaking of the written word you you we talked about last chance has it did it cross your mind along with the directing to possibly write an episode or of Breaking Bad well you know that the um writing you really need in television you need to be in that room there's a writer room where they have several different writers for the show and they're assigned different episodes of that show and then the showrunner edits everything that's written the outlines and the final draft and it's a different animal it's yeah you really have to be in that room to see how it goes along it's actually easier for for an actor to to direct I know Slattery John slatter is directed he's directed twice now on madman and uh and I'm glad he did it's it it turn out well he sure did yeah and um I think I think you know it's a related thing so uh we know how to talk to actors we know what to say and sometimes how to manipulate them and into performing like how you want them where you want them to go right and um I think it's a it's a related thing I I think uh have you have you directed uh I just put my feet in the pool it was for a web series so there wasn't the pressure of a NW work or studio um but it was an extraordinary experience I'm utterly hooked for life and and it was all all the things I mean I wrote this screenplay Billy Bob Thorton is attached if we get the female lead I'll be directing a feature I'll believe it when I'm at the premiere fantastic um but in terms of finally wetting my feet once uh being able to do this little web series vamped out was extraordinary um because I'm giving line readings to other actors when I work with them anyways yeah so this really it's so true you you're going when if you're an actor who goes why are they setting up the camera there the camera doesn't want to be there the camera wants to see this not that you know that if you're that guy then if you ever have an opportunity to direct you better do it or shut up yeah you know because it as you found out it it's hard yes when you start especially in television it seems like your day just begins and your first ad Whispers In Your Ear we're a little behind we got to get we got to get moving in the first half hour to be kidding me you know how do we lose two hours and I believe it or not I I go on a director's diet when I work I lose I can lose 10 12 pounds when I work as a director because I forget to eat and so I usually have an my assistant come and and every 3 hours put an apple into my mouth so I can eat and think and it's all consuming yeah it's just amazing it's just amazing and I I I do love it too I really do and I I understand there's the frustration though um of because you're carrying on as an actor that you can't spend much time in the editing Bay you're being sent DVD cuts of the episode based on your notes yeah and then you'll spend as much time as you can yeah I mean the there's there's there's a machine there's a train it's it's soaring down the track yeah it's got to it's got to keep going um once teele in Television Once the production goes you can't really stop it and being you know in New Mexico where our editing bays and everything are in California I have to get DVDs and and look at them as opposed to going into the editing room and actually getting a Vibe with your editor which I did on Malcolm I was able to go upstairs right and edit when I wasn't working every lunch hour I was upstairs I just can't do that now and so as a consequence I think it's you know I think I may not direct this next season uh I because people are asking season 4 yeah season 4 we're going into production in January uh January through June and we'll premere in July next year it'll be exting as hell little bit of a wait to get to there I may or may not be available I'm just floating it really just floating out there and may I tell you honestly that when you were talking about Billy Bob is attached this and I may be able to direct I'm is there a part inter the old actor tape just keeps going like is there a part maybe there's part of there is I'm just going to say it I don't want to do it I saw Oliver Platt was the first actor I ever saw do this this uh we were both talking to a director that we knew he just sat down at the table and he started talking about the film and Oliver is a first actor I'd ever seen go how's my part just came right out with it how's my part cuz we all think it yeah exactly it's thinking I just I I'll never forget that um and I've tried to say that now every single time my part um uh you're you are though technically writing meet the Murphy's with a pal of yours that you may or may not direct when uh the time is right yeah how do you know that we have a dossier you know things there's all sorts of I mean one of the things that comes with doing great work is is is the responsibility of of being careful about how you choose uh and maintaining a certain level of quality without I'm I'm not wanting to be presumptuous treating it all like a porcelain egg and being overly careful yeah uh but there are so many projects now uh John Carter of Mars detachment red Tales Drive London Fog leave hosting SNL October 2nd for the first time congratulations I'm so excited about that's pretty Tom Terrific that's fantastic I can't wait that's been brewing I'm guessing for quite a while and you're so perfect for it there was some there was some push to get that and you know for me I remember when it first came on we were watching that show and it never dawned on me that I would be one one time hosting this thing I just I'm I'm so thrilled it's definitely a fantasy comeing true it is we are thrilled for for you sir thank you please don't [ __ ] it up no um so the films I just mentioned oh my goodness it's one after another Non-Stop and some of these things are in development they're in uh uh John Carter of Mars you uh should we finish that you did finish that it's a Pixar it's Pixar's first uh half live an uh live action and animated film and you're part is the live action I'm in the live action although I'm very animated doing my live action I see what you're saying uhhuh um great it was based on a novel by Edgar Rice burough before he wrote Tarzan and uh it's spectacular in the extreme sense of the word it goes to Mars and then it's in Civil War America it's really wild with all these creatures and things and there's battles and your character is of the Civil War era yeah oh my God yeah it's fun um lot of blue screen I think Lucas is involved in the production is he not uh George Lucas is in the is uh producing red Tales red Tales that's the other one which is the Tuskegee Airman story right right right yeah which is terrific and um I don't know exact there's a lot of a lot of ilm is going to take care of that and do a lot of um industrial Light and Magic do some lot of computerized graphics and things like that you have huge fans here and we are absolutely thrilled to beyond belief for all of it honest good sounds like you're wrapping up um no we just I wanted to let you know we have only one more hour to do oh okay it's just kind of a heads up okay do you believe that we're an hour 56 into it are we really just under 2 hours oh my God that's wild flew by I believe we were in the moment sir yeah I can't thank you enough oh it was a blast hon I enjoyed it um we are uh riveted to see how the rest of this unfolds yeah unbelievable congratulations on this third Emy thank you um just give me a little bit of the moment before your name is said this third time around all of the well I've already got to this is ridiculous I couldn't Poss oh God they did say my name yeah that's that's it that's it and then you um you kiss your wife and my daughter is always with us and we kiss and and once again you start walking up the stairs and before you know it I'm already standing in front of Edy Falco and she's handing it I thought what the time compression get up here it was and you turn and face and there's 4,000 people in the auditorium and there's 15 million or something watching on television and you go and uh you just hope that you can construct a sentence that makes sense you know that you can are you comfortable putting something together beforehand you know I don't I don't I don't write a speech right but I do think about what it is I would like to say if I were in that position if you have the wherewithal at the time but there are wild thoughts that come into your mind like last year I remember all of a sudden I thought of Lee trino being struck by lightning and I just said it what of course you did what yeah this is this reminds me of when Lee trino got struck by lightning yeah cuz Lee trino this true story yeah he was struck by lightning twice on the golf course and it was like and this was the second time for me and I was like oh my God this is crazy but then the other time it's like what I what did I have for lunch as you're walking up you go no no get out I no I don't want that there's no room for you in here you know exactly and yet it's like oh that I know her oh no think think concentrate focus and uh and you just you just can't believe it yeah and even when I'm when I'm reenacting it I still feel a little anxiety because it's it's that kind of hand ring explosive yeah wild wow congratulations honest to God you know what's left it's called the Larry King game that's your camera should you decide to participate or go the Jane Campion I'm going to buy you a little bit of time all right um with one last question from the Facebook folk this one from Rob lter I'm assuming that's how you pronounce that Brian seems to do a lot of kid-friendly work upcoming Pixar film Power Rangers um the kidsmart that you mentioned alongside his darker roles Breaking Bad Family Guy oh we didn't even brush on that one is this a conscious decision or just an organic collection of roles offered to him is it just about these are great scripts this is great opportunities or is it boy I like to mix it up I think it's both yeah I think you you know I mean as a as a human being you don't you know the one thing about some Comics is that they're always on I I can't take that yeah everywhere every 247 and it's like please give it a rest you don't have to perform for me you know uh I don't know anyone who really wants to have that kind of energy I mean you want to be able to there's some sometimes you want to be sincere and serious or you want to be sad or funny or happy or joy and it's the same thing in in acting roles I don't want to do just one kind of thing so I look for a variety of things and now I'm and that's why Saturday Night Live is is so great because I've been doing a lot of Dramas lately and it's now I want to I need to swing back and do some more comedies so that people go oh that's right he still does yeah he does comedy too forgot about that yeah that's interesting though cuz that was the remarkable thing I always felt about this career opportunity that Breaking Bad became but also one one that that trajectory we talked about to be so known and certainly you face that with the AMC folk well no he's the cartoon dad he's crazy and silly he couldn't possibly be right dying on camera that's ridiculous yeah to get to the point where you know he's funny heent saying you know he can be funny yeah um how remarkable is that though honestly Awards and everything else aside in terms of here's all that I can do now literally coming full circle in such a short period of time um crazy of having to convince people that you can be funny too well you know you know what the answer is I know you know that because of the irony of it is like you know sometimes if you're if you're very successful in in something you you it's a double-edged sword you you then have to try to live that down for a number of years um and and so the the idea of going from a comedy a very silly comedy family comedy to doing a very dark drama uh is not an opportunity that a lot of people get and so I am fully aware of the opportunity that was handed to me and and I'm so grateful for it oh I'm pretty thrilled that you uh acknowledge at the outset how being present during this time is is crucial to you in terms of enjoying every square inch of this experience and opportunity you know there was there was a um there was an old saying it was a [ __ ] Chinese proverb that said may you may you reach success and good fortune early on in life and it was meant as a curse is that if if you do you won't be able to appreciate what you have and you'll crash and burn so if you wanted to put a curse on someone I hope you have success early in life early in life yeah and um and I I worked as an actor for many many years but there wasn't not until Malcolm in the Middle did it kind of just explode then and I was already in my 40s right um and so there's no way that I can't appreciate it I mean I this is a wild ride it's like a crazy crazy ride that's the other thing we didn't even touch on actually I just realized was the pretty brief period of time between Malcolm wrapping up and Breaking Bad starting it wasn't much more than a year a year yeah which is truly remarkable so it was it wasn't just that you were known for being a silly Dad yeah it was yesterday yeah it was um a year and a half or something like that before right yeah um hard not to take Heisenberg home great that your family's not there uh but when you when when it's a a particularly heavy day work of that character uh what I've the little I've gotten to know of your work ethic um our friend Elaine on the out outside of the studio I remember I was commenting first time you guys met about that wildly if not insanely pivotal scene when he shaves his head in the mirror um how does that character or not come home with you back to the hotel and and uh um I have a ritual that I do when I'm done with the the day I I go into the makeup hair trailer and I I get two very hot towels with some you know um scented you know or something that eucalyptus or something on it and I take the makeup remover and I do my whole head and face and I drape these hot towels like they would do in a barber shop and I wrap it and I just sit there for a while and it just takes it all off and I just wipe it off and leave it and then take those clothes off and leave that CU I wouldn't want to take Walter White home with me I don't know about you he's he's not a guy that I'd like to live with you know and so I live with him during the the daytime and then I leave him there and go become Brian again yeah because I have to I want to you know well we celebrate that we honestly do um those of you that uh those of us that love your work and and love what's happening to for you and your family in terms of this important opportunity thanks man uh honestly thank you uh it almost stops me from forcing you to do a Larry King not quite ah right the Larry King you said you were gonna give me a moment but you ask me another question yeah all right all right right um I gave you the brief uh version beforehand we didn't actually offer up a um one of the viewers versions which we normally do so sorry about that but you're on your own that's your camera when you're ready uh please uh please begin Larry King here Sean it's my birthday when I come home fire up the defibrillator it's goodie time Kia Cook Iowa you're on the phone that's a first K cook I love it no more calls pencils down we have a winner a thank you so much thanks man honestly to uh um please sit there uncomfortably for the next 90 seconds while I wrap things up shall uh in into this uh camera here I want to thank everyone for um all the uh emails and the tweets and the everything's uh uh sharing your support and excitement for this particular show I didn't want to go on about too about it too much earlier there was uh quite the outpouring of uh uh questions and tweet FES we're sorry we didn't get to all of them um and yes you are right this was uh a huge get for us and we are wildly grateful and and aware um we have a crew as I've mentioned a few times on the outside of the studio wall they are numbered in four or five it's growing by the second uh and often I wonder during the show what they've been up to in this case for the last 2 hours 6 minutes and 23 seconds so now uh I will turn uh the camera on out there to see what the hell's been going on oh looks like someone's doing a little cooking perhaps uh wait a second not regular cooking a very specific kind of cooking that's a different cooking altoe wait a second seems a bit Shady so that's my director why would he be one of my producers what wait a minute what are they what are they buying what was being cooked what is it it's a oh turds it's a cookie cookies he's eating a turd oh God good cookies my crew cooked turds no that's not acceptable I understand the idea of my crew eating [ __ ] it happens every week no actually Jamie ker is a fine show every week and it's under appreciated everyone it is under now all I do is get complaints now I won't eat that I eat that I can't that a all right honey therapy will start in a second um all right well thank you uh crew for working so hard on that I I think uh Elaine last night at supper said she might have had a hand in the creation of that particular crew gag so three cheers to her effort on that uh next week as I said Fred Willard the whole list of calendar were booked up on through uh Thanksgiving and um and Beyond so check uh and those of you joining us after the fact check us out live sometime on a Sunday afternoon should you be of mine um we'll see you uh next week with Fred Willard uh and I'm very excited to say uh until then get out of my [Music] face [Music] a [Music]

Channel: kevinpollakschatshow

Views: 79,281

Keywords: breaking bad, bryan cranston, kevin pollak, Malcolm In The Middle (TV Program)

Id: 1ul5HeE784s

Length: 128min 58sec (7738 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 13 2015