14 Bryan Cranston Facts You Probably Don’t Know


Bryan Cranston has successfully made the leap from television to movies. In fact, he has been so successful that he has garnered himself an Oscar nomination for his performance in Trumbo.

However, Bryan Cranston is an intriguing person and there are facts about him that might surprise even the most devoted fan.

1. Mental Floss reports that although Bryan Cranston is an Oscar-nominated actor, he was once a simple carny. When on a road trip with his brother when he was young, the two ran out of money and went to work operating game booths for carnivals.

“We never stayed long enough to work up to, like, a ride operator – because you’d make more money – because we’d want to move on.”

2. In his early days as an actor, Bryan Cranston did a lot of commercials.

3. Bryan Cranston did voice-over work in his early days, including for the company Saban Entertainment, which was the company that produced the show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The company decided to honor Cranston by giving the Blue Ranger his name. The Blue Ranger was called Billy Cranston. Cranston later joked about it.

“He’s the fey one. That’s the problem.”

4. In need of a gift for his wife in the late 1990s, Bryan Cranston wrote a screenplay for her. Then she asked when they would make it into a movie, which is something he hadn’t seriously considering doing. It eventually became the 1999 film, Last Chance.

5. Bryan Cranston is not only inventive with his gifts, he is a re-gifter. Much like his character Tim Whatley on Seinfeld, he enjoys re-gifting and said as much when a fan asked him about it on his website.

“Being of frugal Scotch-Irish descent, I’m proud to say that I re-gift all the time.”

6. Life Buzz reports that on the last day of shooting season 5 of Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston got a Breaking Bad tattoo on his finger.

“Every once in a while I catch a glimpse of it and I see that logo from Breaking Bad and it makes me smile.”

7. After filming the Breaking Bad scene in which his character, Walter White, allowed Jesse’s girlfriend, Jane Margolis, to die, Bryan Cranston cried for 15 minutes.

8. Bryan Cranston had a scene in Breaking Bad in which Walt threw a pizza onto the roof of his house. He made the throw in one take!

9. OMG Facts reveals that Bryan Cranston’s role of Walter White in Breaking Bad was originally offered to both John Cusack and Matthew Broderick. It’s a good thing it went to Cranston because no one could have done it better.

10. Boomsbeat reports that Bryan Cranston revealed his portrayal of Walter White was based on the slumped posture of his father.

“[It was] like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.”

11. Bryan Cranston’s most favorite episode of Malcolm in the Middle was the first season episode “Malcolm in the Middle: Rollerskate,” for which he had to spend six hours learning how to roller skate.

12. Bryan Cranston appeared in the episode of The X-Files called “Drive,” in which he played Patrick Crump.

13. AMC was initially hesitant to cast Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad because of his background in comedy, particularly in Malcolm in the Middle. However, once they saw his performance in The X-Files, they knew he was perfect for the part.

14. TV Over Mind reveals that for his role in Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston was shown how to actually make meth by DEA agents. However, even though he learned the process, Cranston never actually made a batch of meth.

[Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images]

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