Interview: 'Breaking Bad' star Bryan Cranston
How much monster is there inside Walter White?
Here's the second of my video interviews from when I visited the "Breaking Bad" set a few months ago, this time with star Bryan Cranston. (Previously, I posted my Aaron Paul interview and my review of the new season, which is fantastic.)
Cranston and I had a nice little chat about the ins and outs of Walter White, starting off with me bouncing my interpretation of the character off him and Cranston politely disagreeing. It's a good conversation, but as I said with the Paul interview, my cinematography left something to be desired. (I tried to hire Michael Slovis, but he was outside my budget.) So if the shaky-cam bothers you, by all means just listen while opening a second browser window to look at pictures of dogs using computers.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupBen Kabak
July 15, 2011 at 11:24AM EST Reply to CommentStill would love to see a transcript for those sans sound.
Wigpeeler Indeed, the sound quality makes it hard to catch some phrases without the sound turned way up. The boss keeps walking by...
July 15, 2011 at 11:48AM ESTYeah
July 15, 2011 at 12:03PM EST Reply to CommentYeah.
Mike
July 15, 2011 at 12:46PM EST Reply to CommentI think the discussion between you and Cranston on Walt's evilness is quite interesting, and I think in a way that you are both correct. Yes, it's certainly circumstantial as Cranston says, but at the same time, there are plenty of people who have been diagnosed with cancer and elected not to become murderous meth kingpins, so it's still something that exists within the psyche of Walter White, that doesn't exist within everyone that is placed into a similar situation that he is. Although the way Cranston is saying it it sort of sounds like he's saying that the decision to use his chemical knowledge to make money in a less than legal fashion without intentionally hurting anyone was Walter White, but the Game turns him into 'Heisenberg' because of the inherent nature within the Game and not his own nature, I guess I can also see that argument. The Game certainly has made people do things you wouldn't think they were normally capable of on another show that tended to deal with drugs quite a bit. It's definitely a very interesting discussion.
Jess D
July 15, 2011 at 12:57PM EST Reply to CommentThis was a really fascinating interview. It actually helped me to develop a different appreciation for the arc we've seen Skylar go through. I was always incredibly disappointed in her for ceding the moral high ground because I empathized with the character and wanted her to make the choices I'd like to think I'd make. But hearing Cranston's take on the devolution of Walter, I suddenly have a much better understanding and appreciation of Skylar's similar spiral into "breaking bad" territory.
Thanks, Alan. Can't wait for Sunday night!
Matt B
July 15, 2011 at 1:13PM EST Reply to CommentMaybe try a tripod next time
Matt B
July 15, 2011 at 1:13PM EST Reply to CommentMaybe try a tripod next time.
Miles
July 15, 2011 at 2:13PM EST Reply to CommentGood interview...thanks Alan. I don't 100% agree with Cranston about Walt. Yes, things started gradually for him as each wrong decision let to him making another wrong decision. But I also think there was something in him originally that led him down that path. He would never have needed the money if not for his pride in refusing the help of his old friend. There are hints that his pride had prevented him from continuing with Grey Matter in the first place too.
Several times Walt could have made a decision to stop the meth business, but something in him (pride, greed, desire for power?) kept him going down that path. Many other people (for example, Jesse at times) would have made different decisions than Walt did.
I can't wait to see where Walt and the rest of these great characters head this season.
Michael TRANSCRIPT!!
July 15, 2011 at 2:15PM ESTDan
July 15, 2011 at 3:17PM EST Reply to CommentWalt reminds me a lot of Michael Corleone. Originally started out as a good guy trying to do what's right for his family in "difficult" situations. Getting in over their heads, using their smarts to navigate through the proverbial mind fields, losing their humanity, while becoming increasing more terrifying and able in the criminal behaviour transforming into a top mob boss. In the end Michael loses everything he cares about while ending up being alone.. eventually Walter will face this same fate
clint dorsey Yeah but Michael came from a deeply respected and connected crime family, Walt is a meth peddler and a dead man walking. I can't imagine a scenario with Walt being untouched in the end with his money. In prison or dead has to be it right?
July 15, 2011 at 4:01PM ESTandy frotfelch
July 15, 2011 at 3:47PM EST Reply to CommentIs Alan using the Arnold Schwarzenegger soundboard?
cyclops999
July 15, 2011 at 4:02PM EST Reply to CommentCranston's opinion could stem from having to be INSIDE the head of Walter White to play the part. From Walter's perspective, all those rationalizations about his actions are true. A life imitating art for art's sake kinda thing.
Personally, i think both perspectives are accurate. I do think there was always something dormant within Walt, waiting to be nurtured. And I think Cranston acknowledged that near the end of the interview. But I also think it's possible that without x, y, or z circumstances, Walt may have gone the rest of his life repressing his inner Heisenberg, and living a relatively decent life. So i DO think the circumstances changed him and devolved him, even if it was just by catalyzing something that was previously buried. So I kind of agree with both perspectives. I think Walt definitely has a lot of monster in him. But I also think he's far too complex to be characterized as only a monster. Even now, Walt has not lost ALL his humanity. He still cares for his family and even for Jesse. He still has those emotional attachments in place. So I don't think he's pure monster yet. More like a partial monster. Though I'm sure we're about to see Walt's next stage of devolution.
ZEKE
July 15, 2011 at 5:35PM EST Reply to CommentAgree that the two interpretations of Walt's character are not mutually exclusive, but I lean a little more in the direction of Cranston's viewpoint. I've never considered Walt to be a 'monster' or an innately evil person. He's definitely been trolling in one big murky 'gray area' for a while now, but his early motivations were love for his family and, as was mentioned, pride. His evolution (I won't call it 'devolution' as he seems to be a perfect example of "survival of the fittest" as he learns, adapts, and advances in this new life) is a gradual one based on extreme circumstances and dangerous choices, both physically and morally. In this case, the success he enjoys can be likened to the path of a drug addict in that each subsequent choice is rationalized as necessary until the nice kid from the well-to-do family next door finds himself/herself committing extreme acts (violence, crime, sex) that were unthinkable to this person earlier in life, eventually becoming someone unrecognizable to their family/friends and probably themselves. The show Dexter refers to this 'dark passenger' that may exist in everyone, but circumstances dictate that only a very few ever access or 'activate' it. Not comparing Walter to a serial killer (yet) but circumstances may not have to be as dramatic as Dexter's and in the case of Walter, the combination of love, pride and the desperation of his near-death experience led him down this path in which an otherwise average and decent family man inadvertently recruits this darkness - which otherwise would have remained dormant - for the purpose of his own survival. And the further he goes, the more he is able to rationalize bad - sometimes 'evil' - choices and decisions to ensure his survival or advancement. And even on some of those choices, it's more of a cold, emotionless pragmatism (of a chemist) dictating his actions, rather than 'evil' intention. I think the story is about how all of these factors corrupt a decent, regular guy and eventually shape him into what society would consider to be a 'monster.' I'm rambling... hope that made some sense. These interviews are great, thanks!!
Amrit
July 15, 2011 at 6:12PM EST Reply to CommentThe beauty of this series is that it is about addiction on so many different levels. The people that use the drugs are addicts, but so is Walter! The day he went to Tuccos office and blew it up, when he got back to the car you could see all his repressed rage come out and he was just psyched up. He feels alive being Heisenberg and he does not want to go back to being plain old walter white who take crap from everybody. The one thing that I love about this show (and there are many more) is that there is no happy ending for Walt or Jesse, they are going to either die, be incarcirated or go on the run. There is no happy ending and watching them go further and further and further into hell is so engrossing and awesome and schadenfraud!!!!!!!!!I love it!
Angela
July 15, 2011 at 9:08PM EST Reply to CommentWonderful interview Alan, I'd watch this with a shaky camera any day, over not seeing it at all.
Am I the only one having problems watching these? I reset my cache, reloaded Safari, (did the same for Aaron Paul interview and was then able to view that one) but tried that twice in order to watch this one, and it locked at about 5 minutes into it each time :(
David Radcliff
July 15, 2011 at 10:56PM EST Reply to CommentHi Alan,
Long-time fan of your episode analyses (all the way back to your old "NYPD Blue" site, and wanted to chime in on this discussion about the nature/degree of Walt's evil. I recently did a feature for Script Magazine about the show and was able to interview Vince, Bryan, Aaron and Dean. This is what Vince had to say on the subject of Walt's true nature, taken from my transcript:
DR: Is he Heisenberg or is he Walt? Was he Heisenberg disguised as Walt initially, and now he’s finally shed that thing that wasn’t really him, or is it the other way around? I was wondering what your perspective was on that.
VG: You know, I’m not sure myself, either. But it’s funny, David, that is a question that we ourselves in the writers room discuss all the time. You know, how much of him—we have had that literal, we have literally had that exact conversation, my writers and I, about, “Did this guy turn bad because of this drug business that he foolishly got himself into, or was this darkness always dormant within him?†And I think it was probably—if you put my feet to the fire, I would say that he had these elements always within him.
It’s sort of like—this is gonna sound like a weird analogy—but I always think about an acorn. It’s so tiny and then it starts growing and it winds up, you know, basically overwhelming an entire stretch of earth and suddenly—well, not suddenly—over the years, over time, it’s 100 feet tall. And it started as this tiny little thing you could hold in your hand. Maybe there was some seed of darkness dormant within Walt that this new life he has embarked upon has allowed to take root and grow. And the bigger it gets, the smaller the original part of him gets. The ratio is changing. Darkness versus light, good versus evil.
DR: And that’s the full intention of the acorn, is to become a tree. So in a way, Walt is fulfilling his full potential.
VG: Yeah! But then—well, yeah. You know…if you put it that—if you continue the analogy, you’re right. I mean, the biological imperative of an acorn is to become a tree. But then again, maybe that part of the analogy fails.
cgeye I believe he walked away from Grey Matter -- the startup where his pals got rich -- because he knew it fed the part of himself that craved amorality, either through power or money. That talented a man doesn't step all the way down to high school chemistry teacher unless he's afraid of his ambition.
July 17, 2011 at 11:37PM ESTWith his diagnosis, however, that ambition came roaring back, and with that time pressure he decided his reservations about morality weren't as important. As long as he has his external references to his life as family man -- the home, wife, kids -- he still thinks of himself as normal. Even his model apartment is hollow, but the necessary and sufficient appearance of a home. If he loses Skyler, Walt Jr. and Holly, well, I'd put him in a transport and get him the hell out of New Mexico, or any state with nuclear material. He's already got the bald head... all he needs is the cat.
HCP
July 17, 2011 at 2:37AM EST Reply to CommentI think there is one other aspect to this that has not really been discussed, and it is based upon what BC describes in the interiview - that we are all capable of these kinds of things. Good people do very bad things all the time, and it does not have to involve killing. The corpoate executive who lays off a bunch of workers so that he can get a higher bonus or an auto executive who knowingly puts out a vehicle with defects because the lawsuits would be cheaper, or all of the people involved in the financial crisis. Most of these people can justify their actions, and can rationalize by saying to themselves that they are 'doing it for their families.' The reality is that for most people, ethics twist and bend over time. One reason for this is the idea that 'well I am already this far in, so I might as well continue going." WW is obviously on this slippery slope.
tim
July 17, 2011 at 10:37AM EST Reply to Commentalan you need to invest in a tripod