Bryan Cranston’s career soared high after he starred in Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad series. The actor admitted it was a risky business trying to get the project off the ground, while the creator said it was a show that was not made for everyone.
Despite all initial doubts and rejections, Breaking Bad became one of the most successful series of all time, even breaking viewership records after Netflix added the first three seasons to its library.
Bryan Cranston Likened His Role In Breaking Bad To Friends
Bryan Cranston spoke with Yahoo Entertainment during the 10th anniversary of the Breaking Bad series. He shared the show’s humble beginnings but also took pride in Vince Gilligan’s attempt to do something that was never done by any show before. He stated:
“When we first started this, it was very risky, because what Vince Gilligan was attempting to do had never been done on television: actually change a character over the course of the series.”
Cranston even likened his character’s narrative to characters from other series, such as Friends. He added:
“To this point, it had always been about things that could be depended on, whether that’s Thomas Magnum or Archie Bunker, or Ross and Rachel. We would watch because we liked those characters. ‘Oh, here’s a new situation, but we know how Ross and Rachel are going to feel about this.’ And it was all them navigating their way through their lives, but they never really changed.”
When Gilligan shared the idea with him, he was game to try anything despite not knowing if it would work or not. Cranston further shared:
“When Vince told me what he wanted to do, I thought, ‘This has never been done.’ He goes, ‘I know, I don’t even know if they’re going to let us do it, but I’d like to try.’ ‘Well, OK.’ And so, when we started 11 years ago shooting the show, we didn’t know anything was going to work.”
Cranston knew they had a good script at hand, and everyone, from the actors down to the crew, knew the story would be really special. Still, Cranston believed that just having faith was not a fool-proof formula for a show to become successful. It needed to find an audience that would stick to it in the long run.
Bryan Cranston Made A List Of Pros And Cons Like Ross From Friends
In line with Bryan Cranston mentioning Ross and Rachel from Friends, the actor revealed during his interview via IMDb’s That Scene with Dan Patrick that he made a list of pros and cons for a specific scene.
This somehow parallels that time from Friends where Ross wrote a list of Rachel’s pros and cons. Cranston said of the scene in Breaking Bad:
“Well, I wrote down, I literally got a legal pad out and wrote down on one column, save her, let her die, and the reasons why I would want to save her and the reasons why I should let her die.”
Indeed, Cranston was able to distinguish some similarities, as well as differences, between the two famous shows and even the characters.
