From Walter White in Breaking Bad and Michael Desiato in Your Honor, Bryan Cranston seems to be pretty keen when it comes to damaged individuals. But while the former is a landmark in television history, Your Honor, which was Cranston’s return to TV after 7 years, had some big shoes to fill, which unfortunately it didn’t end up doing.
However, as opposed to season 1, which became his first-ever rotten show with a score of 58% on the Tomatometer, the sequel served as a notable improvement. For that, we have one cast member to thank, who went toe-to-toe with the 6-time Emmy winner and overcame one major challenge.
Bryan Cranston Deemed His Co-star Terrific for Rising to the Challenge
Considering the events of season 1, which saw Michael Desiato losing everything, including his wife and son, and eventually ending up in jail, in season 2, the character had no reason to live. As a result, they needed a character that was capable of driving the scenes following Desiato’s uncooperativeness.
Then came Rosie Perez into the picture, and even though Brian Cranston was there to aid her at every step as she had no time to prepare after being hired, the BB star stressed it seemed “dramatically unfair because her character has to drive the scenes”.
But despite the challenges, Rosie Perez rose to the occasion and Cranston deemed her terrific, and season 2 as a whole ended up earning a Certified Fresh rating on the Tomatometer.
We needed a character who was formidable, who go who can go toe-to-toe with anyone. When someone suggested her… It seems dramatically unfair because her character has to drive the scenes — my character, who doesn’t even want to live, is not going to be talkative. He’s uncooperative. So it requires that person to grind it out. And she has to keep grinding it out of him. She just came in and did a terrific job.
As for the Breaking Bad star, he was impeccable as usual and even went on to lose 16 pounds for season 2, as Cranston wanted to mirror the actor’s state of mind with his physical appearance.
Bryan Cranston on His Fascination With Damaged Characters
It’s quite evident the actor is quite fascinated with morally troubled characters, like Walter White and Michel Desiato, as Cranston joked “I guess I’m just attracted to damaged characters”. Expanding on it, the Drive star explained that when such a damaged character initially attempts to do the right thing, “or appears to be, at least at first”, it offers the opportunity for the audience to invest in their story.
The case of Walter White is arguably the best example, as fans were initially able to understand his reasonings for delving into the world of drugs. While the character eventually devolved into something darker and let his ego get the best of him, this further challenged audiences’ allegiance to him, which made for some of the best dramas to be put on TV.
With Walter White, once we had them on my side, then Vince Gilligan took them on a ride to challenge that allegiance, saying, ‘Oh, OK, you think you’re in this character’s camp? Well, what if he did this?’ But they are in it. We’ve got them. And that’s the purpose of good storytelling: to keep the audience engaged.
Series creator Vince Gilligan was also initially in the same boat as fans, thanks to Walt’s manipulative tendencies. But after distancing himself from Walt, the creator revealed his sympathy for the character kept decreasing, as he could finally see Walter White for what he was.
Both Breaking Bad and Your Honor are available to stream on Netflix.
