Bryan Cranston: ‘Interesting actors come from challenging backgrounds’ | Life and style
I had a dichotomous childhood. The first eight years felt very normal. I had a mother, a father, a brother and a sister. Then things started to disintegrate. My father left home and my mother started drinking. It fractured and dissolved, and I became an introverted kid, always wondering when the next rug would be pulled from under me.
The richer the life you’ve had, the more you have to draw on when creating a character. The more interesting actors come from challenging childhoods. It’s like prize-fighters: you don’t see them coming from great households, they’ve had to fight their way out. If you have supportive parents you might not have that extra ingredient.
My grandfather died when I was 13. I’d been living with my grandparents for a year. At his wake I saw people laughing and I was deeply offended, because I thought they were being disrespectful and didn’t love him. I wasn’t mature enough to realise people grieve in different ways.
After school I took a long motorcycle trip across the US. I grew up a lot. I saw what my responsibilities could be, what was open to me as far as my future was concerned, what life is about. I allowed myself to get completely lost: figuring out each day where I was going to stay, what I was going to eat and what I was going to do in unfamiliar territory gave me confidence.
Baseball has been the one constant in my life. It was there when things were good and bad. It’s my escape mechanism. I don’t drink much, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs, I don’t cheat.
Loading trucks was like prison. You had to figure out the structure and the hierarchy, so you could defend yourself. The shifts were long and it was so cold that the only exposed part of your body would be your nostrils. But it paid well, which meant I could spend more time acting.
Walter White [in Breaking Bad] has to be my favourite part. Not only because the character had such gravitas and range, but because of what a profound impact it had on my life. I don’t kid myself. I know it’s thanks to my television notoriety that I can play the lead on stage in New York.
I was very disheartened to see Donald Trump become president, and I’m discouraged by his behaviour. But I don’t care to be right. I don’t want to say: “I told you so.†I want him to be successful, because if he does well then the country has done well.
Often I don’t know what my salary is. Having grown up without much I have a tremendous respect for money, but no great thirst for it, and I’d never make an artistic decision based on it. Money ebbs and flows: sometimes you’re flush, sometimes you’re empty.
I’m not a food person. I can’t cook. When it’s my turn, I make a reservation. But I can load a dishwasher better than anyone.
Bryan Cranston’s new film, Wakefield, is on digital release on 28 July and DVD on 31 July
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