During our live video chat with Bryan last week we learned that Bryan was going to be in London, UK filming for his role in John Carter of Mars. As I live in LondonI jumped at the chance for a possible meet-up, to which Bryan agreed!
I meet Bryan for breakfast at the (rather swanky) Soho Hotel, where we both ordered salmon & cream cheese bagels, his treat! He’d just finished his week of filming, which he said was very successful and that he’d be doing some further work on it in the US later in the year. He gave me this personally signed Malcolm Season 7 cap and I got him to sign some posters and Season 1 DVD!
We talked about the community, I explained the history of the site and Malcolm fansites in general. He was amazingly nice (not that I had any doubts!) I’m not sure how serious he was but Bryan talked about pitching a reunion of some sort to Linwood and how such a thing might co-inside with DVD releases, it was great to hear he was so enthusiastic about such an idea. He had the ironic idea of Reese being the only successful family member after Hal looses his job, Malcolm drops out of college and Lois is pregnant again! And that they all move in with Reese.
Did you know Linwood approached Bryan about the final The Bots and The Bees scene with Bryan covered in Bees, and when Bryan agreed, he worked backwards in writing how Hal would end up in that state!
Bryan finished filming Breaking Bad 2 weeks ago and is now taking a well earned break on a motorcycle trip with friends.
I presented Bryan with a ‘thankyou’ card and then he had to leave for his plane home, what an amazing hour! Bryan said that next time he was in the country, he’d be interested in a group meet-up, open to all, we will of course post details on that whenever it may happen – Thank you Bryan!
Last week we had a live video chat with Bryan Cranston, which went amazingly well, many thanks to Bryan for giving us the chance (and 90 minutes of his time) and to all those who joined and asked questions.
I decided to act as host picking questions from the chat, which I think went well, even if I was somewhat nervous (over talking much?) We had a few technical issues and experienced a large delay, which lead to me and Bryan talking over each other at times. Sadly my recording setup didn’t go as planned so I’m afraid to say I don’t have a recording of the whole chat. However many thanks to PeterU who recorded the first 35 minutes (it ends abruptly)
If you where there, please write up any of the Q&As you recall that didn’t get recorded. I plan to do more chats soon (and won’t let the recordings fail)
With major thanks to Richiepiep we have setup a live video chat with Bryan Cranston to celebrate the 10th Anniversary!
Wednesday 3rd February at 3pm PST / 6pm EST / 11pm GMT (UTC) Live on BlogTV.com
The format will be similar to the video chat he did last year for Breaking Bad – Bryan reading the chatroom and picking questions, however I’ll be “hosting” the chat, so if you can’t make the live time and would like a question answered reply, and I’ll try and get Bryan to answer it. You don’t need a BlogTV.com account to join the chatroom and ask questions (but get an account if you want a chance to be on video)
Watch it live below, but go here to join the chat! Hope to see you all there!
18 June 2009 – Its been rare in recent years to see more than two Malcolm cast members together, but the Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences (the organisation behind the Emmys) held a Father’s Day ‘Salute To TV Dads’ event and Frankie Muniz (Malcolm) and Jane Kaczmarek (Lois) went to recognise Bryan Cranston and his portrayal of Hal (and his more recent Walter White in Breaking Bad).
Bryan joined other beloved screen dads Dick Van Patten, Dick Van Dyke, Reginald VelJohnson, Patrick Duffy, Michael Gross, Bill Paxton, Jon Cryer and Stephen Collins. Bryan chatted about his dad, influences and the ‘birds and the bees’ in the above video. Below Frankie (with girlfriend Elycia Marie) talks about growing up with Bryan.
Leave is and independent thriller directed by Robert Celestino and written by Rick Gomez and Frank John Hughes (Band of Brothers), about a novelist and his encounters on a road trip. Bryan plays Elliot whom he describes as the comic relief character.
Its currently in post production and looking at a 2010 release. Bryan said in a recent live Q&A it may be at the Sundance film festival (January 2010).
In other news:8 August 2009 – Bryan emceed the Dennis Hopper honorarium/awards ceremony at the first Albuquerque Film Festival.
You can bid right now on a gift bag with various products including Malcolm and Breaking Bad merchandise put together by Bryan.
Includes: Antonias nuts, Carmex lip products, Coccinelle Clutch. The Cocktail Hours, Dentaburst, Elyse Ryan jewelry, Hairzing, Hands2go hand sanitizer, Hip Heirlooms, Jumpin Jammerz, Lacoste sunglasses, Charlie Lapson products, Madbags, NuSkin products, Robert Graham merchandise, Sculptz tights, Sorme products, S.T. Dupont USB Drive, TC Intimates products, a Malcolm in the Middle hat, a signed Breaking Bad DVD, signed Breaking Bad pilot script signed by cast, and a Malcolm in the Middle signed script.
At time of posting the highest bid is $225. Bidding ends 13 October 2009.
Red Tails is a long-awaited George Lucas-produced drama about the Tuskegee Airmen, a WWII airborne unit comprised of African-American pilots. Bryan plays Major William Mortamus a racist officer in the U.S. Army of the 1940s.
“I play the bad guy,” says Cranston. “I’m a colonel, racist, bigoted, who does not want to give the Tuskegee Airmen an opportunity to show what they can do. What I tried to do [as an actor] is to convey the sense that I didn’t hate these people – I’m trying to protect them from embarrassing themselves and the United States Army because [in the character’s mind] they’re just not capable. ‘I wouldn’t allow a dog to be in a tank and ruin the tank or kill the dog, either. And you’re sending up these ‘boys’ in these intricate machines, and it’s not going to end good, and shame on us for allowing that to happen.’ And that’s the point of view, which I think is scarier [than outright hatred], actually, that he just completely believes in that.”
In comparing the character of Walt (Breaking Bad) to Major Martamus, Cranston says they’re very different…
“There’s no real comparison,” he says. “I try to make it feel like you’re completely a different being. You’re a human being, but you have a different set of characteristics and circumstances and upbringing and influences and education and all that stuff. So it’s almost like shedding skin, like a snake, and then you put on new wardrobe or new facial hair or not and it changes the way you feel. And wardrobe helps a lot. So you can design from the outside in and at the same time, go from the inside out. It’s really cool.”
It finished filming in Prague several months ago and is currently in post production,IMDB have it as a 2009 release but I believe this to be incorrect and we are not likely to see it until sometime next year.
‘BREAKING BAD’s’ BRYAN CRANSTON TALKS LUCASFILM’S ‘RED TAILS’
by Abbie Bernstein – 30 July 2009 – iFMagazine.com
iF: Do you fly a plane at any point in this?
CRANSTON: No. No flying at all. I’m at desks the entire time.
iF: What’s going on with RED TAILS right now?
CRANSTON: RED TAILS is in post-production. We finished shooting in Prague and I had a great time and I really became a fan of [RED TAILS star] Terrence Howard as a person. I was already a fan of him as an actor, but now also as a person – he’s a gentleman and created an environment that we were able to have some fun in and do our jobs well. There are a lot of [effects] ILM is going to do, that George Lucas’ organization is going to take care of.
iF: Is there anything different about working at Lucasfilm than working for other production companies?
CRANSTON: I didn’t notice anything different. It’s filmmaking. They have a budget they have to stay within and our job is to convey truthfulness. [The RED TAILS director is] Anthony Hemingway, a young man who is a great director and directed, I believe, mostly in television up until now. He had a tremendous passion for this, Lucas believed in him and gave him a shot. I enjoyed his work.
iF: How did you come to be involved in RED TAILS?
CRANSTON: I can honestly say that it was something that I wanted to do. I certainly didn’t have to do it. It wasn’t a large role, but it was an important role. I always want to be a part of something that’s important, and the telling of this story of the Tuskegee Airmen is American history is important. Whether we’re proud of it or not [in terms of showing the racism of the period] doesn’t matter. It’s important to tell this history and I got to play the character that represented the roadblock to their lives. There’s a lot of greatness to America and there’s a lot that we need to apologize for and I think that’s what’s happened. I feel totally against [the belief] that America can do no wrong. That’s not true. Just like a human being, we [as a country] are fully capable of doing wrong, but when we do wrong, own up to it, admit it, be responsible for it, pay the price of it, move on and learn from it.
1 August 2009 – The Television Critics Awards (TCA) Awards honour television excellence, so of course Bryan won this year for Individual Achievement in Drama for Breaking Bad!
The TCA Awards are one of the few where you know you’ve won before hand, so the Breaking Bad cast went along with him (to The Langham Resort, Pasadena, CA) to help celebrate. He beat out Glenn Close (Damages), Walton Goggins (The Shield), Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Hugh Laurie (House). Breaking Bad itself was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Drama but didn’t win.
Malcolm in the Middle’s dad has a new vocation.
by Howard Halle – March 2009 – timeout.com
This is our Secret Lives of New Yorkers issue. Do you have any New York secrets?
I used to live on the Upper West Side in the early 1980s, and I remember going up on my roof, taking gourds and a watermelon, and tossing them into the street.
The old Dave Letterman trick! Why did you do that?
I don’t know. There must have been some kind of alcohol involved.
I have a secret. I have a man-crush on Walt White. He’s my iChat icon.
Well…Howard…
I know, it’s weird, right?
No, no, I get it…
It has something to do with your evident comfort wearing nothing but tighty-whiteys on every TV show you’ve ever starred in.
And less than that, if you watch episode three this season.
What is up with that?
I don’t know why, but this is the second series that I’ve been asked to do that. For Malcolm in the Middle, I chose the tighty-whitey underwear for that character because I felt he was still a boy. For Breaking Bad, it was written into the pilot script that he’s in tighty-whiteys, driving an RV with a respirator on, and two dead guys sliding around in the back. That’s what got me to take the part.
So now you’re the go-to guy for that sort of thing.
I once had an acting teacher who used to say, “You have to be willing to be naked in front of people.” I thought he meant literally, so I just started taking my clothes off. [Laughs] I’m joking, of course.
At least you didn’t do that on the Emmys. By the way, congratulations on winning for this show. It must have made up for all of those times you lost out to Brad Garrett.
Brad sent a truly lovely note to me afterwards, and it really meant a lot to me, because he knew that he beat me out year after year.
Did that ever bother you?
People ask me that. But if it’s not Brad Garrett, then it’s Sean Hayes. If it’s not Sean Hayes, then it ’s David Hyde Pierce. How can I really be upset about that? Now, if I’d lost to Carrot Top I’d probably go, Man, that sucks!
And now, you’re beating out Jon Hamm! Plus, it looks like you’ve learned how to cook meth. That could come in handy.
We had a DEA guy come on set, and he showed me. Obviously, when our characters are making the drug, we do it in a montage format, so it doesn’t become a how-to video. We don’t want to aid and abet.
But in a pinch you could whip up a batch.
Yeah, I could, and do a little side business.
It wouldn’t be your first sideline. I read that you were an ordained minister in college.
In the Universal Life Church. I performed weddings.
Really?
I did about a dozen. I did one for a couple on a plane. I did one dressed as Elvis. I did one once in a bunny suit. The minimum wage back in 1974 was, like, $1.75. I was getting $150 per wedding, so I thought, Absolutely, sign me up!
Sounds like a good way to make money for anyone getting laid off.
There you go! Either that or professionally throwing gourds off of buildings, if there was ever a need.
Bryan talks gaining and loosing weight with John Stahl from examiner.com…
Cranston additionally talked about how the role affected his weight; he stated that he brought his weight up to 186 pounds as one aspect of portraying the fact that White had determined at some point in the past 25 years that he did not care very much about his appearance. When asked if he ate anything special to gain the weight, Cranston responded with his infectious enthusiasm “I ate everything I saw; I had seconds of everything; I said no to nothing.”
When asked if he had lost weight because White had begun chemotherapy during the first season and would be continuing it in the second, Cranston stated that he began dieting during the first season. Cranston told me that he cut out carbohydrates, saying “for a man, it’s the easiest thing to remember.” He said too that he otherwise ate everything that he wanted but did so as several small meals throughout the day.
Cranston also provided me his recipe for the breakfast treat that became known as “the Cranston” on the “Breaking Bad” set. He said that it consisted of scrambled egg whites, grilled vegetables and grilled turkey, feta cheese and a choice of red or green chilis. He shared too that he has lost 16 pounds over the course of filming the show. Cranston then stated that chilis were a staple of people’s diet in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where all of “Breaking Bad” was filmed.
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