Bryan Cranston Explains Why He Turned Down 'Goofy Dad' Roles after "Malcolm" Wrapped

[JamesG]

Bryan Cranston on Turning Down 'Goofy Dad' Roles (VIDEO)
by Alex Moaba
posted Oct 6th 2011


On "Today", Matt Lauer had Bryan Cranston on to talk about his current hit show "Breaking Bad".

Lauer also spoke to Cranston about his "Malcolm in the Middle" days and he explained that he turned down 'goofy dad' roles to avoid being type-cast.





When you finished doing "Malcolm in the Middle", from what I understand you were offered similar roles following that.

Goofy dads.



It's hard because actors want to work and support their families. How hard was it to turn those down?

Well I don't really care about my family that much so I was willing to take the risk.

It was very easy to turn down actually because the industry has a tendency to want to pigeon-hole an actor, 'oh, he does drama', 'oh, he does comedy'. I don't want to help them do that so as soon as I'm done with something I want to veer off and do something else.

http://www.aoltv.com/2011/10/06/bryan-cranston-walter-white-breaking-bad-video/

[Brad]

Looks like that decision worked out quite well for him!

[KurtfromPitts]

Who can blame him?

[ThomasE]

Good for him. People in the industry can be so ignorant. :rolleyes:

[boniface605]

Seems like Breaking Bad has given him the opportunity to morph from the "goofy dad" type role and move in another direction. Keep him from being type cast and all that.

[Yong Fang]

Frankly, I disliked Malcolm in the Middle, especially that homely, loud, screaming, harridon of a mother. The kids were little jerks too, with Cranston's character being a typical stupid nit-wit TV father.

I love Breaking Bad and almost did not give it a chance because it had Brian Cranston in it. But everyone said it was so good, and it is. Cranston looks nothing like his previous roles bald.

I saw that interview above and stated the reason he did not want another sitcom was to play a far different roles and that's what he did.

[Janice]

It's hard because actors want to work and support their families. How hard was it to turn those down?

Well I don't really care about my family that much so I was willing to take the risk.
:lol: Good one. Nice to see that he's got such a good sense of humor. I never watched Malcom, but I am hooked on Breaking Bad.

[boniface605]

At the start of Breaking Bad, I was concerned that it would be the "goofy dad" type cooking. But I was glad to see that he was able to take the character in a different direction.

[Schmoopie]

Sounds like what David Hyde Pierce does. He's said repeatedly that he tries not to take roles that are too much like Niles Crane and I respect that. It really shows his range as an actor when he takes on different characters. I can see where Bryan Cranston would want to do something completely different. I never watched "Malcom" much but I think Cranston is amazing as Walt in "Breaking Bad"!