Comic-Con 2012: 'Total Recall's' Bryan Cranston Says His 'Drive' Director Should Helm 'Breaking Bad'

6:23 PM PDT 7/14/2012 by Todd Gilchrist

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After Nicolas Winding Refn gave him the latitude to "re-craft lines and add lines" to the stylish crime thriller, Cranston branded the young filmmaker "one of the most courageous directors I've seen."

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

In past seasons of Breaking Bad, big-screen helmers like Rian Johnson (The Brothers Bloom) and David Slade (30 Days of Night) have pitched in and directed episodes of the acclaimed series. But as star Bryan Cranston continues to enjoy opportunities to play other roles as a result of his success with the show, he says that he would consider some of his feature directors for future episodes – in particular, Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn.

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“He’d be great, yeah,” Cranston said Saturday during a roundtable interview in San Diego. He’d be terrific. He’s one of the most courageous directors I’ve seen.”

Cranston starred opposite fellow rising star Ryan Gosling in Drive, playing a feckless mechanic and businessman who gets his friend in trouble with the mob. The actor says that Refn wooed him to take the role in a remarkably unusual way.

“He said, ‘I want you to do my movie’,” Cranston remembers. “I said, ‘Well, that’s very flattering. [But] there are some problems’.”

“Well, then, don’t do it,” he says Refn told him. “‘If you don’t want to say something, don’t say anything. If want to say something, say it. Say whatever you want, and do whatever you want.’ I was like, ‘Do you really mean that?’ And he was like, ‘yes’.”

Cranston explained that the filmmaker has an extremely collaborative process which enable him and his fellow cast members to get involved from the ground up. “He brought us all together, we rehearsed it, we all just kind of re-crafted lines and added lines and we were all integrally involved -- so that by the time we stepped on the set for the first day, we were all invested.

“It was kind of like theatre – you’re showing up in a relaxed place, kick your shoes off, order some food, and it was great.”

Cranston’s next film project is Total Recall, which opens nationwide August 2, 2012.

Email: mtgilchrist@yahoo.com; Twitter: @mtgilchrist