Breaking Bad Barrel 2011
Ben Leuner/AMCStars from the Emmy Award-winning AMC series Breaking Bad came out to the Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood on June 28, for the highly anticipated premiere of the fourth season. Breaking Bad will debut on Sunday, July 17 at 10pm ET/PT.
Cranston’s secret is out
Actor Bryan Cranston, who plays the lead role in the series, revealed what initially drew him to the script: “This is an amazing piece of writing, it’s always the writing. Every good work comes out of great writing and this man here, Vince Gilligan, wrote a beautiful haunting pilot that I started to read, fully intending to read like 10 pages, but after the first page I was zipping through like a hungry lion…” He also let The Hollywood Reporter in on his secret to playing the edgy role of a Chemistry teacher-turned-meth manufacture; “I don’t read the scripts too far in advance. I read each script as they come in, one week before we start shooting. This man is on a journey that he doesn’t even know if he’s going to survive the next hour, let alone the next day or week or month, so it doesn’t help me as an actor to know too far down the line. When I get them [the scripts], they’re like opening a present. I can use self-restraint and not get to it right away, you know, patience.” Channeling another famed drug dealer, Cranston did one heck of an impeccable Tony Montana impression on the red carpet.
Agent Cranston’s Undercover for Affleck’s Argo
To prepare for his role in Ben Affleck’s upcoming film Argo, Cranston wryly says, “I will infiltrate the CIA, pretend I work there…” More candidly, “I’m actually going to do a lot of research for that. I want to get into the heads of those people. I hope to be able to get to a lot of these people (CIA, FBI) and just absorb them, just get a sense of them and create my own character out of that.” What drew him to the role? “The script is terrific. It’s a true story, there’s always that excitement and responsibility when it comes to playing people who really did something of value historically and Argo tells a tale of American history that many people don’t remember or weren’t born at the time and we will retell the story and truthfully and I think that it will be exciting and rewarding for them, because it’s something to be proud of.”
Where in The World is ‘Hank Schrader?’
Breaking Bad’s DEA agent, played by Dean Norris, gets very close to finding out about the crime happening right under his nose, throughout the fourth season. Norris will be adding more crime to his resume. “Right now I’m hosting a History channel documentary called The Stoned Ages, where we look at the history of drug use. In fact I’m leaving tomorrow—we go to Greece, Honduras, London, … it’s a phenomenal, funny, poignant documentary about the place of drugs in our lives,” he says.
Aaron Paul Takes His Work Home
Actor Aaron Paul who plays Cranston’s meth-making partner admits that he is a “meth” addict on and off set. “It’s addicting! I actually have some in my car and that’s no joke, I really do. I make sure everyone tries it, like those new to the show.” The meth used on set is actually cotton candy flavored rock candy. “The first taste is free,” Paul jokes.
Giancarlo Esposito On the Softer Side of Tyler Perry
Giancarlo Esposito, talks about the meditation he needs to do to play the role of Gus Fring, a calculative and scheming meth distributor. Esposito will also play a crime boss in I, Alex Cross. “I’m so excited. I love James Patterson and these novels are truly classic. This piece is a very challenging one but a very beautiful story.” Touching on his co-star in the film, “It’s a new beginning for Tyler Perry.” More known for his comedic performances, “It’s different for him but I know what his dreams and aspirations are…he really wants to be a serious actor, so at some point in his life he has to get off the tire and do it. And he has a challenge because it’s not only a challenge for a perception of how we see him, it’s a challenge for him to see if he has the chops.” Esposito adds, “There are probably some habits he has to break to relax and to be real. Does he have it in him? I believe he does.”
