Meth in the Middle: Bryan Cranston, Dad to 'Bad'

BRYAN CRANSTON IS tired of laughing.

To be fair, really, he's tired of the easy laugh.

Cranston is perhaps most recognized as the hairy father in the harried situation comedy "Malcolm in the Middle." But on AMC's new knockout series "Breaking Bad," he's all but unrecognizable in the role of a harried father in a hairy situation.

On the show, which airs Sundays at 10 p.m., Walt White (Cranston) lives a mostly beige existence. He's just shy of 50, has a loving, if impatient, wife and a works in a New Mexico high school science department. An everyman if ever there was one, his life is thrown into tumult when he is suddenly diagnosed with lung cancer and the medical bills for treating his son's cerebral palsy continue to mount.

What to do?

Why, return to the lab, of course. The meth lab, that is.

"What initially captured my attention is that this show really shouldn't work," Cranston told Express. "But Walt is a relatively sympathetic character, and people don't have to agree with his choices. They can have the moral dilemma while they watch, which can heighten the drama."

"Breaking Bad" marks a serious departure for an actor known for his breezy comic flights and slapsticky characterizations. You might remember him on "Seinfeld," playing Tim Watley, the dentist who converts to Judaism so that he can inject his patients with borscht belt humor between root canals.

"Actors are looking for diversity," he said. "If something comes by that's really interesting, credible and compelling, you jump at it. 'Breaking Bad' is a fragile, delicate story that's still comic, but also tragic."

Cranston's performance has garnered much acclaim from critics, and viewers have been tuning in to AMC in droves to witness his searing portrait of an ordinary man in extraordinary times, going to desperate lengths.

"Breaking Bad" comes just a few short years after Showtime's similarly themed "Weeds." In that show, a single mother (portrayed by the vulpine Mary Louise Parker) is forced to deal pot so that she can maintain her chic lifestyle. Walt White, by contrast, is thrust into his new line of work by necessity, to ensure the survival of his family.

"He's really just a guy," said Cranston. "There's nothing heroic about him, He's a good man who's made a bad decision, he lives a life of regret and we're watching it happen to him."

The transition to dark comedy was a natural progression for an actor who cut his teeth in soap operas, and worked regularly in television in a number of successful comedic roles. In his small but critical role as an elusive motivational speaker in last year's sleeper hit, "Little Miss Sunshine," moviegoers got a glimpse of the bitter that comes with the sweet in comedy. For Cranston, it's all about the writing.

"I was finished with 'Malcolm,' and was looking for another project that I could really connect with," he said. "I had this stack of TV pilot scripts. As an actor, you'll find that there's only one or two of every 10 that's really very good.

"And after seven years playing a goofy dad, this was a different, exciting script. I think this is what storytelling is all about. It poses questions. And in the case of this show, imagine being put in a situation like Walt's. You ask yourself, 'What would anyone else do?'"

Written by Express contributor Christopher Correa

BONUS: ALL ABOUT THE KIDZ

A common theme in Bryan Cranston's body of work has been stories that center on family. In addition to his work on the big and the small screen, Cranston has developed an instructional DVD called "KidSmartz," which is designed to educate families on how to avoid child abduction and Internet predators.

"This is something I'm very passionate about, as well," he said. "Every parent wants to avoid the subject, but it's a necessary one that has to be addressed. There is a scourge of danger out there and online, and 'KidSmartz' is helping to make parents aware of that."

Last Saturday, Cranston was a featured guest at the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation's fourth annual gala in Baltimore. The foundation gives disadvantaged youth opportunities to succeed and provides them the means to do so.

"My work with 'KidSmartz' is in association with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and we teamed up with Cal's foundation as a joint effort this year. We're benefiting the Boys and Girls Club and granting opportunities to children, and I'm very proud to be a part of it."

—C.C.