The Breaking Bad Scene That Completely Broke Bryan Cranston
It's been over a decade since Breaking Bad concluded, yet the TV show remains just as influential.
The series catapulted the careers of Aaron Paul and Bob Odenkirk while inspiring a movie spin-off (El Camino) and causing multiple TV shows to more or less copy its blueprint for success.
Breaking Bad means different things to different people. In the past, fans have the luxury of hearing cast members reflect on their experiences being on the show.
Bryan Cranston has provided his fair share of amusing anecdotes. However, a personal moment he recently shared with Kelly Clarkson may exist among his most heartfelt.
Cranston, when asked about his new show Your Honor, had much to say about portraying a father who has lost a child. Cranston portrays an honorable judge in the show who makes a fatal decision not to report a murder committed by his teenage son.
It's a new challenge for the seasoned actor, who admits he frequently draws inspiration from his time on Breaking Bad.
In fact. Cranston revealed to Kelly Clarkson that there is still one performance from Breaking Bad that brings him to tears. The episode "Phoenix" from season 2 is one of the most notorious from the early seasons of Breaking Bad.
It's full of sorrow as Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) is back hooked on heroin. At the time, he becomes romantically involved with his neighbor, Jane (Krysten Ritter), who is a recovering addict.
The whole season of Breaking Bad largely revolves around Jesse and his struggles with family and addiction. Accordingly, fans find themselves rooting for the character as well as his relationship with Jane because they would like nothing more than to see him succeed.
However, audiences are also aware of the destruction the two characters cause for each other, which contributes to Walter White electing to watch Jane perish from a drug overdose rather than offer assistance.
It's a bleak scene full of sorrow yet the performance ranks among the finest Walter White moments on the show.
Nonetheless, the 66-year-old actor confessed that while preparing for the scene, he replaced the face of the actress (Ritter) with that of his own daughter.
Accordingly, when it was time to prepare for his new role as a heartbroken judge, Cranston knew where to turn for inspiration.
"It choked me," Cranston disclosed as he almost broke down in front of Clarkson while describing the moment on Breaking Bad.
However, Cranston also acknowledged that it's the "emotional risk" every actor must accept as part of the process of becoming vulnerable and expressing emotions like that on the screen.
"You are willing to go into the unknown," Cranston explained.