Smallscreen News

Bryan Cranston on 'Malcolm in the Middle,' 'Breaking Bad' and Meaning of Underwear

By April MacIntyre Oct 31, 2011, 14:48 GMT

Aaron Paul, Vince Gilligan and Bryan Cranston - AMC\'s "Breaking Bad" RV Tour Ends in Times Square - Times Square, Military Plaza - New York City, NY, USA © Jakes Van Der Watt / PR Photos

Bryan Cranston Talks to IFC.com about 'Malcolm in the Middle,' 'Breaking Bad' and the Meaning of Underwear
               
While Bryan Cranston is best known for his three time Emmy Award-winning portrayal of chemistry teacher-turned-meth- maker Walter White on AMC's hit series 'Breaking Bad,' his rise to the ranks of super stardom started with his turn as the affable dad Hal on the hit comedy Malcolm in The Middle which can now be seen on IFC weeknights starting at 6pm ET/PT.

http://www.ifc.com/blogs/ifc-now/2011/10/bryan-cranston-talks-malcolm-in-the-middle-breaking-bad-underwear.php

On first reading the script of Malcolm in the Middle:

"When I read the pilot episode it was really all about Lois, the mom, and Malcolm, the son. So the show was really from Malcolm's perspective and about the dynamo that Lois was. My character had four, maybe five, lines and I didn't get a sense of him at all or where he was and I didn't know what to do with it."

On if he did all the skating in Malcolm in the Middle:

"I did most of it. There were just two parts that I didn't do, which is when I left my feet. There was a cartwheel and a handstand, which I did not do, but everything else I did. It was fun we had a week and a half to learn the routine and start skating."

On both Hal and Walter White wearing tighty whitey underwear:

"When I saw that in the script in Breaking Bad, I brought it to Vince Gilligan and pointed out that I wore it for seven years on Malcolm and he said, "Oh forget it go find something else." So I started going through wardrobe and while I was doing that, I realized that when he had Walt in tighty whitey, he did it for a reason.  It meant something and I wanted to get to that root of that. I chose tighty whitey's on Malcolm because. A grown man in tighty whiteys, wearing them is funny. Hal wore them because he always wore them and it never occurred to him to wear anything else. He's still a boy. Walter White wore them because he stopped growing."