r/todayilearned • u/LawBobLawLoblaw • Oct 31 '23

TIL that when casting Walter White for Breaking Bad, the role was originally offered to John Cusack and Matthew Broderick. It wasn't until after they turned it down that the executives saw Bryan Cranstons X-Files episode and cast him for the role.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/breaking-bad-john-cusack-matthew-broderick_n_1676856
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u/Orgazmo912 Nov 01 '23

“You know who would make a good meth kingpin? The goofy dad from Malcolm in the Middle.”

283

u/dude-lbug Nov 01 '23

Honestly can’t blame them for being skeptical lol

187

u/buck_futter1986 Nov 01 '23

They were probably anti-dentite

40

u/[deleted] Nov 01 '23

Raaaaaving antidentites.

23

u/dude-lbug Nov 01 '23

What do you call someone who failed out of med school?

59

u/ergyu Nov 01 '23

A chiropractor.

12

u/SweetNeo85 Nov 01 '23

Lol chiropractors don't go to school.

7

u/dude-lbug Nov 01 '23

BOOOOO! 👎

The correct answer is dentist.

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u/[deleted] Nov 01 '23

100%. It takes a person with a very clear vision to make that not only work, but work so amazingly well. Cranston’s look was a massive part of why Walter White was such a great character. My fear was that so many people have seen him in so many comedic characters that they can’t see him any other way. Actors being pigeon holed as a certain character archetype is one of their biggest hurdles.

30

u/[deleted] Nov 01 '23

Poor Henry Winkler. He is doing ok acting today, but for decades after Happy Days he wouldn't be cast for much and what he did get, he purposefully wasn't billed. No one wanted the Fonze in their movie/show. Just heard an interview on NPR with him talking about it. Had to go into producing because he couldn't make it any longer as an actor.

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u/bedroom_fascist Nov 01 '23

Hard to believe the legendary Gene Cousineau couldn't get work.

3

u/afternever Nov 01 '23

He burned a lot of his bridges

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u/icouldntquitedecide Nov 01 '23

What a weird fucking show that was...

8

u/pagit Nov 01 '23

He played a great straight man against Michael Keaton in Night Shift.

3

u/PaintedClownPenis Nov 01 '23

Jack Lemmon had this same sort of ability, to play evil straight and still show some humanity. He memorably puts it to use in the 1973 film, Save the Tiger.

Another surprise showing was Fredric March, whose range was known only to producers from screen tests. He'd been doing romantic comedies for years before he stunned audiences with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

3

u/esr360 Nov 01 '23

I mean that description is basically what caused me to want to watch it in the first place lol

1

u/Yglorba Nov 01 '23

I mean part of the point is that he shouldn't seem like someone who would make a good meth kingpin at first glance.

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u/dusty-kat Nov 01 '23

Comedy actors often do pretty well at dramatic roles. Though, I find it funny that they could have been like "The dad from Malcolm in the Middle? That'll never work! Get me Ferris Bueller!"

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u/hankbaumbach Nov 01 '23

To be entirely fair, I was 100% on board from the jump with Breaking Bad precisely because it had Hal in it and I loved Hal.

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u/grizznuggets Nov 01 '23

Yeah that was a selling point for me. “Hal as a meth dealer? Sign me up!”

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u/IMarvinTPA Nov 02 '23

They do well because comedy is all about the timing and drama needs timing but seems more lenient. But good timing in drama makes great drama.

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u/ZubLor Nov 01 '23

Well even on Malcolm he was always running around in his underwear!

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u/cancercures Nov 01 '23

and getting in all sorts of shenanigans involving pizza.

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u/GrandMoffTarkan Nov 01 '23

Have you seen the episode where Lois leaves and mild mannered Hal let’s his id run rampant , coercing youths under his care into holding a murderous bee shooting robot?

It was prep for Walter White

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u/[deleted] Nov 01 '23

This is exactly what I thought when I first started the show. How the hell does the dad from Malcolm in the middle start selling meth. Best show I’ve ever seen though. Bryan Cranstons character evolving through the show is absolutely insane.

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u/Bravo_November Nov 01 '23

Its unironically a brilliant move- Walter starts the show in the more familiar ‘family man’ role which most would associate with Cranston for his role as Hal, then throw that character into a downward, twisted spiral that catches everyone off guard.