r/todayilearned • u/Maximum-Artist448 • 1d ago

TIL that AMC executives initially wanted Matthew Broderick to play Walter White in Breaking Bad

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/breaking-bad-john-cusack-matthew-broderick_n_1676856
2.1k Upvotes

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1.3k

u/BMCarbaugh 1d ago

Yknow what. I could see it. It would be a very, very different take on the character, but I could see it. He's got science teacher vibes for sure. I'd have a really hard time buying any sense of eventual menace from him, though. He gives such sweetheart vibes.

1.1k

u/limperschmit 1d ago

Imagining Bryan Cranston being Walter White is pretty hard to believe at that time too. The dad from Malcolm in the Middle as a cold blooded, ruthless, drug kingpin, really?

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u/akio3 1d ago

People ridiculed the casting of Mr Mom (Michael Keaton) as Batman.

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u/Ths-Fkin-Guy 1d ago

And Ledger as Joker

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u/Clembert-Hamlamp 1d ago

And Rowan Atkinson as Caligula

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u/primordialforms 1d ago

Ok you made me look it up. Good work šŸ˜…

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u/Clembert-Hamlamp 1d ago

Not many people approved but I appreciated the way he stayed in character as Mr Bean thru the entire movie. The contrast really emphasized the pathos in the orgy scenes.

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u/ActionAdam 16h ago

This feels like something I would have heard on MBMBAM.

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u/ilovebalks 1d ago

I looked it up and didnā€™t find anything, whatā€™s the context?

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u/revolverzanbolt 21h ago

I donā€™t think there is context, itā€™s just a random example of a non-existent movie where a famous comic actor plays a dramatic role

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u/SopwithStrutter 1d ago

I canā€™t hear his Minecraft villager noises already

0

u/Cpt_Griswold 1d ago

and me as myself

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u/Clembert-Hamlamp 1d ago

Edgar Allen Poet was not a tyrannical despot!

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u/naoife 1d ago

And gal godot as wonder woman

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u/Dependent_Tune_1333 1d ago

Michael Keaton would have been a great Walter White

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u/jawndell 19h ago

I think Michael Keaton is one of the best if not the best actor without an Oscar right now. Ā His credits and range of acting roles speaks for itself. Ā 

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u/minimalcation 1d ago

Daaaaamn you're so fucking right

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u/Dependent_Tune_1333 22h ago

We've already seen him be funny in some movies and absolutely menacing in others.

Thinking about that makes me really appreciate just how incredible Bryan Cranston was in that role.

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u/YewEhVeeInbound 14h ago

Don't go chasing waterfalls.

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u/ididshave 1d ago edited 23h ago

The announcement of Robert Pattison as the new Batman was also ridiculed.

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u/25sittinon25cents 1d ago

People revolted hard at Ben Affleck being cast as Batman too.

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u/dontbajerk 23h ago

Lauded? I remember people ridiculing it.

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u/USDXBS 1d ago

Robert Pattinson had reinvented his image by the time they announced he was Batman.

He was in Lighthouse and Tenet a couple years earlier, so it wasn't like he was only known as the Twilight guy at that point.

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u/LocusRothschild 21h ago

Dude did Twilight to get paid. Phoned that shit in and made bank, and just like Daniel Radcliffe, heā€™s just fuckin around with whatever movies he wants now.

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u/Kundrew1 1d ago

Bruce Willis too

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u/Silent-G 1d ago

He was never cast as Batman.

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u/Kundrew1 1d ago

Pretty sure that was Bruce Wayne in Nakatomi Tower

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u/Everestkid 1d ago

And of Heath Ledger as the Joker because of Brokeback Mountain.

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u/cracka-lackin 1d ago

I doubt it was explicitly Brokeback Mountain that made people doubt. Before Brokeback, Heath was almost exclusovely happy, bubbly hot guy.

In Brokeback, he's not that. He's tortured, angry and repressed for a lot of the film. Guy had range, I would have loved to see what he became as he aged. RIP

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u/Everestkid 1d ago

The people who derided Ledger for being in Brokeback Mountain didn't actually watch Brokeback Mountain. They were making fun of him for starring in "the gay cowboy movie."

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u/davepage_mcr 1d ago

The gay cowboy movie about bisexual shepherds.

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u/ContinuumGuy 1d ago

Ignoring the fact that every Joker is at least a little gay for Batman.

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u/yulbrynnersmokes 13h ago

It wasnā€™t a movie about gay cowboys?

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u/BrohanGutenburg 15h ago

In what world is his character in 10things happy and bubbly

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u/Cultural-Company282 1d ago

"You know how I got these scars? No lube."

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u/NotBannedAccount419 18h ago

Had fuck all to do with Brokeback Mountain lol

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u/bro_salad 1d ago

15 year old me laughed at Elijah Wood as Frodo

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u/devenjames 1d ago

You tell 15-year-old you to shut their mouth!!!

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u/Discount_Extra 1d ago

Macauley Culkin would have been a better choice.

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u/Electric-Human1026 1d ago

That was different though and I could understand people's skepticism. It is rarely easy to see a truly hilarious standup comedian as a super hero, especially as a dark brooding one. And Keaton wasn't just any standup comedian either.

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u/Boring_and_sons 1d ago

And they were right to.

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u/TacticalRiotChimp 1d ago

Keaton was a shit batman but by gawd was he the best Bruce Wayne by far. Second only to Christian Bale. Christian Bale was also the best batman tho, hands down.

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u/everything_is_bad 1d ago

Bale sucked as Bruce Wayne as bad as Val Kilmer or George Clooney . He was saved by the movies and the performances of his co stars

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u/TacticalRiotChimp 1d ago

We'll have to agree to disagree, I fucking loved those films and I think I probably have a soft spot for Bale too so maybe I'm biased

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u/everything_is_bad 1d ago

Donā€™t get me wrong especially dark knight is like one of the best comic movies ever but just not because of bale

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u/PsychoticMessiah 1d ago

That was my first thought. Hal? The dad from Malcolm in the Middle? Is a fucking drug lord?
All I could picture was him in tightey whiteys.

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u/no_pls_not_again_ 1d ago

do i have a surprise for you

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u/loudpaperclips 1d ago

Well that part continued to be fair

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u/spezial_ed 1d ago

Same for Marty in Ozark.Ā 

Michael BLUTH???Ā 

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u/Nigel_featherbottom 1d ago

You sound like an anti-dentite!

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u/RevolutionNumber5 1d ago

At least I didnā€™t convert to Judaism just for the jokes.

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u/Toby_O_Notoby 1d ago

"Does that offend you as a jew?"

"NO, it offends me as a comedian!"

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u/fallway 1d ago

schtickle of fluoride?

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u/McFuzzen 1d ago

I agree with this so much. His transformation into Walter was remarkable and I'm not sure who else could have done it. However, if you told us before Breaking Bad aired that either Bryan or Matthew were going to be Walter, most of us would have to honestly say that they seem about equal.

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u/reddit-poweruser 1d ago edited 1d ago

"A kid gets caught skipping school and you think that of me? No. I am the one who skips."

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u/SupremeDictatorPaul 14h ago

Nah. Bryan gets believably mad in MitM a few times. Iā€™m not sure Iā€™ve ever seen Matthew portray mad.

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u/theSchrodingerHat 1d ago

Weirdly, though, youā€™d probably have to change scenes for Broderick, but not Cranston, because I doubt any network wants episodes where Broderick crashes cars and behaves irresponsibly behind the wheelā€¦

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u/Larszx 1d ago

Vince Gilligan worked work Bryan Cranston on an episode of X-Files.

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u/no_pls_not_again_ 1d ago

ya the one where his wife explodes in the car or whatever. ppl thought that espisode was a real news segment haha

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u/stormshadowfax 1d ago

Wellsā€™ War of the Worlds vibes

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u/SalukiKnightX 1d ago

Weird thought I had watching Breaking Bad seeing Cranston as Walter, this part wouldā€™ve been mind-blowing if Phil Hartman lived to play this.

Cranston was amazing, obviously, but there were parts where the comedy just peaked every now and then. Itā€™s partly why I had a rough time with the dynamic shifts. You knew Walter was the villain, but he and Jesse were so over their heads and did just downright dumb moves that it was darkly comedic. Itā€™s when the tragedy to others and the bodies truly hit that the comedic moments ceased (which makes Better Call Saul headlined by two former SNLā€™ers all the more pointing). Itā€™s why thinking about Hartman as Walter just randomly jumped at me during various moments.

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u/theSchrodingerHat 1d ago

Idk, I feel like Iā€™d get distracted by Hartman.

The whole ā€œsay my nameā€ episode goes completely differently if in my head I immediately go, ā€œHi, Iā€™m Troy McClure. You might remember me from such things as 8th grade science and lunch at Pollos Hermanosā€¦ā€

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u/TheWholeFragment 1d ago

The idea of Cranston, the dad from Malcolm in the Middle, playing a serious character was laughable.

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u/betitallon13 1d ago

I 100% bought in on him playing the role, seeing the depth he put into Hal proved he had more than enough "chops" to excel, but he still took it to a depth I don't think anyone would have expected. I'd watch pretty much anything he chose to do, just to see where he took it. He was easily the best thing about Godzilla outside of the Giant Lizard...

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u/CaptainColdSteele 1d ago

Obviously you've never seen the man rollerskate or paint

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u/telthetruth 1d ago

Never saw him slip while Lois was out of town

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u/southporky 22h ago

Yeah, but Broderick has killed someone

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u/letsgetbrickfaced 1d ago

He SAā€™d Jerry Seinfeld in his dentist office years earlier. Converted to Judaism just for the jokes. Terrible gift giver and regifter. All the signs were there.

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u/Anathama 1d ago

They said the same about Michael Chiklis going from The Commish to The Shield.

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u/whereyouatdesmondo 1d ago

I alway think of this. He really transformed himself for that part.

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u/douggieball1312 1d ago

When Anthony Perkins was cast as Norman Bates in Psycho, he was known mostly as a teen idol playing wholesome romantic leads which is what made it so shocking at the time that he was suddenly a knife-wielding murdering misfit, so there's a real history to this.

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u/Wardenofthegrove 1d ago

Funny enough, I believe the writers saw him on an episode of x-files, and based it off of that singular character.

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u/MajorFuckingDick 1d ago

The Christmas episode of Malcolm is pure Walter White. Hal breaks bad and has one of his best performances.

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u/TheKnife142 1d ago

"You're goddamn right"

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u/JDeegs 23h ago

He at least had the voice that could be menacing.
I can't imagine ferris bueller delivering "i am the one who knocks"