Are you gonna run for president . I think i just got an f from you, actually. laughter applause bryan cranston, welcome. Thanks, good to be here. So nice to have you here. I cant help but stare at your ears. Really . Yes, theyre normal sized. Theyre normal sized ears, yeah. Well, i think so. Yeah . So im watching the movie and im watching you portray, transform yourself into lbj and i was fixated from the very moment you came onscreen on those massive ears. bryan laughs which i can confirm are prosthetic. Well, theyre partially my ears. The best way to apply a prosthetic is to blend it in with your natural features. Right. [bryan] right. So i had the ear pieces that started up here near the top and blended in so that these pieces looked natural and it the lobe dropped about another inch and a half. Down to about your shoulders, honestly. Yeah, theyre rubbin shoulders. They were just right there. And then there was a piece that brought the ears out like that. And if you just do that, all of a sudden it draws attention to the ears. [evan] oh my god. Well the ears were amazing. The jowls, which were also partly prosthetic . Yeah, yeah. Thanks for questioning. Hey i dont wanna assume, right . And the nose, right . [bryan] well see, im not wearing any prosthetics now. Right now, we can confirm. Except a fake leg. Okay, we dont have to talk about that. I had jowls, yes, and a fake nose. He had a very trails off . [evan] prominent. A very prominent nose, and he also had a dimple in his chin and i dont have a dimple in my chin. It was stunning. Were used to people playing president s. People who we have watched over the years on television or in person, i was thinking about Frank Langella, whose in this film, as Richard Nixon in frost nixon or i was thinking about josh brolin as george w. Bush. They were Frank Langella and josh brolin. You were Lyndon Johnson. The transformation was, i thought, absolutely complete and it wasnt just the physical transformation, but it was mannerisms, it was the accent, it was everything. Im stunned at how well you were able to pull that off. Well, i love to act, is one thing. And so i have an insatiable curiosity toward the characters that i play. And thats the most fun to have is the Research Part of it where youre gathering. Youre like a dry sponge and any information that comes to you, whether you get it at the Johnson Library or at the ranch or reading the plethora of biographies about the man, looking at source material, audiotapes, videotapes, things like that. And you just start to absorb it. And every time i start a character, theres always that wonder if that character will eventually seep inside cause thats what has to happen before youre completely comfortable to play a character and so theres that trust factor. Okay, ill keep working, keep working, keep reading, keep reading. til i get it. Until, hopefully, it makes swoosh sound almost through osmosis becomes a part of you. And from that point on, then youre thinking and feeling and filtering every stimulus that comes in through your version of lbj. So this started out as a play, obviously, and so the preparation for the play, which is a few years back when the play debuted on broadway, very acclaimed Tony Award Winning play, you and it. The play preparation was how long . How much time before you hit the stage for the first time . I started working on the research 2012. So a couple years. Uh huh. We did the play in boston for a couple months and that was in fall of 13. So i had it for a little over a year which is a luxury. To be able to know that youre gonna play something and then you can slowly start to absorb the material that you read. How much did you know about Lyndon Johnson . How much did you remember from your own life and how much did you know as you went in to prepare for this part . Well, ironically, he was probably the first president that i ever really paid attention to. I was seven years old when kennedy was assassinated. And the effect that it had on my parents and the Ripple Effect on neighbors. The weeping, the hugging, the abject sadness, it made an impact on me. You were living in california. I was living in california. It actually scared me, i was a boy. And i didnt know something that you received, news from the television, could make you feel that way. And so it kind of startled me a little bit. And for the first time, as children are, were very self centered, until you learn not to be, and you learn that something outside of yourself is actually very important and that was the first time that that had an impact on me. That something was said by this man on this television and my mother started weeping and my father and theyre hugging and the neighbors. So i thought, i should pay attention. And then the new president was this this big guy who talked funny. And his wife had a strange name. And so that was my first introduction to it. Little did i know. Years later. Well, the kennedy assassination figures into the very beginning of this film in that the first sound we hear, before we see any pictures, are shots. And then we see the president ial limousine outside of parkland. We see blood and then we see inside to parkland, you and mrs. Johnson being told, hes gone. And thats the beginning of this film. The time frame of this film really begins right there. So that moment does play a significant role [bryan] it does. In the film. [bryan] our story of all the way goes from the assassination up through the night of the election in 1964. Do you believe that hes a sympathetic character . Should be viewed as a sympathetic character and did you intend to play him sympathetically . Well now trails off . History has had different ways of viewing johnson over the years. Oh yeah, yeah. When i was doing the research, i didnt want to sit in judgment of him. An actor never wants to be objective to the point where youre judging your own character, so you try to stay subjective, looking out through the eyes of your character and thinking that everything youre doing is right and justifiable in some way. So as i start doing the research and finding out more about him and talk to people who knew him, Doris Kearns Goodwin and bill moyers and joe califano and larry temple and every cuts off . I was taking in the essence of this man and taking it in and sending it back out, so i didnt sit in judgment of him. Now, i have a little more perspective on it because were done with play, were done with the movie. And you can take a look at it and i think its fair to, after 50 years, to look at the entirety of the mans legacy. Not just the failures of vietnam, and i think thats the only way you can categorize it. And thats been the frame, you think . The framework of lbj has been that of failure and that alone is not fair. What i promulgate is that people, and this library is fantastic, is to be able to take into consideration his entirety. Not in a revisionist history but to revisit history and realize that the domestic accomplishments that Lyndon Johnson was able to accomplish is staggering. Staggering. Right and the Civil Rights Act is one piece of that, a very big feature narratively in this film, and you have in the film anthony mackie, whos playing Martin Luther king, acknowledging, in essence, look this guy may not be perfect. We may not be going about this exactly the way that we want from the standpoint of how quickly its happening or the details of it, but but for him, what do we have . He acknowledges it. In 1962, a year before the assassination, my family took a road trip to texas to new braunfels, texas. South of austin. Where we had relatives. 1962. And im six. And when we got into texas, my mother told my brother and i, whos two years older, she said, now boys. Listen to me. Were in a different state. If you see a drinking fountain that says, colored, dont drink out of it. And as a boy, im thinking, are you kidding . Of course, im gonna drink out of it seriously, its like dont think of elephants, right . [bryan] is it also flavored . Where are they . Im looking i stated it because that stayed with me, it was such an impact. And i thought, in every state they have different things, you know . But that stayed with me. It wasnt until later, of course, that i realized what the impact was. In my lifetime, this is how people were treated. Citizens of our country. And the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was just landmark legislation that changed the face of our country and its not hyperbolic to say that. And so with johnson, you get the good and the bad. You get the good and the bad. What i think is great about this film is its not a whitewashing of the johnson presidency or of johnson the man because there are many moments in this film in which he is a son of a bitch. Right . imitates president johnson well, i dont know about that. laughter and i actually, and i will say, there was a scene in the film with melissa leo, who is so terrific as lady bird, talking to the actor playing, i dont know the actors name, playing walter jenkins. Yeah, todd weeks. Fantastic. [bryan] yeah. [evan] and shes acknowledging his flaws and saying basically, you work with what youve got. Shes acknowledging this to him and its really a great way to think about johnson. That its good and bad. And that when you stand back from him, you understand that there were good moments and less good moments. I think its a very rounded portrayal of him in that sense. Yeah, it is. And anybody who ever knew him, will say that he was probably the most complex person theyve ever met. Bill moyers said, eleven of the most interesting people ive ever met is Lyndon Johnson. laughter and theyre all in this film. Yeah. And theyre all in this film. And he had towering strength and ability and charisma and confidence and he had the depths of insecurity and weakness. Bill moyers also told me, three days before the election in november 1964 that lbj was in a down mood and imitating president johnson i dont wanna do it. If the people dont love me now, i just cant. I wanna go back to my ranch, and thats how i want to be. And they had to talk him out of it. And in a way, you realize the power and manipulation of that. Oh totally. Its emotional blackmail, basically. Theres a scene when johnsons on the phone with uncle dick, with Richard Russell, and he says, oh im so unhappy about how things are going and im gonna go back to my ranch. And Frank Langella playing Richard Russell says, take a tranquilizer and go to bed, and hangs up on him. Youre acting like a spoiled child. Youre acting like a spoiled child. People whove seen the play will not see the exact same production. Correct. So the material differences between the two. Obviously different than just the form, stage screen, are what . If youre somebody who saw the play, how would this seem different for you . Well, the story, the core of the story, is the same. There are scenes that now were added. A couple scenes were added, a couple scenes deleted. Its a new beast, so you have to take it accordingly. Were not able to use the amphibious car, which we werent able to use on stage, of course. Of course. You can do a lot on broadway. Cant do that. You cant do that. [evan] cannot do that. And the cast is actually, but for you, from what i can tell, the cast is. Brand new. [evan] mostly, if not entirely, different. Entirely different. Stephen root as j. Edgar hoover, fantastic. I mentioned melissa leo, i mentioned Frank Langella, fantastic as Richard Russell, and to my mind, the great revelation other than you, was Bradley Whitford as hubert humphrey. Yeah. There were moments when i was staring at him, forgetting that it was Bradley Whitford. Bradley whitford from trails off . From the west wing. From the west wing fame. Very familiar face but he really disappeared into it. Ive known him for years. He was married to Jane Kaczmarek who was my costar on malcolm in the middle for seven years. So ive known him for a long, long time. This is the first time weve actually worked together. And hes a lot of fun on the set. I said, whered you get . He had a little pouty, you know, as humphrey. I said, whered you get that . He said, i dont know. He says he has a dog thats a boxer. He just did the dog. He just did his dog. Isnt that amazing . He didnt do an impersonation of humphrey. He did an impersonation of his own dog. laughter so here we have been sitting talking about a character a great protagonist who is a mixture of empathy and humanity on the one hand, and difficult decisions that you may not like on the other hand, then of course, i think, not just lbj, i think walter white. Is walter white not, in his own way, a little bit like lbj in that you have both sympathy for this character, theres an implicit humanity in this character, but also you kinda go, really . This is the decision you made . laughter hm. Not buyin it, huh . Again. My career as a tv critic has just come to a thud. A thudding end. I would defer and say that you have a much clearer viewpoint of that than i would. Are you not cleareyed about, i know walter white is still relatively recent in the rear view mirror for you, but do you not have, do you feel like, clarity about the enormity of the accomplishment of that program and of that character . Changed television, right . It certainly changed my life. And im grateful for that. It did change television in one significant way. Never before was there a character that changed from the beginning of the show to the end of the show. Television to that point had been about stasis. Whatever the characters you loved to watch, they are themselves in different conditions and situations. Even tony soprano was who he was with different stimuli coming in. But walter white changed from the person that we first were introduced to to the end. But again, im seeing him from the inside out. Thats where i lived with him. This was a character you developed. The character we saw was a character largely of your creation or of Vince Gilligans creation or of some combination . How did you build this character . When an actor takes on a role, you are inspired and the character resonates within you or it doesnt. And its not dissimilar from when you read a good book and you cant wait to get back to the next chapter and its like, oh my god, youre so into it . Well the same thing when you read a great story, a great script, and the character just comes out and you cant wait to get through it. You knew immediately you wanted to play this part. I knew immediately. It was that good. And compelling storytelling and resonant, relatable, an average, an every day man, struggling to make ends meet. Just not in the way that the rest of us make ends meet. Well, no, at the beginning. Admittedly. For all i knew it was like he was gonna be a criminal for one period of time and then go, well thats not for me. And im not a criminal. But i think what it did say is that, given a set of circumstances, anyone could become dangerous. Walter white certainly did. To himself and to others. Is it true the story is that you and Vince Gilligan had met on the xfiles . Yeah, thats where i first met him. 10 years earlier. 10 years earlier, you had a done a guest spot on the xfiles. Yeah. And he liked what he saw in you and in that character and he remembered it later on. Yes. He is a very nuanced, brilliant writer. In the xfiles, i played a character who had some kind of alien bug in his head. Its pretty much every character for the entire series. Yeah, exactly. And it was kind of a tongueincheek thing, a play on the movie speed, where if i wasnt travelling in a westerly direction at at least 80 miles an hour, my head would explode. laughter i would hate to have my head explode. So David Duchovny is in the drivers seat, he got in somehow, and hes driving 80 miles an hour, and heres the difference of Vince Gilligan. Most writers wouldve written my character in the back seat, the guy with the bug, to be nice. And help this poor guy, hes sweet. Yeah, David Duchovny save him we like him, yay good for you but he wrote me despicable. I was a horrible person. Hateful, spewing, just venomous kinda person. Which put an interesting dilemma in his main character, which was, is this person worth saving simply because hes a human being . Yeah. Thats what his lead character had to figure out. He wanted in the worst way, he wanted to pull over. Go, die but he couldnt do it. Youre so good at playing people who are contradictions. I think thats actually a consistent theme across all these characters. Well i think thats honest. Its what we are. We are contradictions. Are we ever just serious . Or are we ever just giddy or silly . No. Were complex in our lives and i think thats what people are relating to. Is the complexity of these different people that they see on television. Well, again i come back to breaking bad for a second, where this change really for all of us was, that the episodic series which had had some life before breaking bad admittedly, you know, the wire and sopranos and all that, nonetheless breaking bad made it so that the doors blew open and now the kind of art that used to be just created for the big screen now we actually look to television, almost, as the more artistic medium of the two. It can be. For a while there, about 20 years ago, every studio had a Little Division that made five, six Million Dollar movies. They went out of favor because they felt it cost just as much to advertise and promote those movies as it does a bigger blockbuster. So why dont we just go with what we think we can make more money on . And all those Little Divisions went away. Well, where is that small, interesting characterdriven storytelling . It went to television. Its television or its the streaming services, right . Yeah. [evan] we have the expanded Playing Field and the reality is, to come back to all the way, once upon a time, all the way would not have been a film for television. No. It wouldve gone into the theaters. And you can imagine there being an audience for it, right . I think were at the right place. Hbo is a