WEBVTT - Bryan Cranston: a nice guy on what it means to be bad 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:07.400 I'm Katie Curry and I'm Brian Cranston. And this is 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:11.559 next question. I think I have a future. Yeah, let's 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:15.480 try it again, um, this time a little per year. 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:21.120 That's right. My guest today is Brian Cranston. Those of 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:23.640 you who haven't been living under a rock, note that 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:27.600 Brian is a force, a performer, is comfortable on screens 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:31.040 large and small, as he is on a Broadway stage. 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:35.880 But more than anything, honestly, he's just an all around 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:40.120 good human being, and as I found out during our conversation, 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.519 also an avid reader of Wake Up Call. I get 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:49.920 your newsletter every morning you open it, more importantly I do, 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:54.120 I read it all the time. So friends, be like 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:59.160 Brian Cranston, informed and entertained with wake Up Call. That's 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:04.440 our daily news letter, delivered Monday through Saturday in your inbox, 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:07.440 bright and early. In it, we break down the top 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.960 news stories of the day. We answer all of your 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.800 pressing questions, and we scour the internet for the best 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:19.120 entertainment tidbits, streaming recommendations, recipes, and health and wellness tips. 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:22.200 It's like a one stop shop for smart, dissy people 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:27.039 like you and Brian Cranston. Okay, done, with the shameless plug, 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:30.520 Let's get back to business. Bryan Cranston, and welcome back 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:35.360 to the podcast. How are you're looking very scruffy these days? 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:38.399 You've got a big beard going. What's that about? You know, 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.600 it's it's about. I'm doing a second season of Your 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:47.360 Honor for Showtime, right, which did incredibly well. By the way, 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:50.240 I loved Your Honor, but I read recently it was 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:53.360 like one of the biggest shows on Showtime in a 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:57.160 long time. Yeah, they tell us it was the highest 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:03.160 rated UM series they ever had, so that's pretty good. 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.400 And so they wanted to do another one, and and 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:11.280 I said, I'd like to do another season, but only 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:15.639 if we follow in an honest, authentic way where that 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:19.000 character would go. Because it seems to me, with all 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.959 due respect Mr Cranston, that this series did not exactly 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:26.680 lend itself to a second series. I mean, things tied 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:30.000 up pretty neatly, very traumatically. I might add I don't 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.239 want any spoilers here, but I had a hard time 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.280 when I heard there was going to be a second season. 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:39.000 I thought, how are you going to do that? I 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:43.080 thought the same thing because it ended tragically, which is 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:46.200 not which is a not a the wrong way to 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:51.480 end that first season. Um, And then I thought, well, 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:54.560 if the first season was about a man losing his 0:02:54.639 --> 0:03:00.880 sense of principles and dignity and integrity, can the second 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:05.200 season be about redemption? Is? And I think our society 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:10.240 is yearning for that to actually stand. Where does forgiveness 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:14.560 exist in our in our society now? It seems so coarse, 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:20.200 it seems so vitriolic. You know that that, you know, 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:25.120 we we've had people who have been leading this country 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:30.720 who believe that forgiveness and and apology are signs of 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.359 weaknesses in the human character. And I don't believe that. 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:36.960 I believe it's actually a strength. And in fact, you've 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:40.520 been pretty vocal if I recall about sort of cancel culture, 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:43.760 haven't you? Well? I did you? Did you get a 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:46.720 little hot water that baron? Well, you know what happened. 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.720 I was doing I was doing a play in London 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.080 and I had a film coming out. So the BBC 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:57.480 wanted to do an interview with me, and I said okay, 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:00.560 And they said they're gonna want you to talk about uh, 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:03.640 President Trump, And I said okay, And they're gonna want 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:08.000 to talk about the Me Too movement. I said, okay, Um, 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.520 all of which you know, it's it's a wake up 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:14.760 call in many regards for both of those issues. The 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:17.799 question came to me, do you think that M. Kevin 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:22.000 Spacey can resurrect his career? And I was taken aback 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.040 a little bit about that, about that directness, and then 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:28.359 I realized the association the BBC is asking that because 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:33.000 Kevin Spacey was the artistic director of the old VIC Theater, 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:38.640 right And uh, I said, I don't think so. But 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.680 if he does a lot of personal work on himself, 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:47.320 if he really goes into therapy and really gets to 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:51.320 the root of what was causing this behavior of his 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:54.839 and not in a two month dude ranch kind of 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:59.480 thing in Colorado, but a real earnest attempt to figure 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:04.080 things out, and if he if he showed genuine contrition, 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:10.440 maybe in five to ten years, UM, society would accept 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:14.400 him back if he did all that work that did 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:20.240 I did. Um. We were in a redlining situation at 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:25.720 the time where they thought I was trying to defend him, 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:27.760 but really I was trying to look at a bigger 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:32.120 picture of our society. Where does it all fit? And 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:35.920 so when this idea to possibly do a second season 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.039 of Your Honor came along. I thought, I think this 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:44.760 might help people people who live in despair and in pain. Um, 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:49.160 how do they cope? How can they find a pathway 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:54.000 to the rest of their lives? And I think it's 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:58.000 a service. You personally went through it yourself. You had 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.360 to figure out a path to get through so that 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:05.640 you can be strong again. And I'm I'm marvel at 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.279 your ability to be able to do that. You mean, 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.960 from from the death of my husband. Yeah, you know. 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:16.240 I think also this sort of public shaming, which I 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:23.480 didn't experience, but but certainly many high profile figures have. Uh. 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:28.719 Sometimes it's definitely warranted. But I think you're right at 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:33.920 what point is can there be or should there be redemption? 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:35.960 And I don't know the answer to that, but I 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:39.640 think that's such a a topic that's so right for 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.800 exploration and and getting back to Your Honor can for 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.640 people who haven't seen the first series, and I urged 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:48.800 them to do so so they can see the second 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.279 series when it comes out. Can you just basically give 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:56.839 us the nutshell of this character because I found him 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:02.719 so fascinating. Michael days Otto is a Superior Court judge 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:08.800 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has a seventeen year old son, 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:15.360 and his wife was a photojournalist who was murdered a 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:20.440 year earlier. Through a course of of the remembrance of 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:24.520 the day that she passed, my son, who was distraught 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:28.480 and it is an asthmatic, gets into a a car 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:33.240 accident and he hits a young boy on a motorcycle. 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:39.160 He panics and leaves the scene of the accident almost immediately, 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.200 feeling guilty and realizing he's made a mistake, and he 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:48.840 confesses to me, his father, what happened. And after receiving 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:52.720 that devastating news and dealing with that by itself, I 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:54.920 convey to him that we need to do the right thing. 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:58.840 We need to turn you in and be responsible, because 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.600 if you don't do that now, you will forever be 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:08.200 damaged by that decision. So I go to turn him 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:11.440 into the police um and I'm going to hire a 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:15.440 lawyer for him and and see how things end up. 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:18.600 And what happens is that at the police station, I 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.440 noticed the parents of the boy who died in that 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:28.960 car accident, and they are part of the most violent 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:35.960 and dangerous UH mob in all of Louisiana, and I know, 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.360 or at least I feel I know that that man, 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.760 if he found out my son killed his son, he 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:46.600 would go and kill my son within the structure of 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:51.440 the um of course system. So I make an immediate 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:55.600 decision not to turn my son in. From that point on, 0:08:56.160 --> 0:09:00.840 everything unraveled deeper and deeper. It's not the crime, it's 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:05.120 the cover up. And I found the character so fascinating 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:09.120 because of all these sort of ethical lapses and how 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:12.840 one leads to another, to another to another. And I 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.800 don't know, I'm obsessed with characters who are guilt ridden. 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.520 I don't know if you remember that movie Bob Roberts. 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:22.320 I think it was called and it was with was 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:26.520 that Tim Robbins, And I think he commits a crime. 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:31.720 And the idea of doing something and being like having 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:38.200 to hide that and feel this overwhelming, overflowing guilt. I 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.439 have nightmares about that. I don't know why those characters. 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.480 I think that's my biggest fear, like not doing something 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:48.080 wrong but having to hide it because you feel like 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.800 you'll be exposed. Yes, of course, but but when you 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:52.920 think about it, that's one of the wonderful things about 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.240 human beings is that we do carry guilt and we 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.920 we do have that because we are we are an 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.960 made to that, we're social animals. We want to strive 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:08.760 to do what is best. I really believe that. And um, 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:13.480 when when we explore in this season of Your Honor, 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:18.559 the idea that my character is is going through despair 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:22.439 and grief, Um, I think it's a valuable thing to 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.880 it and the movement that he makes. I had to 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:30.520 really convince the people at show time. It's like, trust me, 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:34.439 I think this will work. But you wanted to do it. Yeah, 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:36.480 you wanted to do it. Well, I wanted to do 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:40.400 that if if they weren't saying to you, this show 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.840 did so well, we need a second season. They did, 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.439 And I said, I will do a second season if 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:49.760 I can do this with that character. Got it, But 0:10:49.880 --> 0:11:05.360 otherwise I don't have to do another one. Now. How 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:09.040 is Michael different from Walter White? And are their similarities 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:12.360 in their characters because they are they are sort of 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:18.560 at their core good people who because of circumstances, become 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:22.880 bad people. Yeah. Well, I think I think what what 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:27.200 Walter White taught me is that nothing is black and 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:30.840 white in the pun But um, there's a lot of 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.400 gray area. I don't think human beings are just one 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:37.920 thing we have. We have good qualities and we have 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.280 bad qualities. We have things about us that we're proud 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.120 of and things that were I need to improve in 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:51.000 this area. Hopefully they're not criminal. But but that's human beings. Um. 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:55.000 The difference, and well, the common denominator is that Michael 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:58.080 Desiatto and Walter White were played by the same person, 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:02.120 So there's always going to be a through line of that, 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:07.720 does Michael we're tidy Whitey's he does not. He does 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:17.880 not he's a boxer. Yeah. Um. But the difference is 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:23.040 is that the attempts. We we want to see characters 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:26.240 attempting to do the right thing at the best of 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:32.200 their ability. But if they're damaged and troubled people men 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:36.080 in this case, uh, then they may not be capable 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:38.840 of doing the right thing at the right time. Always, 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:42.760 and it's always about sort of how one bad decision 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:47.600 can change everything in an instant. You've said you're attracted 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:51.040 to damage characters who still have some manner of humanity 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:54.960 and decency within them despite their flaws and shortcomings. So 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:58.680 I guess that does describe Michael and Walter I think 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.040 that's the and those are the kinds of characters I 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.559 get offered is to play really damnage, you're such a 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:08.960 nice guy. How is that? Well? I can I can relate. 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.319 I mean, I'm here are such why you are human? 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.080 But I mean I don't know you that well, but 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:21.120 I would say you're incredibly decent and um and and 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:25.520 morally upstanding individual. You know, I feel like you have 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:29.040 certain values that you adhere to and you know you've 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.559 got I don't know, and you've here before have played 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:36.600 pretty wholesome characters prior to breaking bad. So you know, 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:39.760 how how come we're just now seeing this the darker 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:44.040 side of Brian Cranston. Well, when you when you think 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:49.840 of it from a standpoint of dramatic narrative, the most 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:55.680 interesting things to play are damaged people. We don't want 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:58.280 to see in our dramas. We don't want to see 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.160 people do all the right things all the time. They 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.320 would never make it into a show or a movie, 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:05.840 right because it's not interesting. So there's going to be 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:09.880 a turn. There's going to be uh problems in that 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:14.439 person's life that they are either capable or incapable of overcoming. 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:19.680 And that's that's what makes drama so fascinating. You're the 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:24.000 happy beneficiary of this national obsession I think with crime 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.760 and sort of thrillers and who done it? And I'm 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:32.480 curious what you think about that whole trend, because everything 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:36.120 seems to either be based on true crime or a 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:42.080 fiction fictionalized version of some kind of terrible event. Well, 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:46.120 I know, I am more interested in the human element 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:48.520 of it and whether that takes me in the genre 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:55.280 of crime or a medical or whatever the main areas 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:59.600 of interest are. I'm always interested in the story. Does 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.280 the story where he resonate with me and and so 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:04.800 you look at you look at Breaking Bad. And Breaking 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:09.600 Bad was a story of a man's plight and struggle 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:15.800 through this horrific prognosis of of a limited life, and 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:19.680 he wanted to set his family up for after he's gone, 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:25.640 and and so he elicited a lot of sympathies of that. Yeah, 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:31.560 it's just his decision making UM and and also an 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:36.120 indictment of the health system that a fully employed teacher 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:39.480 needs to have a second job in order to pay 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:45.360 for the special needs son and his care. UM. So 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:51.440 and then you have UM your Honor, which had the 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:56.520 concept of what would you do to save the life 0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:59.640 of your child? And if you ask any parent, it's like, 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.480 I would do anything to save the life of my child. 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:04.920 I would do anything. And I asked people, would you 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:09.520 become would you willingly become a criminal if you knew 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.000 that by doing so you would save the life of 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:14.680 your child? Yes? I would. Okay, then we take it 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:18.440 a step further. Would you allow an innocent person to 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.720 be hurt or killed in the line of saving yours? 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:25.360 You know? And then all of a sudden, oh, you 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:29.720 can't go back. My character can't retrace his steps and 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:33.840 clean it up and make good on something. His spiral 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.880 already started and he is in this mess. And that's 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:42.000 what to to echo your point is that we have 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.440 to try to make the best decisions at that time 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:50.360 that you can. My character didn't have the luxury of thinking, 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.080 what are the repercussions of this initial decision. I remember 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.640 that scene where he's watching the family. I think he 0:16:56.720 --> 0:17:00.320 was in the parking lot. Uh, Michael was, and he 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.720 thought he made that split second decision. Nope, this isn't 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.520 going to happen. We're not going to do the right thing. 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:11.359 And the rest of the series obviously unfolds, and he 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:15.000 gets deeper and deeper and deeper, and to you know, 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:19.080 lie begets lie begets lie. Um. I love the series, 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:21.359 and I think it was critically acclaimed. I think it 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.200 got a lot of nice reviews. But you don't read 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:28.919 reviews ever, ever, ever, ever. I did, um up until 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:34.720 about seven eight years ago, when I read a couple 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:42.040 reviews about a movie that I did that I thought was, Oh, well, 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:45.720 that doesn't that's not helpful to me. Um, what movie 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.480 was it? Well, I don't want to I don't want 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:51.679 to throw this reviewer under the bus. Oh, go ahead, 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:54.399 we like to do that here on next question. We 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:58.880 like to throw people under the bus. Come on, Brian. Especially, 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:03.679 it sounds like this person me deserve it. Yeah, because 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:11.720 this person was lazy and claimed certain things that an 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:17.360 easy little research into it and this person would have found, 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:21.840 oh I'm wrong about that and about this. And so 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:25.960 I found the laziness of that to be irritating. And 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:29.040 I also realized and and so I said, I don't 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:33.160 think reading reviews helps me at all, And so I don't. 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:36.520 I don't read reviews on when I do a Broadway 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:39.720 show or when I do a movie because it it's 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:45.520 not going to change anything. Um and I actually most 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:49.320 people are saying, you could have nine great reviews and 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.200 one bad one, and the one you're going to think 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.600 about is the bad one. Isn't a true No matter 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:59.320 how many things you've done and how many times you've 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:04.400 been reviewed or critiqued, it still hurts. I think when 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:06.719 people say mean things about you. You know, are you 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:10.240 on Twitter? By the way, Well, are you leaving Twitter? 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.480 I'm not. I'm not active. You're not active? But you 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:16.119 would you do you want to stay on it? I 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:19.520 haven't really given it much thought. I certainly my whole 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:25.760 point I I long for the chance once again to 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:32.320 have a respectful, logical disagreement with someone who has who's 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:36.040 more conservative than I am. I'm more liberal, but I 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:40.480 and I want to have that debate again and not 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:44.720 lose respect for each other, knowing that we're both trying 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:49.359 to get to an accomplishment that benefits the country. That's 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.560 that's the goal. Uh, we've kind of lost that. I 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:55.800 think we've been conditioned not to want it, given the 0:19:55.920 --> 0:20:00.960 kind of discourse or lack thereof that is everywhere. It's 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:04.520 almost assigned. Well, just as compromise on Capitol Hill is 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:10.440 a sign of weakness. Compromise or even uh, calm discussion 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:14.199 seems to be a sign of weakness, openness, kind of 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:18.960 willingness to listen. It has all been kind of I think, 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:22.239 I don't know, people just don't want to do it. 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:24.920 I agree with you, And I think what I was 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:31.360 saying earlier, same thing, um, asking forgiveness, apologizing signs of weakness. 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:35.000 I think that goes along with that that our country 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:40.080 has been a come courser and and harder. And I 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:43.280 think if if we can contribute anything to this is 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:47.480 to be able to try to break down that kind 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:53.879 of calloused attitude and dogma and be able to step 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:59.560 back in and saying let's have a respectful debate on 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:03.680 what is best for our society, our country, our state, 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:05.919 at our city, or whatever the case. I want to 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:10.280 see if I can help bring the country together with 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:18.080 less divisiveness and more spirit of unity, that would be great. Um. 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:23.280 When when I see people who have integrity and I 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:24.960 want to meet them, I want to talk to them. 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:27.720 It doesn't matter what side of the aisle they happen 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:43.800 to be on. I know you don't read reviews, Brian, 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:47.120 but I did want to read this letter from Anthony 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:50.240 Hopkins because it was so lovely and I just made 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:53.480 me like Anthony Hopkins even more than I already do. 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:58.800 He wrote that your performance as Walter his performance. I 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.600 guess this was to you, right. Your performance as Walter 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:06.560 White was the best acting I have seen ever. I 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:09.639 have never watched anything like it. Brilliant. I know there's 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:12.800 so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in this business, 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:16.040 and I've sort of lost belief in anything, really, but 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:20.480 this work of yours spectacular, absolutely stunning. From what started 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:23.360 as a black comedy descended into a labyrinth of blood 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:27.480 destruction and hell, it was like a great Jacobean, Shakespearean 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:30.360 or Greek tragedy. When you've read that, you I mean, 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:33.919 obviously you read that he wrote, he delivered it, or 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:35.879 he had it sent to your house. Yeah, it was 0:22:36.119 --> 0:22:39.200 it was dull. I was actually um in Boston at 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:42.400 the time doing the out of town version of All 0:22:42.440 --> 0:22:47.280 the Way and the play you did about LBJ, right, 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:52.199 and we had just closed that show there and I 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:55.359 got this letter that was forwarded from We have the 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:58.760 same agent, and so it was forwarded from the agents, 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:03.280 and I read it and oh my god. But I 0:23:03.280 --> 0:23:06.080 I am not the one to want to make these 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:08.439 things public, and I didn't intend to make this public. 0:23:09.040 --> 0:23:11.800 But he gave praise to not just me, but the 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:14.399 whole cast, and I felt I wanted to share that 0:23:14.480 --> 0:23:17.280 with the cast, and I should have said, please, don't 0:23:17.320 --> 0:23:20.800 put this out on social media. I did not think 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:23.639 in those terms, and I sent it to my cast 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:26.240 and say, I think you all should read this, isn't 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:32.240 it lovely? Lovely and mind blowing? And then someone within 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:34.840 our cast put it out on social media and it 0:23:34.880 --> 0:23:39.360 went everywhere, and that wasn't the intention. I actually cringe 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:42.080 a little bit because I would have rather have been 0:23:42.160 --> 0:23:45.639 just a private, private moment. Well, having said that, what 0:23:45.760 --> 0:23:50.080 a nice gesture and what beautiful words, and coming from 0:23:50.160 --> 0:23:53.080 one of the best actors to ever live. And is 0:23:53.119 --> 0:23:56.720 there so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in your business? 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:03.560 Please that you're saying that rhetorically? Yeah, how do you? 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:06.560 How do you deal with sort of the bullshit of 0:24:06.600 --> 0:24:11.360 show biz? Same way you do? You creates and you're 0:24:11.359 --> 0:24:14.399 not in show business, of course you are. You're in 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:19.439 show business. I mean, I mean is to entertain, and 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:23.280 you do you entertain? You inform. We're all in the 0:24:23.320 --> 0:24:26.280 business of entertainment when you think about it, whether you're 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:29.879 creating a service or a product, we're in entertainment, and 0:24:30.680 --> 0:24:32.600 I think the way to manage it. And what I 0:24:32.640 --> 0:24:36.400 tell young young actors or writers or directors people want 0:24:36.400 --> 0:24:39.800 to be in the business, get your personal life in order. 0:24:40.640 --> 0:24:44.000 Get that straight. Make sure that you're in you love 0:24:44.080 --> 0:24:50.080 the work and not the idea of some uh effect 0:24:50.200 --> 0:24:57.159 of some result. Yes you're not. Don't look ahead it 0:24:57.320 --> 0:25:00.359 like I'm I'm out to get fame and fortune, because 0:25:01.359 --> 0:25:04.439 that's that's the fool's erind isn't it. It is, because 0:25:04.680 --> 0:25:08.159 I wouldn't know how to approach that. Just focus on 0:25:08.240 --> 0:25:10.680 what you do and what you love to do, and 0:25:10.760 --> 0:25:15.280 if you're meant to get anything from that, it will happen. 0:25:16.480 --> 0:25:20.080 So I'm you know, just you kind of you. I 0:25:20.119 --> 0:25:23.040 think you've again I'm acting like I've known you since 0:25:23.080 --> 0:25:25.600 you were five. But it seems to me that you 0:25:25.680 --> 0:25:29.720 are very grounded and you really have never lost perspective 0:25:29.920 --> 0:25:33.600 per se. Also, you know, you were a successful actor, 0:25:33.720 --> 0:25:38.080 but you're huge sort of success came later in life. Yeah, 0:25:38.160 --> 0:25:42.280 I think that's it was a benefit because you know, 0:25:42.320 --> 0:25:47.200 I've I've been married for thirty four years and lovely Robin, 0:25:47.560 --> 0:25:50.320 and we have a we have a very good life, 0:25:50.440 --> 0:25:54.960 and but it's very very normal. And I remember when 0:25:55.000 --> 0:25:56.600 I was on Malcolm in the Middle and I was 0:25:56.680 --> 0:25:59.960 nominated for an Emmy and we go to the Emmys 0:26:00.080 --> 0:26:03.439 and I'm in my tuxedo and everybody Brian brianber and 0:26:03.480 --> 0:26:07.159 taking pictures, pictures, pictures with Robin and I and and 0:26:07.240 --> 0:26:09.600 we're getting the limo and we're the red carpet and 0:26:09.640 --> 0:26:14.280 it's all fancy Hollywood, Mollywood and uh. And we go 0:26:14.400 --> 0:26:18.160 home and I pay the babysitter and say goodnight, and 0:26:18.280 --> 0:26:20.920 Robin walks into the kitchen and turns her nose and goes, 0:26:20.960 --> 0:26:24.679 oh my god, what's And she discovers there's something stinky 0:26:25.000 --> 0:26:28.240 in the garbage and she just picks up the plastic 0:26:28.240 --> 0:26:31.560 garbage bag and shoves it in my hands. And I 0:26:31.600 --> 0:26:34.000 don't say a word because that's my job. And I 0:26:34.040 --> 0:26:36.679 opened the back door and I'm and no, it's starting 0:26:36.720 --> 0:26:39.200 to drip. Something is really bad in here. And I'm 0:26:39.240 --> 0:26:43.920 holding the dripping garbage, smelly garbage bag out at arm's 0:26:44.040 --> 0:26:47.800 length so it doesn't drip on my tuxedo and I'm 0:26:47.880 --> 0:26:52.040 walking out to the garbage and I realized, not twenty 0:26:52.080 --> 0:26:55.879 minutes ago, people were please picture, let me take a picture. 0:26:55.880 --> 0:26:58.880 Will you have an autographer? And now I'm taking smelly 0:26:58.880 --> 0:27:02.960 garbage out of the and I smiled, because that's it. 0:27:03.520 --> 0:27:08.320 That's the reality of it, that's real life, that's tangible. 0:27:08.840 --> 0:27:12.399 It's right there, smelly garbage and all. And that's what 0:27:12.520 --> 0:27:14.760 I want to embrace. I want to embrace the reality 0:27:14.760 --> 0:27:17.400