The Breaking Bad Episode

Summary

Friends Keep Secrets – “The Breaking Bad Episode”

Podcast: Friends Keep Secrets
Hosts: Benny Blanco, Lil Dicky (Dave Burd), Kristin Batalucco
Guests: Bryan Cranston & Aaron Paul
Date: June 23, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Friends Keep Secrets welcomes Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul for an ultra-casual, playful, and deeply personal deep-dive into all things Breaking Bad, friendship, creativity, and aging as artists and humans. The intimate hang unfolds with the hosts dressed in Breaking Bad costumes, homemade margaritas and mezcal tastings, physical antics involving fake beakers, and raw reflections on career, marriage, and legacy. The episode captures the unique chemistry between the guests, the hosts, and the magic of authentic, unfiltered conversation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Breaking Bad Costumes & Impressions

• The hosts kick off the episode dressed as characters from Breaking Bad, poking fun at each other's outfits and impersonations.
  • “I'm the twin of Jesse Pinkman.” – Dave [00:33]
  • “Doing a Jesse Pinkman impression. Get off me.” – Anthony [01:14]
  • Bryan and Aaron join in, amused by the setup.

2. Early Show Memories & Netflix’s Impact

• The conversation pivots to how Breaking Bad ascended from cult hit to global phenomenon, with Netflix’s streaming model playing a pivotal role.
  • “We were actually the very first new bingeable show ever on Netflix, ever. Which was crazy.” – Aaron Paul [10:09]
  • Both recalled the initial modest ratings before streaming exploded its popularity.
  • Bryan: “And that’s what really helped because then people could watch and get addicted to it.” [10:23]

3. Acting Process, Fame, and Moving On

• The hosts dig into the actors’ approaches to craft, the impact of the show on their lives, and the joy (and challenges) of moving into new creative territory.
  • “We had to move on...it’s like, we got another one, and another one.” – Bryan Cranston [07:01]
  • “I would watch it again, but I’d like to watch it, like, what you were talking about, with someone who hasn’t seen it yet.” – Bryan [07:17]
  • Writing: The hosts praise Vince Gilligan’s scripts; Aaron and Bryan reflect on how scripts were not only well-written but also personally tailored for cast and crew [07:33].

4. Breaking Bad’s Origin Stories & Crossroads

• Bryan shares how he weighed the decision to leave home for the role, reading the script with his wife:
  • “She finished the last page, looked at me, threw it over the bed and said, ‘sh*t, I really love that.’” – Bryan Cranston [08:40]
• Aaron recalls meeting his wife before the show took off, and the drawn-out journey from struggling actor (“living in a closet”) to success.
  • “The pilot of Breaking Bad was the sixth or seventh pilot that I had done, but the previous ones never went to see.” – Aaron Paul [28:07]

5. The Netflix Boom, Blockbuster Nostalgia & Movie Culture

• The discussion is loaded with nostalgia about Blockbuster, the early wild-west days of Netflix’s DVD mail service, and how viewing habits shifted (and how TVs today “make everything look like a soap opera”).
  • “You have to go to Blockbuster. I loved Blockbuster. Blockbuster was an event.” – Anthony, Aaron, Bryan [11:09-11:10]

6. Mezcal & Dos Hombres

• Aaron and Bryan detail how their friendship led to creating their mezcal brand, Dos Hombres.
  • “I miss…him and three…Three years post the finale, Breaking Bad, he was doing a play in New York, I was doing a show, and…he pitched me…do you think it’s too soon to do another show or movie?... And then out of nowhere…I go, what do you think about booze?...What do you think about Mezcal?” – Aaron Paul [13:22]
  • The hosts taste test the drinks, prompting fun reactions and a moment involving breaking a “movie magic” beaker over Bryan’s head [16:00-17:02].
  • “We formed this company of Dos Hombres because we missed each other.” – Bryan [71:10]

7. Marriage, Balance & Parenting Advice

• Both actors share hard-earned lessons on long relationships, patience, acceptance, and parenting.
  • “Pick those five [most important qualities in a partner] and let everything else go.” – Bryan [19:57]
  • Aaron’s wedding notes: “Never forget the moment you realize…that you…We’re a thing…this is my partner.” [22:12]
  • Bryan and Aaron discuss the fear, joy, and instincts that kick in with parenthood: “You will forever be parenting. Our daughter’s 33 years old. We don’t stop parenting.” – Bryan [43:03]

8. Almost Killing Jesse: Cliffhangers & Pranks

• The legendary story of how Jesse Pinkman was supposed to die in the first season, and how writers, and even cast, played pranks on Aaron about his character’s fate.
  • “He made me think that I was a great prank.” – Aaron [24:19]
  • “We just love that dynamic so much...They decided to change the whole dynamic. We’re no longer going to have him die.” – Aaron [35:34]
  • “A producer came up to me...‘You’re gonna need to stay afterwards to get your, like, the measurements of the coffin.’” – Aaron [36:05]

9. Creativity, Process & "Good Enough Is Never Good Enough"

• Deep dive into the relentless pursuit of excellence in art:
  • “Good enough is never good enough.” – Bryan [63:55]
  • “Our exhaustion at the moment is really temporary. But what we’re making lasts forever.” – Bryan [65:15]
  • “You gotta keep pushing through, because this moment of being just is just now, but what you’re making [is] forever.” – Bryan [65:29]

10. Lessons in Acting & Method

• Bryan talks about training, intuition, and why actors must go “to the gym” creatively; Aaron recalls scrubbing off the role each day and learning not to suffer for method:
  • “It’s a gym. You go to the gym…work for us is like going to the gym.” – Bryan [57:57]
  • “He came up to me towards the end of the second season…‘It’s okay to just wash off your makeup and just be…’” – Aaron [54:22]
  • Both stress that rehearsal is mostly just for lines, not improvisation [58:38]. “Not necessarily. On the day we run lines... But it was such a beautifully written, it’s unbelievable story that you—you don’t want to touch.” – Bryan [58:57]

11. Playfulness, Aging, & Legacy

• Throughout, there's warmth and humor: caviar “bombs,” competitive eating, birthday and star sign comparisons, deprecating jokes about getting older, and Bryan’s upcoming shoulder replacement.
  • “I’m starting to degrade.” – Bryan [33:01]
  • “As a parent…I will tell you…the thing you want more than anything…is joy. Please let my children find happiness and joy.” – Bryan [61:21]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This show changed our lives, and it also introduced us to each other.” — Bryan Cranston [69:52]
• “He’s just the best. I’ve learned so much from him on screen and off. And I just—yeah. I love the man.” – Aaron Paul [70:35]
• “It was an interesting realization…as a man growing up in my era…to get to a point where you feel a true love for someone else, you know, in a platonic way, but a deep, deep love and a friendship...we’re going to be friends forever.” – Bryan Cranston [71:18]
• “You can have it all. That’s the thing, you realize.” – Bryan Cranston [72:25]
• “Good enough is never good enough.” – Bryan [63:55]
• “Never forget the moment you realize you’re a thing.” – Aaron Paul [22:17]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 – 02:28: Cold open; hosts in costume, introductions, playful banter
• 04:00 – 08:00: Bryan & Aaron arrive; discuss the impact of Breaking Bad and its scripts
• 10:09: Netflix’s role in Breaking Bad’s rise
• 13:12: How Dos Hombres Mezcal was born
• 16:00 – 17:20: Beaker-breaking antics (movie magic glass)
• 19:23 – 22:37: Marriage & long-term relationships advice
• 24:19 – 24:47: The "prank" about Jesse dying
• 35:05: Confirmation that Jesse was spared after the pilot
• 36:38: On killing beloved characters (Stringer Bell, Gus Fring)
• 43:05: Lifelong parenting and fear with children
• 54:22 – 56:08: Acting, method, and emotional processing
• 63:55 – 65:29: The relentless drive for excellence in art
• 69:52 – 72:34: Emotional conclusion on friendship, love, and legacy

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Tone & Style

The conversation is warm, irreverent, and honest—full of wisecracking, vulnerability, and behind-the-scenes gold. The guests and hosts treat each other like old friends, giving listeners the sensation of peeking into a rare reunion, not a press tour.

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a celebration of shared history, lasting friendship, and the enduring creative spirit. For fans of Breaking Bad, it offers untold stories, playful chemistry, and earnest advice about both acting and life. For everyone else, it’s a rare, laughter-filled window into the magic that happens when the right people sit down together and just let it flow.

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Essential Quote:
“You can have it all. That’s the thing, you realize.”
— Bryan Cranston [72:31]

Transcript

[Anthony]

Breaking Bad.

[Bryan Cranston]

Breaking Bad.

[Krista]

Jesse and Wal became metheads at last.

[Dave]

Jesse and Walt Pinkman and Walt. Walt's last Walter White. What the fuck?

[Aaron Paul]

See ya next week.

[Dave]

And this week.

[Krista]

Do you guys think that they're gonna be shocked to see a twin?

[Anthony]

Who's the twin? It smells so good.

[Dave]

I'm the twin of Jesse Pinkman.

[Krista]

Yeah. I'm Jesse's sister.

[Dave]

So, yeah. So you guys feeling. You guys feeling excited about.

[Anthony]

Do you feel embarrassed?

[Dave]

I don't feel embarrassed, no. I feel good.

[Anthony]

You look kind of normal.

[Dave]

I feel like we're honoring something that deserves to be honored.

[Anthony]

She looks like Billie Eilish.

[Krista]

I feel a little light headed, just with all the.

[Dave]

I feel lightheaded, too.

[Anthony]

I feel so. Chuck, you look so. This is the best you've ever looked.

[Dave]

I think it's because I'm a little tan.

[Anthony]

You're so tan.

[Dave]

Yeah. I like this outfit. I wish I could wear this outfit.

[Anthony]

My outfit. Pretty chill, too. Do you guys like mine?

[Dave]

Yeah, I love your outfit.

[Anthony]

It's kind of.

[Dave]

I love all of our outfits.

[Bryan Cranston]

I know.

[Krista]

I'm kind of.

[Dave]

How do you feel? Do you think that they're. Sorry, what were you saying?

[Anthony]

I don't think they're going to like what we're doing.

[Dave]

You don't think they're going to like what we're doing?

[Anthony]

Yo, here's my.

[Dave]

Yeah. Doing a Jesse Pinkman impression.

[Anthony]

Get off me.

[Dave]

Yo, like, Mr. White. I can't. That wasn't bad. It wasn't bad.

[Anthony]

Wasn't terrible.

[Dave]

I'm not going to break bad.

[Anthony]

I'm nervous.

[Dave]

I'm gonna stay good.

[Krista]

Speaking of staying good and being nervous and the Breaking Bad Men and New Mexico.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Krista]

You know how I like to spend time on Airbnb when there's nothing to do and I browse all the homes. You're a pink man, you guys. I sent it to you, Dave, but I don't think you checked your phone. Look at this home. I think we need to go here. It's called the Spectacular Earth Ship.

[Dave]

This is on Airbnb?

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

Oh, wow.

[Krista]

I think we could go.

[Anthony]

You want to stay in Earthship with me?

[Krista]

Look, I think we could go right after.

[Anthony]

Oh, my gosh.

[Krista]

And we could do antique shopping.

[Dave]

We should have done this in New Mexico with them.

[Anthony]

I'm so nervous.

[Dave]

Are you?

[Anthony]

I'm not nervous, but I'm, like, excited nervous.

[Dave]

Seeing both. I've never met either of them. Seeing both of them together is just going to feel almost like I was feeling like I'm in the show.

[Anthony]

Hey, Chuck. How's that feel?

[Dave]

I don't want to answer.

[Anthony]

You go first.

[Aaron Paul]

You go first.

[Bryan Cranston]

I love this. Love this porch.

[Krista]

You go first. You go.

[Anthony]

You go.

[Aaron Paul]

Have you ever lived in Venice?

[Bryan Cranston]

No. West. West la.

[Dave]

Come on in.

[Bryan Cranston]

Fucking hell, man.

[Anthony]

Come on in.

[Dave]

It's not just me.

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, my God.

[Dave]

One of the best shows ever made.

[Aaron Paul]

Brilliant.

[Krista]

You have such a focus.

[Aaron Paul]

I'm sorry, what? Wow.

[Bryan Cranston]

This show changed our lives.

[Aaron Paul]

I would have been so pissed.

[Anthony]

Nasty Sal. Cheers.

[Bryan Cranston]

Thank you.

[Dave]

Do you hate this or is this okay?

[Bryan Cranston]

We were talking about how nervous we were.

[Krista]

I'm Krista.

[Anthony]

I actually want to start dressing like this.

[Aaron Paul]

Isn't it cozy? First of all, she looks nice too, man.

[Anthony]

Ilionish.

[Krista]

I know. I might. I might wear this.

[Aaron Paul]

You represent that very well.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, you do.

[Krista]

I really feel I'm coming alive.

[Aaron Paul]

You look great.

[Bryan Cranston]

You were stuffing.

[Aaron Paul]

Really?

[Dave]

Of course I'm stuffing.

[Bryan Cranston]

You're stuffing major.

[Aaron Paul]

I mean, barely stuffing.

[Dave]

No, I got a big, thick wool sock in there. It's the biggest. It's one, but it's the biggest sock I have.

[Aaron Paul]

Okay.

[Bryan Cranston]

Well, at least it's, you know, it's exactly what I did on the show.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

Were you guys thinking about when you were in the 90s? Were you thinking, like, man, I hope they don't get a weird shot of this.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm already in my underwear on national television.

[Aaron Paul]

He's just giving the public what they want. How many times have you been in

[Bryan Cranston]

your tight weddings with Malcolm and you've met?

[Dave]

A lot.

[Bryan Cranston]

I mean, I joked that my agent was aware of a nudity clause, but he thought it was that I wanted to be nude.

[Aaron Paul]

I was like.

[Bryan Cranston]

So he was fired. I had to fire him.

[Anthony]

Come on, come on.

[Krista]

Come on in.

[Anthony]

Come on in.

[Aaron Paul]

We brought you some treats.

[Krista]

I'm excited.

[Aaron Paul]

We brought you some treats. Thanks for having us. Great place.

[Anthony]

Thank you.

[Krista]

Is this the treat?

[Aaron Paul]

This is the treat.

[Anthony]

It's actually a bop.

[Dave]

I feel like it's going to be someone's head.

[Aaron Paul]

So this was your first spot?

[Dave]

Yeah, it was my first home that I ever owned. And then met Kristen and we fell in love in Covid. In this home. And wow.

[Krista]

I looked just like this and he

[Bryan Cranston]

looked just like that. And you still fell in love?

[Krista]

We still fel.

[Aaron Paul]

That's wild.

[Anthony]

Yeah. You look good, too.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

You look great, too.

[Bryan Cranston]

Thanks.

[Anthony]

Benny, you're like the stylish. The most stylish version of what that outfit can look like is like. Like. I know. These are like the expensive versions of those things. You look very.

[Aaron Paul]

He's very fancy, this one.

[Bryan Cranston]

You look good. Yeah, fancy. You look cute.

[Anthony]

Your voice just cracked too. On national television.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm younger than I look.

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, can I get a coffee?

[Bryan Cranston]

Coffee.

[Aaron Paul]

Can I have a coffee? Oh, you have some. Yes.

[Anthony]

You guys dress yourselves in these outfits.

[Aaron Paul]

Sorry, I'm noticing the giant ball sound. Oh, yeah, that's just nuts. Yeah, that's a great thing to keep the premiere show.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, that's what I thought. Wait a minute.

[Aaron Paul]

I love the show, by the way.

[Bryan Cranston]

I know.

[Aaron Paul]

Love the show.

[Dave]

Let me tell you. I love your guys show.

[Krista]

Thank you.

[Dave]

I could love a show more. It's the best show I've ever seen in my life.

[Aaron Paul]

Thank you.

[Anthony]

You know, the first time I ever saw Breaking Bad was the season finale. Series finale. Okay, listen, listen. Let me talk about the dungeon. The way to watch this. I know this is the first time I ever. Okay, so here's. Here's what happened at the time. I'm working on Ed Sheeran's album, okay. We're in New York, and he said, holy shit. The finale is, you know, with traveling. He got all mixed up. He's like, the finale's today. He rents a hotel room, gets all the stuff we could do. So I'm watching the last episode and I remember being like, oh, this is like, really good. And this was in like, what year was that? 2018. 13.

[Aaron Paul]

13.

[Anthony]

13 is when it ended. So then I live my life. Covid hit. Okay. And I say, I have to watch all the best shows of all time. And I look up, I say, best shows of all time. I had already seen a few of the shows. Wire, Sopranos. And there was like a battle going on for the best shows. And it was you guys, Sopranos, the Wire. And I said, I gotta put this on. I put it on from the second I started it. I did not stop.

[Bryan Cranston]

Eyes are bloodshot.

[Anthony]

Well. Cause there was Covid. It was the exact start of COVID And then I just watched it all over again with my wife, who had never seen it and liked it more the second time. And love, though, come into a room and be like. And I'd be like. And I'd like, do all the little things. You know the guy who rings the

[Bryan Cranston]

bell, you talk about.

[Dave]

What's his name? Salamanca.

[Aaron Paul]

Hector.

[Bryan Cranston]

Hector Salamanca.

[Krista]

Like, do you guys ever watch it?

[Aaron Paul]

I've. I haven't seen it since it aired.

[Bryan Cranston]

No.

[Krista]

Did you watch it every time it came out?

[Aaron Paul]

We did, yeah. Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's good to see what they've did, what takes they did, and putting it together. And we appreciate it, but we. We had to move on. You know, it's like we got another one and another one. Another one.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And I. I would watch it again. I haven't seen it since it 13 years ago.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And I would watch it again, but I'd like to watch it, like, what you were talking about with someone who hasn't seen it yet. It'd be kind of fun to share that.

[Aaron Paul]

Does this look familiar?

[Krista]

Yes.

[Dave]

I've seen the pilot.

[Krista]

The pilot probably 100 times. I read the pilot script like, a hundred times. Oh, isn't it great? It's the best written pilot.

[Aaron Paul]

What's so great about Vince? Because he always, like, we had such an incredible writer's room, but then Vince always does his polish. And he is talking to the readers. He is talking to the people that are reading it. So he's talking to the cast, he's talking to the crew. You know, he references some of the people in the script. It's just.

[Krista]

It's such. So, like, for trying to write and learning to write, it's like the perfect example of, like, how to capture all of, like, the cinema, like, the cinematic. Even the descriptions are so cinematic.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah. Yeah. It's a great script.

[Bryan Cranston]

When I read it and I was offered the role, our daughter was just about to enter high school. It's a very critical time, you know. And this was shooting in New Mexico.

[Krista]

Oh, yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

So I gave it to my wife, and I said, I want you to read this. I've just been offered it after. And she knew about it, but she hadn't read it yet. And I said, just know it shoots in New Mexico. She goes, okay. And she starts reading, and I would peek in to see because I knew it was so good, you know, and she's flipping and going. And. Because that's.

[Anthony]

It's.

[Bryan Cranston]

You can't stop. Just like the show. And she went all the way through, and I knew when she was getting at the end. And I'm peeking around, and she finished the last page, looked at me, threw it over the bed and said, shit,

[Aaron Paul]

I really love that.

[Bryan Cranston]

Because she knew I had to say,

[Aaron Paul]

you're gonna be gone for.

[Bryan Cranston]

And then I had to spend 6, 7 months in new Mexico.

[Krista]

So you guys lived. You both lived there during.

[Anthony]

Lived there?

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah, I mean, it was about six months.

[Anthony]

Wait, were you married when that happened?

[Aaron Paul]

No, I met her very early on. Met Lauren very early on.

[Bryan Cranston]

Well, he went through a couple girlfriends that I met that are.

[Aaron Paul]

Well, I mean, not that many.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Krista]

Whoa.

[Aaron Paul]

There was. Yeah, there Was you met her.

[Anthony]

You met her season two, I met her season three. Oh, my God. So you see?

[Aaron Paul]

So it was before the show sort of really took off.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Talk about, what's the deal with that. Didn't it, like take three seasons to get to the level, popularity wise, that it deserves?

[Aaron Paul]

So what happened was first season, we were incredibly proud of it. You know, we did seven episodes. We were cut short by two because of the writers strike back then.

[Krista]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

But the critics loved the show, but we were only getting, I think it's 700 or 800,000 at the most in the season one. Why isn't people, like, really watching this show? Yeah, but when it really exploded was we landed three seasons on Netflix just while we were shooting season four. And we were actually, believe it or not, but we were the very first new bingeable show ever on Netflix, ever. Which was crazy.

[Bryan Cranston]

What also helped is that they had very recently just switched. I don't know if you remember the red envelopes that used to get in the mail when you're sending a movie, Netflix, back and forth. And that stopped and it's just streaming. And then that's what really helped because then people could watch and get addicted to it.

[Anthony]

I remember the first time I heard of Netflix. My friend, when I was a kid, when I was. I wonder when Netflix came out. Probably when I was like 14, maybe 13, something like that. I just remember. I just remember my friend would get movies in the mail and then he was like, we could get any movie we want and we just ship it back.

[Krista]

That's so cool.

[Anthony]

And I was like, what are you talking about? And he was like, he's like, we never have to go to Blockbuster again.

[Dave]

It was that cool.

[Anthony]

What do you mean? It's amazing. You have to go to Blockbuster.

[Aaron Paul]

I loved Blockbuster.

[Bryan Cranston]

Blockbuster was an event.

[Aaron Paul]

I remember, though, thinking it was so cool, for sure.

[Dave]

I remember being really, like, not impressed with the business model and thinking, like, I don't know if this thing's gonna work. Obviously I'm totally wrong. And thinking, like, is it really that convenient to have this thing mailed to me when I can just go to. I wouldn't even want the pressure to have to pick it out in advance and be organized like that.

[Bryan Cranston]

We used to take our daughter and say, you get to select one and mommy and daddy will select one and okay, one candy. And it was like a. It was like a fun event.

[Dave]

What about movie theaters? Talk about an even bigger institution.

[Bryan Cranston]

I know, like, when I talk to

[Dave]

my cousins who are kids And I talk about movie theaters because they haven't had what we had growing up. Like, they look at movie theaters as, like, they're like, oh, movie theater. Like, I would never. Those places are weary.

[Anthony]

I know.

[Dave]

Do you guys notice when, like, how everyone's TVs are on the wrong mode?

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, yeah.

[Dave]

Do you notice, like, it's too crisp.

[Aaron Paul]

It's too crisp, so it's crisp so you can reset that.

[Dave]

It's for live sports. So all the TVs come set to,

[Aaron Paul]

like, optimize live so you can read.

[Dave]

And it turns every cinematic thing, any TV show, any movie, into looking like it's a soap opera or something.

[Krista]

Like, that hasn't been rendered. Like, it looks like it's, like, not the final exhibition.

[Dave]

Yes, it looks totally. And then truly. And, like, the common man or woman, I feel like, really doesn't even notice. So it's like. Which is so heartbreaking.

[Anthony]

Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's the common man.

[Dave]

Exactly.

[Bryan Cranston]

Horrible.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah. No, I rewatched the Wire when we were. When we were shooting Breaking Bad, and I put it on my tv. I'm like, why does this look so shit?

[Anthony]

It looks like it was filmed on,

[Bryan Cranston]

like, a cell phone video. Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

And then I was able to reset the settings.

[Anthony]

I'm gonna taste the Mezcal now.

[Krista]

Yeah. Tell us about the inception of this.

[Dave]

Yeah. When did you guys start thinking.

[Aaron Paul]

We've been working. We've been working on this for close to a decade. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah. We've been out on the market. July 9th will be seven years. But I just. Honestly, I just love this guy so much. He's truly, truly my best friend in the world. And, yeah, just really hit it off with Breaking Bad. And I'm like, this guy, I always say it, he's the hardest worker in the room.

[Bryan Cranston]

Thank you, man. I appreciate it.

[Aaron Paul]

No, he. He really is the hardest. Like, he is just the best, but also the most immature person you've ever. The most immature person you've ever met in your life.

[Dave]

Great combo.

[Aaron Paul]

It's just such a great combo. Just the elevator pitch, like, why we did it. I. I miss. I missed him and three.

[Anthony]

Three years.

[Aaron Paul]

Three years post the finale, Breaking Bad, he was doing a play in New York. I was doing a show, and we caught up and had sushi together. And he pitched me. He's like, do you think it's too soon to do another show or a movie or. I go, I think it's a little too soon. And we started spitballing ideas of what we could do together at the Sushi meal. At the sushi meal. And then out of nowhere, I never thought of starting a booze company, you know? And I go, well, what do you think about booze? And he laughed at me, thinking I was joking, and go, no, man, I'm being serious. What do you think about Mezcal? And he almost did a spit take. He goes, the shitty spirit with the dead worm at the bottom of it. I'm like, no, man, that's not how they do things anymore. Because he had a terrible experience with mescal.

[Bryan Cranston]

That was my introduction back in the day, of course. Plastic bottle. It was like a dollar and a quarter or something, and it was awful.

[Krista]

What's the worm do?

[Anthony]

Like, worm. What?

[Aaron Paul]

Like, it's actually. Back in the day, they not have people confused with tequila and Mezcal. And so they just literally put a worm in the meow.

[Bryan Cranston]

It was also. It's like.

[Aaron Paul]

But typically, it was very, very shitty meow. We didn't have options back then. So this has been out for over six years. We're just launching our tequila.

[Dave]

I got some glasses you can drink.

[Anthony]

This smells like. This smells like. Smell this. Now. Smell him

[Aaron Paul]

a little bit.

[Krista]

Yeah, I do. I see. I just rub that all over like a leathery. Not in a bad way.

[Anthony]

Which one? Which one do I get? Here, you can. Baker. Yeah, give me one of those.

[Bryan Cranston]

Look at that.

[Anthony]

You guys ready to cook? A little. Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

You want to go?

[Dave]

Like, are these cousins? Are they related? Tequila and Mezcal.

[Bryan Cranston]

Tequila is mezcal.

[Aaron Paul]

Just a little sip.

[Anthony]

Mm.

[Aaron Paul]

Cheers.

[Dave]

Cheers. Thank you, guys. It's an honor to have you here. A true honor.

[Aaron Paul]

It's great to be here.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

I'm such a big fan of. Is this an extra operation? Was this what happened?

[Krista]

You've seen it?

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, I love it. Delicious.

[Dave]

Hell, yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

I love it.

[Anthony]

It's new.

[Dave]

It's gonna be happening.

[Krista]

I had to get on social media. Like, I don't even know what's going on in the world anymore.

[Aaron Paul]

She doesn't.

[Anthony]

She can't be in the comics.

[Krista]

I mean, I know about a few things, thanks to cnn.

[Anthony]

Ow.

[Dave]

That hurt.

[Anthony]

Yeah. Wow.

[Dave]

That actually hurt.

[Anthony]

It did feel like something. You have chunks in your ear.

[Dave]

Oh, it's movie magic glass.

[Anthony]

It is.

[Dave]

Yeah. Shouldn't have hurt, like. Yeah. Is everybody okay? I thought that was just.

[Bryan Cranston]

Okay. Let's try it with this.

[Anthony]

It didn't hurt a little bit. Wait, wait.

[Aaron Paul]

I wanna break something here.

[Dave]

I got a bunch of movie magic laughs right here. Shattered.

[Aaron Paul]

Are you serious?

[Dave]

Swear to God.

[Anthony]

Do it over. Hey, it did hurt a little.

[Aaron Paul]

I've been wanting to do this for. So. Yeah, I actually have. In a nice way. In a gentle way.

[Dave]

Hold on.

[Bryan Cranston]

You're gonna break that over my head?

[Aaron Paul]

Or a malicious way, but I've always wanted to break a beaker over your head.

[Anthony]

Do it.

[Aaron Paul]

Can I.

[Bryan Cranston]

It slightly hurts, and I chastise you.

[Aaron Paul]

Will you just shut up?

[Anthony]

It does hurt a little bit. Pay him back.

[Dave]

Pay it forward, brother.

[Bryan Cranston]

No, I can't even do it. It's like it's.

[Aaron Paul]

Don't you dare.

[Anthony]

That's so wrong.

[Dave]

It's not. It's so right.

[Krista]

Here.

[Dave]

You want a bigger one?

[Anthony]

Let me do it, Chris. Okay, wait. First. Now he gets to do it to you?

[Aaron Paul]

You're so sweet.

[Krista]

Make sure it's actually not real glass.

[Aaron Paul]

Okay?

[Dave]

Only one of them is real glass.

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, my God.

[Dave]

He's bleeding.

[Bryan Cranston]

Just a little. Oh, my God.

[Aaron Paul]

Look at what you guys.

[Anthony]

He said when you're old. This is what happened.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm telling you. I'm. I'm telling you. Remember I told you this.

[Dave]

I don't even know if we have

[Bryan Cranston]

a band aid here.

[Dave]

I'm so sorry. I feel so bad.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's all right.

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, but, yeah, so as I was saying, it really went sideways.

[Dave]

Ollipop time, everybody.

[Anthony]

Oh, my God.

[Dave]

Which flavor do you guys like?

[Anthony]

What are you grabbing?

[Dave]

The BlackBerry vanilla. I'll take some raspberry Sherber.

[Anthony]

Did you know the raspberry sherbeck that

[Krista]

they brought this one back?

[Anthony]

They did.

[Krista]

Back by popular demand.

[Dave]

Wait, why does it spell sherbet?

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, my God.

[Anthony]

This is the best smelling thing I've ever smelt in my life. Oh, my God. I used to have an ice cream like a sherbet like this when I was a kid in upstate New York with my grandma, and she's dead. It literally just brought me back to this.

[Dave]

Buy any 2 cans of Olipop in store and they'll pay you back for one. Any flavor, any retailer. Go to drinkolipop.comfks oh, my God.

[Anthony]

This is memory lane.

[Dave]

White Claw time.

[Anthony]

Say yes.

[Krista]

Speaking of saying yes, Benny, Benny says directed towards you because we did have a group chat about how you were gonna help my voice sound better, and I think now is a really good time.

[Anthony]

Are you telling me we're spontaneously hanging out right now?

[Krista]

We're spontaneously hanging out. And right after this, we're gonna go. You're gonna take me to the studio, and you're gonna make my voice sound better.

[Aaron Paul]

I love this drink.

[Dave]

Please drink responsibly. Hard seltzer. With flavors. White Claw Seltzer Worth, Chicago, Illinois.

[Anthony]

Say yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

Whoa.

[Anthony]

That was cool.

[Aaron Paul]

Say yes.

[Dave]

Yeah. Can we talk about David?

[Krista]

I mean, I did eat one of these earlier when I was at the.

[Anthony]

I'm sure you're looking.

[Krista]

No, I think these are really good.

[Dave]

These things provide strength.

[Anthony]

The most strength. Jack, you need to start eating them so your back doesn't deteriorate.

[Krista]

I did like it. It's like, good. Well, I had the chocolate. I had the chocolate chip cookie.

[Anthony]

Chocolate chip cookie dough is amazing. Blueberry pie's amazing. Red velvet's amazing.

[Dave]

I just gotta eat this stuff to get stronger. I have to lift weights, too.

[Krista]

You might want to look like.

[Anthony]

You might want to do both, but check the profile's so good. That's 150 calories, 28 grams of protein, and zero sugar. Literally zero sugar.

[Krista]

How do you know so much about.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm a macros type of guy.

[Anthony]

David is available at Walmart stores nationwide. And on Walmart.com you can try a single bar for only $2.97.

[Dave]

Go grab one for yourself.

[Krista]

How long have you been married?

[Aaron Paul]

Almost 13 years.

[Krista]

Wow. So give us. Because we're all newlyweds, give us. You each give us one. How do you do it?

[Bryan Cranston]

So the best thing is to think of the five most important things you want in your partner.

[Anthony]

Okay.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Okay. It might be, well, fidelity and humor and moral center. Or someone. A decent person, maybe someone you know? Is it intelligence? Is it whatever. Is it your attention? Physical attraction? What are the five?

[Aaron Paul]

Right.

[Bryan Cranston]

Pick those five and let everything else go. Yeah, I love that because it's your. Just let it go. Like, there are certain things around the house that my wife and I will never see eye to eye on.

[Anthony]

It's just like, tell me one of them.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, well, she is. She is a very neat and together person, but she's not an organized person. So I like to have things. When I go to my refrigerator, I like to know where things are. You know what I mean?

[Anthony]

Yeah, me too.

[Bryan Cranston]

And it's like. And it's like I pulled out, like, five open jars of mayonnaise one time, and I'm like, okay, there's too much mayo.

[Krista]

That could set you off.

[Aaron Paul]

Too much mayo set you off.

[Bryan Cranston]

And the refrigerator is stuffed with five different mayos and six different this and seven. You know, it's like. And so I said, how about condiments in the door and salad dressing and that stuff? And, you know, it's just hard for her. So she goes up, she gets it, and she puts it back. It could be top shelf, could be bottom shelf, could be handy.

[Anthony]

It wouldn't be hard for me and you. One thing we'd see eye to eye on in our relationship.

[Krista]

You're telling me you guys put everything back. When you take it out, you put

[Anthony]

it back the exact same spot I ever put it back before. And all the labels have to be facing forward.

[Aaron Paul]

When's your birthday?

[Anthony]

March.

[Bryan Cranston]

Mine, too.

[Anthony]

You march, what, Seven, eight.

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, my God, you two. Let's go.

[Anthony]

Guess what?

[Bryan Cranston]

Pisces.

[Dave]

Fifteenth.

[Bryan Cranston]

Fifteenth.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Pisces.

[Anthony]

When's your birthday?

[Aaron Paul]

August 27th. Oh, you're Virgo. You're Virgo.

[Anthony]

My mom's Virgo, too.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah, I'm very organized.

[Anthony]

I'm a little ocd, but I think,

[Aaron Paul]

yeah, with me, it's just all about, well, communication.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

Patience and just understanding one another. Each of you. Everyone's so different. Right. So you all kind of have different sorts of points of view, but. And I always say, whenever I go to a wedding, I write a note that just says, never forget the moment you realize.

[Anthony]

Wait. Never forget wet moments. Sorry. He's chiseling.

[Aaron Paul]

Never forget the moment. Never forget the moment you realize.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

That you.

[Anthony]

That's cool.

[Krista]

We're a thing.

[Aaron Paul]

We're a thing. Like, you're like, this is it. This is my partner. And you want to protect that. And so I think people get in fights or arguments because of, like, a miscommunication or someone really fucked up.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah. Like, so don't. But what I truly, like, just don't fuck up. Like, just, like, really lean in. Protect it.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

Be patient, because you're gonna have to weather the storm. Right, kids?

[Krista]

Right?

[Aaron Paul]

And kids are.

[Bryan Cranston]

There's always something fantastic.

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, yeah.

[Dave]

You saw that? Yeah. That's for you guys. Speaking of Hector.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

Right.

[Anthony]

Wow.

[Aaron Paul]

I mean, the production of this collaboration is pretty incredible.

[Dave]

I have a question. When you guys were making Breaking Bad and, like. And you're. You're being. You're probably receiving all the cliffhangers and whatnot via script form. So are you guys, like, fiending the scripts and, like, so excited to sit down and.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah, just.

[Anthony]

You ever just, like, ah, that.

[Dave]

What happened?

[Aaron Paul]

Honestly, no. There was a moment where I see Brian. He's walking out of the production office into the stage, and he sees me. He's like, come here. And he gives me this big hug.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

I'm like, what's going on? It's just like this emotional hug.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

And he's like, wow, though. Like, crazy. I go, what is Going on. He's like, well, you read it, right? The latest script. I'm like, no, I haven't got it yet.

[Bryan Cranston]

He's like, oh, shit.

[Aaron Paul]

Well, oh, okay, nevermind. Because he said something like, it's crazy, but what a way to go, huh? I'm like, what is he talking about? I went straight into the production office. I'm like, where's the script? He's like, they're like, it's not ready yet. I'm like, well, give me the writer's draft or something. He's like, no, no one has yet. I'm like, brian just said he read it. I have to know what's going on. I thought. Or just kind of being cautious, being protective of my feelings. Let me read an outline, something. He's just fucking with me.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

He made me think that I was a great prank.

[Krista]

That's a great prank.

[Dave]

That is such.

[Bryan Cranston]

He was supposed to die, was he? Yeah, the character was supposed to die.

[Anthony]

He was supposed to die in what season?

[Aaron Paul]

First season one.

[Anthony]

Yeah, but I didn't.

[Aaron Paul]

I didn't know that going into.

[Anthony]

I read that, but I wasn't sure if it was real.

[Dave]

You must feel proud. I mean, you just earned your way out of death to like the. The ultimate of life. Like busting through that fence, driving out.

[Aaron Paul]

He's a perfectionist, by the way.

[Bryan Cranston]

What is this missing?

[Anthony]

I'm kind of doing it 30, 40 more minutes or something. It tastes good.

[Aaron Paul]

Is there. It tastes good. Is there a simple syrup?

[Dave]

We have these things.

[Bryan Cranston]

A little. Simple syrup. A little.

[Dave]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Anthony]

That simple syrup right there. That's all you need.

[Aaron Paul]

Little. Just a little.

[Anthony]

Just a little.

[Bryan Cranston]

That's what it needs.

[Anthony]

Just a little pucker up.

[Bryan Cranston]

It needs a pop.

[Krista]

You guys have dreams about Breaking Bad and shooting? You miss it?

[Dave]

Oh, good question.

[Bryan Cranston]

Well, you know, when. When it ended 13 years ago, I thought, well, that's the end of that. That's the last time I'll see these people. And it was. And then he did a movie called El Camino which extended the story of what happened to Jesse.

[Krista]

Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

Which people wanted to know.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And so I was doing a play in New York at the time, and I got into a car right after my Sunday matinee, flew on a private jet to Albuquerque. They put a shroud over me getting off the plane because they didn't want anybody to know anything. They put me into an Airbnb. I couldn't leave.

[Krista]

Oh, my gosh.

[Bryan Cranston]

And then the next day, I have that shroud open again. And I think they said. What were our names? Your name?

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, Burton, Ernie.

[Bryan Cranston]

Burton, Ernie.

[Aaron Paul]

That was our.

[Bryan Cranston]

That was our names on the call sheet. And they put me in a. In a bald cap and the whole thing.

[Dave]

Oh, I.

[Bryan Cranston]

And I did a little. A little. Couple days with him and then flew back to New York to continue.

[Aaron Paul]

And then we did a little bit on Better Call Saul.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

But when we were. When we were shooting, I mean, I was having dreams as the guy.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

Like, as Jesse.

[Anthony]

Really?

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

How did that.

[Dave]

Did that stress you out when you were having.

[Anthony]

Did you forget how to talk like yourself?

[Aaron Paul]

It's better.

[Dave]

You guys are so sweet. Your relationship, like, makes me want to cry.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

He normally bird feeds me my food.

[Anthony]

It is sweet.

[Dave]

And then I've never witnessed. I'm obviously big fans of the show. Yeah. I've just never witnessed your dynamic in person. So it's, like, taking me.

[Aaron Paul]

I love the guy, you know? I got to tell you something.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

He's about to have a pretty serious surgery.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, really?

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah, he's having a shoulder surgery.

[Dave]

Yeah, Tommy John.

[Bryan Cranston]

Replacing. Yeah, replacing my shoulder.

[Aaron Paul]

You know, I mean, Lost baseball was an incredible pitcher. Oh, wow. You know what he's giving me?

[Anthony]

What?

[Dave]

His old shoulder.

[Aaron Paul]

He's giving me his old shoulder to cry on.

[Dave]

Wait, really?

[Bryan Cranston]

He's giving him my shoulder to cry on? He'll have my bones.

[Aaron Paul]

He's gonna. I don't know if they're gonna let him.

[Krista]

My aunt did that. You can get. You can ask for the bones.

[Aaron Paul]

There you go. I'm gonna put it on my. On my mantle.

[Bryan Cranston]

What can I pour these in? Do you have anything?

[Anthony]

I only have things that break.

[Dave]

No, no, we have real. We have real. Can I ask a question about your Wire rewatch when you were shooting Breaking Bad?

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah, of course.

[Dave]

Were you just like, oh, my God, what season? Like, do you remember when you started rewatching the Wire?

[Aaron Paul]

I started rewatching the Wire season. The second season.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Because I was hoping that you were gonna say the fourth season or something, because you were like, oh, my God, I'm in the middle of one of these things right now.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Like, did that influence your rewatch timing or. No.

[Aaron Paul]

Maybe. To be honest, we watched the pilot together. We knew when we read the pilot, like, oh, my God, this is the greatest thing we've ever read. The pilot of Breaking Bad was the sixth or seventh pilot that I had done, but the previous ones never went to see.

[Anthony]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

And I was. That was the most strapped I've been financially, so I. I really needed do

[Dave]

you need more glass?

[Bryan Cranston]

No. Okay.

[Aaron Paul]

I really needed this pilot to work

[Bryan Cranston]

out, but also, he was living in a closet. That's where he was.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah. I had a. I had a studio apartment. A roommate moved in. I had a. I would sleep on the bed for a week, and then I'd move to the closet.

[Anthony]

You guys would just swap?

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah. And so I struck. I was struggling in. Then breaking badges kind of took off. But when we watched the pilot for the first time, this was before we were picked up. And we're like, oh, my God. Our jaws were on the floor.

[Anthony]

Did you think it was gonna be great right away?

[Aaron Paul]

Just the execution on all levels. We're like, oh, my God. And we thought, are they gonna make the announcement to us that we got picked up? They didn't. And then we didn't find out for, like, three weeks after that.

[Dave]

It must have been frustrating to cause two seasons go by of one of the best shows ever made. And it's not being necessarily appreciated on the level.

[Aaron Paul]

But he won the Emmy for the first season for seven episodes. So critically, it was being praised, but the people, the public, hadn't really caught on yet. It's interesting, but Netflix truly saved us.

[Anthony]

You know, there's all sorts of things. Oh, beautiful work. When you're making something. Sometimes I don't know, like, when a song's gonna be big, or sometimes I'm the opposite way. I think it's gonna be big. It's not. Also, sometimes I'll work with someone and it takes so long for them to get big, or it takes so long and it'll be a thing. And I'm like, how does everyone not know?

[Aaron Paul]

But do you know sometimes with music, do you know it's just an instant banger.

[Anthony]

Oh, this is. Yeah. Wait a minute. I get a feeling. Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

Benny. You can identify when something's really good, but you can't possibly say this is gonna hit. We don't know what's going to hit.

[Anthony]

Okay. Back in the day before, like, TikTok and all that stuff, I had a really good. Like, if I thought a song was gonna be big, I'd say more times than not, it became big. Now it's a little bit more difficult because you're losing. I'm losing my time. Yeah. I'm old, definitely. No. And it's tough because there's so many other factors now, because in a cool way, people.

[Aaron Paul]

Thank you.

[Dave]

Thank you.

[Anthony]

Oh, yeah. Let's taste this.

[Krista]

I have to.

[Aaron Paul]

Salud.

[Krista]

Salud.

[Anthony]

Cheers.

[Bryan Cranston]

Salud.

[Anthony]

Salud. Salud.

[Aaron Paul]

Salud.

[Dave]

Wow. This is great.

[Krista]

To breaking glass.

[Aaron Paul]

Breaking glass.

[Bryan Cranston]

That's the next one you make.

[Aaron Paul]

I'll hold off.

[Anthony]

That's unbelievable.

[Krista]

Perfect.

[Dave]

Couldn't be a better drink.

[Anthony]

Unbelievable.

[Dave]

Were you even good at making drinks like this before this venture?

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, really?

[Dave]

Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

You know what?

[Aaron Paul]

It's so good.

[Bryan Cranston]

Aaron and I are very used to. Used to being in a position of not knowing. As an actor, you go into something and I don't know who this character is or what I'm gonna do with it. So we went into this. Very comfortable with not knowing. And you learn. You just start absorbing exactly how it's made. And then behind the bar, it's like watching bartenders who really know what they're doing.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Then you kind of emulate that.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

So this was just kind of a.

[Anthony]

It's the best margarita I've ever had in my life.

[Dave]

I agree. It's so good.

[Krista]

Anything other than white wine. This is so good.

[Anthony]

It is so good.

[Bryan Cranston]

I really believe that you first said it was the best margarita you ever had. Now you're real.

[Anthony]

I wanted to be real. I'm always. I don't lie now.

[Aaron Paul]

One etches another.

[Bryan Cranston]

Your shit.

[Dave]

So you guys want to sit on the couch?

[Aaron Paul]

Sure.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, God. Wait till you taste this.

[Aaron Paul]

You want to do a little caviar bomb?

[Bryan Cranston]

Do I snort this?

[Aaron Paul]

Whatever. It's up to you.

[Krista]

I want to see you snort it.

[Dave]

I haven't eaten anything. I have huge textural phobias. I've just tried a grape for the first time this year.

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, grape. I want to hang with you guys all the time.

[Anthony]

All we just drink tequila and eat caviar.

[Krista]

I hope you guys don't think you're leaving. You guys can stay out of town.

[Aaron Paul]

I don't wanna leave.

[Bryan Cranston]

We're gonna re.

[Krista]

Watch Breaking Bad.

[Anthony]

Oh, man.

[Krista]

It has good protein.

[Anthony]

Try that.

[Krista]

Right?

[Anthony]

Yeah. It is good protein.

[Krista]

It will, like, give you more protein.

[Dave]

This is a lot of.

[Anthony]

I'm going, big boy. You like caviar?

[Dave]

Hold on.

[Aaron Paul]

I am so proud of you.

[Dave]

You too. Thank you.

[Aaron Paul]

That's good. It's a big deal. You know why?

[Dave]

I can.

[Aaron Paul]

I'm so proud of you.

[Anthony]

I was worried you're gonna.

[Dave]

I would really taste the individuality of the balls.

[Aaron Paul]

Right.

[Dave]

But which would really unnerve me.

[Bryan Cranston]

I like your show where you really taste the individuality.

[Krista]

Would you guys say the two of you are. Is this peak life for you right now? Like, do you feel like you kind of done the things you wanna do and now you're having, like, you get to like, do stuff like this, and you get to get a elbow or shoulder surgery.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah, it's all. I mean, it's all just such a blessing.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm. I'm starting to. To deteriorate a little. Different tact.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm starting to degrade.

[Krista]

No, no, you look great, by the way.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, gosh, you really do.

[Aaron Paul]

Doesn't he?

[Bryan Cranston]

No, but, you know, 37 years and. And my wife Robin has been my champion through, you know, all these years. I've been an actor for 47 years.

[Dave]

I mean, even on a bigger scale than Breaking Bad, like, wouldn't you say your big break in your acting? I mean, Malcolm in the Middle was probably the big thing. Yeah, but then. Yeah, but even that. You were, like. How old were you when Malcolm in The middle started?

[Bryan Cranston]

41.

[Dave]

Yes.

[Aaron Paul]

And you weren't even supposed to be. Was that supposed to be as big of a role in that show at the beginning?

[Bryan Cranston]

Well, you know, I mean, to have a career, you have to be talented. You have to have perseverance and patience. But you also need a healthy dose of luck. He was going to be cut from our show but for the strike. Vince Gilligan didn't get that far in the show. And he wasn't killed in the first season.

[Aaron Paul]

Yes, by the way. No. And honestly, when we shot the pilot and Vince sold the idea of the arc of the show, the arc of the first season was Jesse Pinkman introduces Walt to the drug world. And by. Towards the end of the. Not even the finale. It's like the episode before the finale, Pinkman dies, and then Walt is then led to go out for revenge into

[Anthony]

the second season and beyond.

[Dave]

Good writing.

[Aaron Paul]

But when we.

[Anthony]

When we.

[Bryan Cranston]

I wish it would have happened that way.

[Aaron Paul]

When we shot the pilot and we got picked up, Vince told me while we were shooting the first season, towards the end of it, he pulled me over during lunch, and he's like, I want to. I want to. I want to tell you something. He's having lunch with all the. All the writers.

[Bryan Cranston]

I want you to start making the lunch for all the queen.

[Anthony]

Because you're about to die.

[Bryan Cranston]

Because you're about to die on the show.

[Aaron Paul]

But we want you to be like, I want you to know the original plan was to kill you off at the end of the season, and we still had, like, two more episodes to shoot. And my heart just starts pounding through my chest. I'm like, well, what do you mean? When am I going to die? He's like, no, no, no, you're not going to die. When we shot the pilot, and we saw what you and Brian were doing together. We just love that dynamic so much. So when they got picked up the first meeting in the writers room, they decided to change the whole dynamic.

[Dave]

That's amazing.

[Aaron Paul]

We're no longer going to have him die.

[Anthony]

Dude, your life could have been so, so different.

[Aaron Paul]

I would have been so pissed.

[Dave]

You still probably had a sad.

[Aaron Paul]

I would have been so sad.

[Dave]

Heartbroken. Yeah. It would break everyone's heart. You had the fear.

[Anthony]

You're, like, in my disposal.

[Aaron Paul]

And then he messes with me that I'm gonna die. Then he started. It was like the domino that fell. And then everybody sort of, like, started to get in on it. You know, it's like a producer came up to me. They're like, hey, you're gonna need to stay afterwards to get your, like, the measurements of the coffin.

[Bryan Cranston]

Measurements for what?

[Aaron Paul]

They're like, measurements for the. For the coffin. I was like, what coffin? They're like. And they're like, oh, my God. Right? You haven't read that? You know what?

[Anthony]

Forget it.

[Aaron Paul]

I'll let Vince talk to you about it.

[Bryan Cranston]

That's so.

[Aaron Paul]

What are they doing? It's all his fault.

[Dave]

And even. I mean, to me, Stringer Bell dying in the Wire, it's like a. Oh, my God. It's a chip to use as a series. If it's like, you have probably one time where you can really kill a beloved character. And when Stringer Bell died in the Wire, boy, was my world absolute.

[Anthony]

And the way he died.

[Dave]

Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, God.

[Dave]

You know, who was a chip that died in a way. Look, somebody has to die at some point. You know what I mean? In a show like Breaking Bad or the Wire. And I thought a death that rocked me in Breaking Bad was Gus. Like, I mean, obviously, in general, his character, but the way in which his face fell off and then it was just.

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, yeah, I have that head. Great.

[Dave]

Oh, my God. Great use of a death, in my opinion, is the way Gus went out.

[Anthony]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And that's a good point, because you shouldn't kill off a character without great value. You have to be careful of how you do that.

[Dave]

You know, Gus was the coolest death, but Hank was the one that gutted me the most.

[Aaron Paul]

Oh, my God. Wait, when did you guys get married?

[Krista]

August.

[Anthony]

We all got newlyweds.

[Aaron Paul]

Amazing. Enjoy it. Soak it up.

[Anthony]

We got married one month apart.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

How great.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, really?

[Dave]

Yeah. Back to back. Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Was that a plan or was it like.

[Anthony]

No, no, ours. Honestly, ours was the only time it could fit in our schedules that we. Or we'd have to wait another year. And we were like, oh, let's just do it then.

[Krista]

And he was on a deadline. He had. I gave him a. Oh, yeah.

[Anthony]

She gave an ultimatum.

[Bryan Cranston]

My wife did, too.

[Anthony]

Your wife gave an ultimatum?

[Bryan Cranston]

It was very subtle, but she was.

[Anthony]

We all shoot you.

[Bryan Cranston]

We were in our 30s. We were in our 30s already. And she's like, you know, anyone valuable with self? You know, of course. It's like self awareness. It's like, I'm not gonna wait forever.

[Dave]

I respect. Yeah, that's right. I could not respect an ultimatum more. In fact, it's crazy that we even live in a world where, like, the women gotta just wait till the men decide if they're worthy of it.

[Aaron Paul]

What did you guys meet?

[Dave]

A writer of my show, a wonderful woman named Vanessa.

[Aaron Paul]

Okay.

[Dave]

Who's a mutual friend. And one night, she was bowling with Vanessa, and Vanessa told me, because I was always saying, vanessa, you gotta know somebody, like, set me up. I was like a hopeless romantic, dating. Just waiting to. I really was, like, being patient. Exactly. And then she was like, oh, my God, my friend Kristen, I'm balling with her and I think she might be your wife. And it was like 11pm already. I went down at 11. It was like, oh, you went there? Yeah, yeah. I took an Uber. I didn't drive there.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's really bold to say. I think she might be proactive. Wow.

[Dave]

I know.

[Anthony]

The crazy thing is, 2019, I'm shooting a video with Selena.

[Dave]

Oh, yeah.

[Anthony]

I'm dating someone else.

[Bryan Cranston]

Okay.

[Anthony]

My mom's on the video shoot and she says, she's just sitting there, she's like, huh? And she's like, you should marry Selena. And I was like, what? And she was like, you should be dating someone like Selena. And there was, like, two times in my life where I, like, left a specific session or video with her where I was like, like, wow, she's so cool. She's, like, really cool. Cause we were friendly and we were friends, but we weren't, like, best friends. And every time I, like, hung out with her for an extended period of time, I'd be like, oh, my God, she's so cool. I actually an ex girlfriend of mine from way before that, like, five years before that. I was texting with her one time, and she said, like, you know, it's so great you guys got married. I remember you talking so positively about Selena even when we were together. Just as, like, a friendly thing. No, not as. Like, not as I Get it? Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

So your mom planted the seed.

[Anthony]

My mom planted the seed. And she was like, you should really. And I was like, mom, I'm not. She was like, I really want you to be with. She's like. She's got her head on her shoulders.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Mom, I have a girlfriend.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

Yeah, I did. It was crazy. And I was like, she's so. She was like. She's so sweet, you know, she's this and that.

[Aaron Paul]

She's such a sweetheart.

[Anthony]

Everyone says you always meet your best or you always marry your best friend. Like, that's when it works. And it was like, she's my. She's my fucking best friend. And it's like, look at this.

[Aaron Paul]

Look at you two. Newbie. That's so cute.

[Krista]

We're having a good time together. He's a little bit afraid when we have kids. He's like, I know we're gonna have.

[Dave]

Well, fortunately, the reality is.

[Aaron Paul]

But that's normal. And that's.

[Bryan Cranston]

What's the reality.

[Aaron Paul]

The fear is normal.

[Dave]

I have a certain level. I always have a degree of incompetence to. Like, I'm incredibly smart in certain ways and incredibly incompetent in other ways.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah. And

[Dave]

I just have.

[Krista]

Should I give the example of driving today?

[Anthony]

He doesn't know anything about neither one

[Dave]

of the speed limit. She goes. She goes, wait, no, wait. I'm driving, like, 38 miles an hour.

[Krista]

No, no. She goes, he's driving 23 miles an hour.

[Bryan Cranston]

There's a car right.

[Dave]

There's a car right in front of me.

[Krista]

But there's an open lane.

[Anthony]

Open lane. Okay.

[Dave]

She goes, you know, the speed limit's 45. I say, okay, there's a car right now.

[Krista]

No, no, you go, okay. Am I going too fast?

[Dave]

Yes. Am I going too fast?

[Krista]

And I thought, well, wouldn't he look at the speed? It's right next to us.

[Dave]

I did. I looked at it previous. Before that, I was cruising in about 40.

[Krista]

I just didn't. I said, are you asking? I said, I don't understand. Like, to me, my brain was like, if someone says to me, do you know the speed limit's 45? I would instantly look at the speedometer in front of me and see neither

[Anthony]

one of them are prepared to have children now.

[Dave]

So I think that there's a level of incompetence to me that is just innate in me, that on the one hand, I want to be like, I will work on that, and I should work on that, and I will work on that. But I think. I think that there Is something in me that is really an uphill battle. But I will be better than I would be if I did nothing. But I still will never be the great version of that. Competent, like, at all times. There are certain things that I'm gonna do that's better than any father could ever do. But there are other things that I'm.

[Aaron Paul]

I will say, the moment you have a child.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

There's something that has been laid dormant inside of you that just comes out of you the moment. It's just like natural instincts, you know, Granted. Yeah. There are some people that clearly should not be parents. You know what I mean? Just like the abusive, mean people. But you are just such ray of light, you know, like, he's just such great energy. You're a good people.

[Dave]

Thank you.

[Aaron Paul]

And he loves our dog.

[Anthony]

You guys will make sure. You guys will make. You guys will make up for all your shortcomings with love. With love.

[Dave]

I have a lot of love to give, for sure.

[Aaron Paul]

I can tell that about you.

[Dave]

Thank you.

[Bryan Cranston]

You know, you feel like I can take care of myself. You get married, you have a partner. You go, yeah, I can expand that to feeling responsible for each other.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And then you expand it to a child. And for the first time in my life, I had fear.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Like, what? What? How can I protect this little being? And you start. You know, you have some nightmares sometimes. Oh, God.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

So you start wearing your heart on the outside when you have a child.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And you will forever be parenting. Our daughter's 33 years old.

[Aaron Paul]

School crazy.

[Bryan Cranston]

We don't stop parenting.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

You just do it differently.

[Anthony]

Are you scared when you first had a kid?

[Bryan Cranston]

Kind of. But also excited.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Terribly excited.

[Aaron Paul]

But it's good to be scared.

[Krista]

Yeah. Yeah, Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

I was terrified. It creates Claus. It's the greatest thing in the world. It is good to be actors and

[Krista]

be scared because you get another feeling of, like, human emotion that you're kind

[Bryan Cranston]

of used to that. And again, going back into the we don't know anything kind of thing.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

We go into something we're not really sure. Well, that's parenting again. Like, oh, it's like what we do in acting.

[Anthony]

My mom told me this. My mom said, nobody knows anything. She said, first of all, people now know way too much. She's like, back in the day, there was nothing. There was no app. There was no anything.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

You're just like, oh, what does this mean? And she was like, and you figured it out. My mom said, idiots, figure it out.

[Aaron Paul]

She was like, I love your Mom. Yeah.

[Anthony]

She's like, there's people who's. True.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's true. You'll figure it out. Mmm.

[Dave]

KFC Box Feast.

[Anthony]

Chuck, I can't let you have one more bite. Cause I gotta say something.

[Dave]

Well, hurry up.

[Bryan Cranston]

Johnny's gotta eat.

[Anthony]

The Colonel didn't do the math. He did the chicken. I mean, it's the only way we can explain this irrational amount of food. Mm. Look how much food you saved.

[Dave]

7.

[Krista]

9. 11.

[Dave]

For $11, I have chicken fingers, a thick, big sandwich and fries and a drink that's not in hand, but it exists.

[Anthony]

You can have Pepsi, zero sugar, the Colonel's signature lemonade.

[Dave]

Yeah, we don't have to.

[Anthony]

Sweet light.

[Dave]

We don't have to name all the drinks. Time to feast at kfc. Prices and participation may vary. Tax, tip and fees. Extra sweet Lightning peaches.

[Anthony]

Mmm.

[Dave]

When you need a new mattress, what do you do? I used to, like, go store to store and lie on the thing, but now I go on this website that Helix has and I take a quiz and I really get all this thoughtful information about exactly what type of mattress I should use. And I actually have a huge Helix.

[Krista]

It's way more efficient to do it this way.

[Anthony]

Are you telling me we've been sleeping on Helix, That I can rid myself of back pain and overheating?

[Krista]

You can. You can get to a better place in life.

[Anthony]

Where do I go for this sleep quiz?

[Dave]

Go to helixsleep.com fks for 20% off site wide. That's helixsleep.com fksfor 20% off site wide.

[Krista]

And this is important. After you check out, enter FKS so they know that we sent you because we did.

[Anthony]

We sent you.

[Bryan Cranston]

You.

[Anthony]

We're sending you right now.

[Dave]

Elexsleep.comfks it's so rare to have.

[Krista]

You know, there's like, three shows that people talk about being the biggest shows ever. Now you have, like, successful things after it. Do you guys still, like, seek new. Are you still seeking, like, it's all about balance?

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

The adults seeking balance. How much to yourself, how much to your partner, how much to your children, how much to your house, how much to your folks, how much. You know, it's constantly moving up and down, and that's what we're doing. You're looking for.

[Krista]

Yeah. You're balancing your everyday human life.

[Bryan Cranston]

You want to try to find some kind of balance.

[Aaron Paul]

As you know, it's such a blessing to just. Just be here, to exist, but to do what you truly love, whatever that may be.

[Dave]

Yes.

[Aaron Paul]

To do what you truly love is such a blessing. And then why I really started to lean into business is. Has allowed me to just be with my wife and kiddos.

[Dave]

That's so good.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

You know what I mean?

[Aaron Paul]

It really has. I love that because I can do this anywhere.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

And, you know, I have to pop away from time, you know, from time to time, just for, you know, business trips.

[Krista]

But did that shift after, like, Breaking Bad? Like, I feel like a lot of actors in this town, it's like you're waiting for this big thing that you get to have to show what you're capable of, like.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Krista]

And then you got that thing. Then did you guys kind of feel like this part of me, at least, has been somewhat shown, that I can kind of move?

[Aaron Paul]

Well, you know, I think I can answer for both of us, but you definitely got more opportunities before Breaking Bad than I did. But then once Breaking Bad happened, happened, it was. It was crazy. The opportunities that started presenting themselves to. To us and everyone really involved in the show. And so it's just all about trying to be sort of selective and picky on what you want to tackle next, because in this industry, you're just like, you're really only as good as your most recent project, unless.

[Dave]

Unless you guys are you. And you made the best show of all time, and that's.

[Krista]

It's unique.

[Bryan Cranston]

And that should, you know, we move on. We do other things, other series, other movies or theater, whatever. To know that the first line in our eventual obituaries will be Breaking Bad.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah, is great.

[Anthony]

Or it could say, tequila caviar, Dos hombres. Exactly. I did have one other question. I did have one other question.

[Krista]

And then I have another question.

[Dave]

I bet you have more than one.

[Anthony]

I think this is my last question I care about.

[Dave]

He always asks. I got one more question. It's like, yes, 15,000.

[Aaron Paul]

I'm just so happy for the three of you. I'm just having. This is such a great time. I haven't done a podcast or any radio in north of a decade.

[Dave]

Hell, yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

I swore it off.

[Dave]

Wow.

[Bryan Cranston]

He had a bad experience.

[Aaron Paul]

I had a bad experience, you know, north of 10 years ago on a radio tour. You know, you wake up at four in the morning and you're doing. And. But then they're just like. The personalities were just way too intense for me that early in the morning, and they. It just felt like they were jabbing me a little bit, and I'm like, you know what? I don't. I don't want to do this anymore. So I've been saying no to literally everything. But I. I mean, I love this guy. I actually met you two at the same time, the same day, like, years ago.

[Krista]

Yeah, yeah, but you remembered him.

[Aaron Paul]

But no, no, no.

[Anthony]

We actually stayed in touch. We stay in touch.

[Krista]

He's flaky.

[Anthony]

But I.

[Aaron Paul]

When this. When this came out, I became such a massive fan. And then, you know, we got a note that you asked us to be a part of it. So I reached out. I'm like, hey, we would love to do it. And so anyways, you guys, it's such a great time.

[Dave]

Thank you for saying that. I feel like this has been out so such a small amount of time that it. Like, we've really.

[Aaron Paul]

What a great response.

[Anthony]

I know.

[Aaron Paul]

We're so fortunate.

[Krista]

Are they read me the comments? Anything negative?

[Dave]

So she's had to completely. She disconnects completely from any feedback.

[Aaron Paul]

Actually, you look at my social media. I have two posts. I do not go on social media.

[Bryan Cranston]

You have to consider social media just as you do food.

[Dave]

Oh, yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

You're putting it into your body. You're putting social media into your brain. Is it healthy for you? You have to have a filter and say, enough.

[Dave]

We don't think you should be addicted, but we're gonna keep pumping out the content.

[Bryan Cranston]

No social channels.

[Krista]

I think that I go to TikTok and I go to Instagram for actual connection and a rush of dopamine when I show up.

[Aaron Paul]

That's what it is. It's the most widely accepted drug in the world.

[Krista]

Yes.

[Anthony]

Like, and I should be coming to your man. This is my dopamine. You should be going to Caviar and Tequila.

[Krista]

Yes, I will.

[Dave]

We're gonna use that.

[Aaron Paul]

I love that you keep diving in.

[Krista]

I love it.

[Anthony]

I'm proud of all of you. I want to ask my one question

[Dave]

I haven't even asked yet.

[Anthony]

Okay.

[Krista]

If a man came in here with a gun.

[Anthony]

No, that's my second.

[Aaron Paul]

Who would you protect first?

[Krista]

Try to suck your dick?

[Anthony]

No. That's almost what I was gonna ask. No, so. So my question was you actually shaved your head for the show, right?

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

Did you, like, have to. Were you so scared? Have you ever seen your head. Have you ever seen your head with, like.

[Dave]

Did you.

[Anthony]

What if you had, like, moles or shit. Come.

[Dave]

You didn't keep it for.

[Aaron Paul]

That was your burning question.

[Anthony]

Or did your wife. Yeah.

[Dave]

Actually think it's a good question.

[Anthony]

Was your wife, like, are you fucking nuts?

[Bryan Cranston]

No, no, no. I mean, we're actors. I'm looking forward to Looking different, feeling different.

[Anthony]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

In between jobs, I usually grow my hair. Grow facial hair.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm working on the studio right now, so I keep it.

[Anthony]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Clean shave.

[Dave]

Great show.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's a fun show.

[Dave]

Great show.

[Bryan Cranston]

But. But to shave my head, it. It saved me time. It would have caught. It would have saved. It would have. I would have had how much money come in earlier in the day to put on the ball cap, to put it down and to do the.

[Anthony]

They gave you the option.

[Aaron Paul]

But also when you have a bald cap on you, you are aware of it.

[Krista]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron Paul]

You're aware of it.

[Bryan Cranston]

And over 13, 14 hours, it gets hot.

[Krista]

Hot. Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Because you're, you're, you know, the heat stays in and it's like.

[Aaron Paul]

No.

[Anthony]

Dave said his dream, we always talk about our dream would be at the height of everything.

[Dave]

Yes.

[Anthony]

We on this show shave our full from here all the way to here. Eyebrows and everything. Just whole thing.

[Dave]

Nothing else matters.

[Aaron Paul]

Great idea.

[Dave]

When we feel like, you know what,

[Aaron Paul]

we'll do it right now.

[Bryan Cranston]

Great idea.

[Dave]

Right now. I don't know.

[Krista]

Can I ask a question about theater?

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Krista]

Did you do theater before? Like when you first started, you were doing theater?

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Krista]

Okay. Cause I was gonna say that's it.

[Anthony]

That's the Anthony request.

[Aaron Paul]

Have you seen him on stage?

[Dave]

No.

[Krista]

No. But I can tell you'd be incredible. Cause you have such a focus. Like, you have such a good, like.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm sorry, what?

[Krista]

But I think my question really was with tv, do you like theater more than you like acting on tv? It's really nice.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's more immediate. Immediately rewarding.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's like doing stand up, doing, you know, you're right there. You can feel the audience.

[Krista]

It's a high.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's a high. It's a. Yeah. You're getting an ebb and flow relationship with the audience. Your responsibility is to guide them to a story.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And if you don't do it, it's not their fault. It's your fault. It's like so you can feel sometimes they're quiet it. But they're really attentive. Sometimes they're boisterous and laughing at everything. And it's like, oh, that's maybe a bit too much. But who knows?

[Krista]

I guess TV and film, you have to just go in and out and in and out and like snap in and out. But theaters, that's.

[Bryan Cranston]

That's exactly how I explain it too. In, in television and film, we're in the bits and pieces business.

[Dave]

Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

Little bit. Little piece. Little bit Little piece.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

In theater, it's a beginning, middle, and end. Every performance, so much more revealing.

[Dave]

I love revealing.

[Bryan Cranston]

But that's why it's more. It's tough. Tougher. It's harder for an actor.

[Dave]

Oh, my God. It's one take.

[Anthony]

Oh, my God.

[Krista]

But it's so hard.

[Bryan Cranston]

But every. You know, it's like. Like, occasionally you'll have a part on your show where, oh, this is the emotional part. I. Oh, God. But if you pick a good play, you have that every performance. It's a gut punch. And you should, you know, well, why do the play? And so I finished this play on my birthday, March 7th.

[Krista]

7th.

[Bryan Cranston]

On my 70th birthday. The play's over. Three days later, I fly to Italy to do two episodes of the studio in Venice. Now I'm playing this really crazed, wacky character who's in comedy. So the difference from sublime to the ridiculous. Yeah, you know, it was. It was. It was such a relief. It was like going on vacation to do the.

[Anthony]

It was also.

[Aaron Paul]

You had to go to such turmoil in this play. And how many. How many shows did you do?

[Bryan Cranston]

115.

[Aaron Paul]

I mean, I cannot believe that. I mean, what you had to put your body through.

[Krista]

Do you guys feel like every actor has, like, a little bit of method acting?

[Aaron Paul]

Depends on your definition of method. You know, method acting. I mean, my process is. I mean, the first two years, for example, of Breaking Bad, I tried to just stay. Just stay in it. Cause I was nervous to lose it, you know? And he came up to me towards the end of the second season. I remember we were washing off our makeup, and he came up to me. He's like, it's okay to just wash off your makeup and just be.

[Dave]

You know, you don't have to keep doing this at every.

[Aaron Paul]

He was looking out for me. He saw the shit I was putting myself through, sustained. You know what I mean? And it was really, really, really hard on me. But I remember going home and I couldn't get that out of my mind. I'm like, I think he's right. He's right. And so moving on, I just try to force myself to believe that these circumstances are just truly happening to me as that guy. You know what I mean? Everyone has a different process.

[Dave]

Here's a question I have. For example, the scene where you're in the crawl space and the episode ends with you laughing. Do you know that you have the ability physically to do that type of laugh? And you practice and you know that you have that in you, or do you Just kind of leave it up to letting your emotions get taken over by the character. In that moment, whatever happens, happens.

[Aaron Paul]

And was sorry, just to add to that. Was that. I can't remember. Was that laugh. Was it scripted?

[Dave]

Yes.

[Anthony]

Great.

[Bryan Cranston]

Thank you.

[Dave]

Thank you.

[Bryan Cranston]

It was scripted that he laughs at the absurdity of the situation. So knowing I was going to do that, I start thinking what do I find absurd? That so it not necessarily funny, but just how the. Did this happen? Kind of thing that you can like ease into and, and I don't know what I was thinking of. That's many years ago. So you find something that you're like, oh, that was, that was a weird time. Yeah. And you kind of have that as you're reading through the script and you, you file it away almost like you put a little post it note in the back of your brain. And if you, when you're doing the scene, if it comes out, it comes out. If it doesn't, it doesn't. You find something else.

[Anthony]

How interesting.

[Dave]

Like for me, and I'm not a good example of what an actor is, I feel like I can really act like myself. But these, inhabiting these other people I would struggle with more or less because I feel like I have trouble getting out of my own head. And I would always be aware that I am me and I am playing this character, et cetera. So for me, my best bet, if I had to do that scene, I would have literally practiced, like at least evaluated what would I do if I laughed really hard? And like, what does that sound like? Do I even like the way that feels? Can I replicate, can I do that over and over? I would have like gamed it all out.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's probably a dangerous thing for an actor to think along those terms because what you're describing is a result is you're looking for how would it actually sound, the director in it at the end of it. Yes. For an actor, you want to leave it open. You don't want to come to a result because it might be the wrong one. On the day when you're doing something, you're going okay.

[Aaron Paul]

And also you don't know what the other performer is going to be throwing your way. You know, the, the, the dialogue, the script, but just how they are emoting everything is going to change everything.

[Anthony]

It's like, it's like when you freestyle, it's like, it's like you never know what's gonna. And that's when you always get the best stuff. When you're like not thinking. Yeah, I guess like, when you go in thinking about, like, how you have to attack the verse, it's like you always say, like. Like you'll say, like, oh, my God. Just, like, do anything random because that's when you're gonna get the best.

[Dave]

Are you. Are you. Are you like, I'm Walter White? Or are you like, I'm Bryan Cranston playing Walter White? Or you're not like, does that. Those thoughts don't even come into your head?

[Bryan Cranston]

No, you're thinking. You're thinking as the character.

[Dave]

You're thinking, I'm Walter White.

[Bryan Cranston]

So that whatever he would do that wasn't necessarily scripted or something, a behavior or something Walter would have a specific reaction to, Brian would react differently. So you stay in the character.

[Dave]

How do you do that? You take classes.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's a gym. You go to the gym. You know, your body goes, oh, I know what we're doing here. I. I'm used to. I know what this exercise is. I know what I'm supposed to do. You. And so work for us is like going to the gym. We're familiar with it. And if. But I need to stress. And I tell young actors this all the time. Any kind of instinct doesn't mean you can't prepare. You need to work. I don't think I've ever really worked with a genius who just go. And I. And they. They're brilliant.

[Dave]

Yeah, it.

[Bryan Cranston]

No, it's a lot of hard work.

[Krista]

Would you guys be like, hey, let's rehearse this and, like, find the rhythm?

[Aaron Paul]

Not necessarily. No, no. Yeah. On the day we run lines, like we. From the pilot to the finale, we shared a trail. Like a double banger. Yeah, like a trailer split in half. He had one side, I had the other. And we would read lines, you know, outside of the trailer or like in the hair and makeup trailer.

[Dave]

Was there a lot of improv in Breaking Bad or. None.

[Bryan Cranston]

No, no, no. It was such a beautifully written, it's unbelievable story that you. You don't want to touch.

[Dave]

Thank God you guys didn't fuck that up. We gotta talk about the frame tv.

[Krista]

I would love to.

[Dave]

It's Samsung's item.

[Krista]

It's beautiful. It, like, draws your eyes to it. Where before you'd be like, oh, there's a black box. Now you're like, oh, my gosh, you have this art. And then I love saying to people, that's a tv.

[Dave]

I know. I love that feeling.

[Anthony]

It's not just, like, basic art. This is an art you can find anywhere. It's got so much like, exclusive curation. And you can access it on the Samsung art store and it gives back to the artist. And for me, for me, like, I collect art and I see this, literally, I'm just as proud of my framed TV as I am of a framed piece of art.

[Dave]

I have go to Samsung and check out the Frame TV.

[Krista]

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Benny, what's something that therapy has taught you about yourself?

[Anthony]

You know, I really think therapy gave me, like, a little, like, mental toolbox of how I can understand myself as I'm having a panic attack, as I'm. I'm going through those moments where I really don't know. I feel like my life is ending and there's no other way I can get around it. And then I have this little toolbox that's like, calm down. Take a step back, assess the situation. Everything happens within the time that it's supposed to. And I just have all these little, like, voices now in the back of my head that tell me the right thing of what to do in each moment.

[Krista]

I love that.

[Dave]

If you want to start your therapy journey today, sign up and get 10% [e-mail] FKS that's better. H E L lp.com FKS you know, two things.

[Anthony]

One, anytime I see you, you're either with your wife and kids, and it's such a beautiful thing. You really do walk the walk and talk the talk. Like, anytime I see him, he's like, you're like, so I think I've only seen you one time when you weren't either with your wife or kids or

[Bryan Cranston]

both or pining to be.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

Yeah. And it's very cool that you've been able to do all this stuff and it's like. And still do that. And it's something I really aspire to. And you're like, work, life, balance from afar. Seems great. Two, I don't even know if you guys know this. How stoked are you? His daughter is an amazing actor. She's on one of the biggest shows, and it's like, yeah, what does that feel like?

[Aaron Paul]

So amazing, dude.

[Dave]

Better than Heisenberg.

[Bryan Cranston]

Here's the yeah. Yes. Because as a parent, as a parent, I will tell you, as you prepare, as you prepare the thing you want more than anything, the thing you dream about and say prayers about, please let my children find happiness and joy. I don't care what it is, what occupation they end up or who their partner is. Please let it be joyful and happy. That's all you want. You Know, and so Taylor being raised in this business, and she knew my parents were actors, and my grandfather was an actor in vaudeville. So she's fourth generation actor. And she knows. And she knows the ups and downs and the ins and outs. And it's like, okay, this is a. She's been around it. It's a family business, Very common. But the biggest blessing for Robin and I are that she's in it for the right reasons. She loves it. She's in love with. You can tell she's in love with the art. And that will sustain. And that's what I tell young people. I said, if you. Stanislavski, the famous Russian actor and teacher and the father of the method, he had a quote that said, love the art within you, not you within the art. Love how it makes you feel, the empowerment, the art within you that motivates you. But not go, oh, I want to see my name in lights. I want to buy that house. I want to. You know, that's in love with the. With something else that will never sustain.

[Anthony]

Of course it's funny, Dave.

[Dave]

I'm not like that.

[Anthony]

I always. No, I always know.

[Dave]

Didn't I feel like he was going to say that?

[Anthony]

No, I was going to say Dave

[Dave]

loves his face on the billboard.

[Anthony]

I always know this about me and him is that, of course, we love knowing that something's gonna be great, but I know we kill ourselves and we do it because it's like the inside of. You have to scratch within us. Like, even if no one, I would still be making all the songs the same way, doing everything the same way, because it just scratches that itch that I love.

[Bryan Cranston]

Okay, so 47 years of doing this and working on some really, really wonderful material, both and theater. And the one common denominator that I've noticed with anyone who is a director, writer, producer, is that good enough, Is never good enough.

[Dave]

Oh, yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's like.

[Aaron Paul]

It's like, oh, we're doing it again and again. You just got to keep going.

[Bryan Cranston]

Vince Gilligan.

[Dave]

Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

When he's. When he was directing several episodes of Breaking Bad, he knew that their time is of the essence. So you're doing a show, you got to keep moving.

[Krista]

Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

And so he would literally take his forefinger and his middle finger and touch his forehead and like, what else? What else? What.

[Dave]

What am I missing?

[Bryan Cranston]

What am I doing? So he agonized over it. It wasn't like free flowing.

[Aaron Paul]

Don't.

[Bryan Cranston]

You can't picture Vince Gilligan just, oh,

[Anthony]

no, that makes me feel good.

[Bryan Cranston]

Done.

[Anthony]

That makes it's like, no, that makes me feel good.

[Bryan Cranston]

Agonizing. What am I missing?

[Anthony]

What am I.

[Aaron Paul]

It's got to be better.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's got to be better.

[Aaron Paul]

And he loves riding himself into a corner, of course. So it is incredibly hard to get out. So the audience goes through that experience. So getting better, the love.

[Bryan Cranston]

The only way you're going to go beyond that's good enough, Right. Is because you have a passion for it. You got to make it better. You got to make it better. You got to keep slugging it in the face to make it better.

[Krista]

Somehow you, like, feel the tension and the friction of even your performances.

[Bryan Cranston]

And, you know, as writers, directors, producers, and actors.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Is that rappers? There are times. Yeah, there are times when you go, I'm exhausted, man. Our. Our exhaustion at the moment is really temporary. But what we're making lasts forever.

[Krista]

But that's.

[Bryan Cranston]

And if you keep that. If you keep that in mind, you go, it'll push you through. It'll push you through that next level. You got to keep pushing through, because this moment of being just is just now, but what you're making forever. And if you can remember that, it'll serve you.

[Krista]

And if you can sum it up,

[Dave]

one of the reasons I called my show Dave, because I really wanted to put my name on the line and really feel like I was like, this is gonna live forever. I'm gonna give it my all. I'm gonna put my best foot forward. I give it my all.

[Bryan Cranston]

You did, man.

[Dave]

I gave it my all in a way that I think other people are surprised by. But when they're working on it, they can't help but respect it.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Dave]

And then they want to give it their all. And I think ultimately the consumer can feel it in the product. If it's be like, there are certain things that are.

[Anthony]

Oh, my God. Okay, what do I want? An Olipop. Of course I do. A BlackBerry. Vanilla Raspberry. Raspberry sherbet. I gotta taste one of these bad boys right now. Oh, yeah. This literally reminds me me of when I was a kid. Hoffman's roller coasters, amusement park. My grandmother Mimi buying me a sherbet. Okay, I got to get a few of these guys. Actually, I'm leaving these all in here. I'm saving them for myself. Love you guys.

[Aaron Paul]

And I. I remember you. You came to me for a, like, a quick little episode, but I was shooting. I was so bummed. I just want you. I'm happy. I can tell you personally, I remember that. I remember you telling me oh, this would have been so, so fun. Because sadly, I actually don't do much fun comedy, you know, and I wish I did.

[Dave]

Yeah, you seem funny, dude.

[Aaron Paul]

I wish.

[Anthony]

You're so funny.

[Aaron Paul]

We should do a comedy. We go, let's go.

[Anthony]

It's right now, guys. You ready?

[Aaron Paul]

The people.

[Bryan Cranston]

No.

[Dave]

Hey, the theme song of break. Like the. You like, you love that.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's odd. Odd. So, no, no, I, I, I, I liked it because. Because it, it wasn't something that was familiar.

[Dave]

Yes.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

So anytime that you place an audience in a little, they're on their heels. It's better. Especially for that show.

[Anthony]

I used to stay and listen to it. Like, you know, like, you know how you can press skip?

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

I never skipped. Never skipped. I loved it was. He was like that one and that one and Sopranos. I always stayed for what's next for you.

[Krista]

What are you looking forward to? Like, what's up? What's up? What's up?

[Dave]

What are you doing this summer?

[Anthony]

What's up? We got about 30 seconds.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm getting my shoulder replaced.

[Anthony]

Can we have, like, a cartilage something?

[Bryan Cranston]

No cartilage. That's why I have to get my shoulder replaced. Are you nervous? Bone against bone? No, I'm looking forward to it.

[Dave]

Nice.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm actually excited because I have such limited mobility with this, like, look, this is as far as I can take my arm up my back.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Krista]

Oh, wow.

[Dave]

But you never really need to reach back.

[Krista]

Yeah, you don't need that.

[Anthony]

Let's go up there.

[Bryan Cranston]

I can't put on a jacket.

[Dave]

Can you go like this? Okay, you can do a little that.

[Krista]

Does it hurt?

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

Look at this. Okay, this here. Oh, don't compare this there.

[Dave]

That's just double jointedness.

[Anthony]

No, no, no. My surgery.

[Bryan Cranston]

You can't get it over.

[Anthony]

I had a carpet tunnel or something. No, I had a. I had to get 41 stitches. I like.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, sliced it.

[Anthony]

Yeah. Yeah. But, like, look, for. I ruined the stuff.

[Krista]

You're not using that thumb.

[Anthony]

I know, but it does. It gets in the way of music.

[Aaron Paul]

I'll bet it does.

[Anthony]

Yeah. I can't stretch, like, the way I want to, but. Oh, my God, you're going to feel so much better. My friend got his hip replaced and said it changed his life.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Krista]

Is it all from you throwing? Like, is it all from your parents?

[Bryan Cranston]

It's like a lot from baseball and just being a boy.

[Anthony]

And now were you like, next level baseball player?

[Bryan Cranston]

No, no, no, no, no, no. I love the game much more than I was.

[Anthony]

Good At. You still watch baseball a lot?

[Bryan Cranston]

A lot. I'm a big Dodger fan.

[Anthony]

So you like Shohei?

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, yeah.

[Krista]

Yeah.

[Dave]

It's the most impressive thing that's happened in sports in any of our lifetimes.

[Anthony]

I met Shohei.

[Bryan Cranston]

I think so. Yeah. People talking about that Shoi's the best.

[Dave]

They are. But it's a little bit. It's not really. It's not like, lebronized because it's baseball and because he's not American, but what he's doing.

[Anthony]

Those are good pants. I'd wear those every day too.

[Aaron Paul]

I'll get you a pair.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Well, thank you for dressing up, first of all. That was very.

[Anthony]

We were so nervous to do it.

[Krista]

Are you guys sick of it?

[Bryan Cranston]

No, no.

[Aaron Paul]

It's a blessing.

[Bryan Cranston]

This, this show changed our lives, and it also introduced us to each other.

[Dave]

The fact that you guys, like, he's

[Aaron Paul]

the greatest skip from the show.

[Dave]

As much as I love the show,

[Aaron Paul]

that and the money and of course,

[Dave]

the acclaim, I, I.

[Aaron Paul]

The final day, we were able to work the final day, and we were back in the desert, and we had to do a speech in front of the crew. And I felt I was holding it together, but I was waiting to say something to him until the end, and I just couldn't do it. I just started weeping, you know, because he's just.

[Dave]

I'm crying now.

[Krista]

I know.

[Anthony]

I didn't.

[Aaron Paul]

He's just, he's just the best. I've learned so much from him on screen. Screen and off. And I just. Yeah. I love the man.

[Dave]

Do you love him as much or not?

[Anthony]

Yeah. You haven't said things.

[Aaron Paul]

No, I mean, I, I, it's very clear. I love him more. Which is fine. Which is fine. Love now with the tequila. I know he loves me. And, you know, my, you know, he's my son's godfather.

[Anthony]

You haven't said a lot. He's been oozing see your daughter.

[Bryan Cranston]

He's an oozer.

[Aaron Paul]

You know, I am. You know, that's what they say. I'm an oozer. I ooze a lot.

[Bryan Cranston]

But.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Brian, would you like to say something?

[Aaron Paul]

What a blessing, Aaron.

[Bryan Cranston]

You know, we, we formed this company of Dos Hombres because we missed each other.

[Anthony]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And if we had played golf, we probably wouldn't have had the company. But that, that's. And it was an interesting realization for me as a, as a man growing up in my era, and, you know, because I was born in the 50s, raised basically in the 60s and early 70s, and it was you know, kind of rigid in what a man should do and a man don't. Men don't cry. And I was like. And to. To get to a point where you feel a true love for someone else, you know, in a platonic way, but a deep, deep love and a friendship and knowing that we're going to be friends forever.

[Aaron Paul]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And. And I love his children, and I.

[Aaron Paul]

They call him Monkey Man.

[Bryan Cranston]

I understand.

[Anthony]

I get it.

[Aaron Paul]

That's what they think his name is. His Monkey Man.

[Anthony]

I get it. You look a monkey Man.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah. And I just, you know, I just. I light up when I. When I see them, because it's just. You're. You're a really terrific father, too. Thank you, brother. And he is. Is such. He is such a great dad and a great husband.

[Aaron Paul]

And.

[Bryan Cranston]

And, you know, that's the thing.

[Krista]

You.

[Bryan Cranston]

You. It's. You can have it all. That's the thing, you realize.

[Anthony]

You can have it all.

[Bryan Cranston]

I think that's a good thing to go on.

[Anthony]

You can have it all.

[Bryan Cranston]

You can have it all.