A Look Back on An Interview with Bryan Cranston

Summary

Office Ladies: "A Look Back on An Interview with Bryan Cranston"

Date: November 26, 2025 | Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey | Guest: Bryan Cranston
A deep-dive into the making of “Work Bus” (aka “Death Bus”), The Office’s infamous on-the-road episode directed by Bryan Cranston.

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Episode Overview

This episode of Office Ladies features a special guest: Bryan Cranston, the director of the notorious season 9 episode "Work Bus"—affectionately (or infamously) nicknamed “Death Bus” by the cast. Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey revisit their harrowing and hilarious behind-the-scenes experiences filming inside a moving bus in triple-digit heat, explore the chaos and camaraderie of the shoot, and dig into Cranston’s career, his approach to TV directing, and his “life after art” philosophy.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. How Bryan Cranston Became “Work Bus” Director

• [11:10] The Unexpected Call: Cranston’s friend, Tracy Katzke, recruited him for The Office after his work on Breaking Bad. He didn’t know he’d land that episode:

  “You have no idea when you sign onto a show or what your episode is going to be … and it just so happened that ‘Work Bus’ came onto my lap.” —Bryan Cranston ([12:31])

2. The Hazards and Madness of “Death Bus”

• [13:57] Extreme Heat: August in the San Fernando Valley reached 100+°F; the bus was even hotter (“like a little sauna rolling down the road” — Angela, [23:33]).
• [16:37] Physical Comedy Gets Real:
  • The cast first “faked” swerving; then, with a stunt driver and unsecured set pieces, chaos truly ensued:

  “Everything moved. ... That was not part of the production discussion ... And the reality in retrospect, you look back and go, ‘Oh my God, what were we doing?’ ” —Bryan Cranston ([17:50], [18:59])

• [20:55] Ellie Kemper’s Infamous Moment:
  • The stress and laughter resulted in Ellie Kemper (Erin) actually peeing her skirt on the bus:

  "Ellie is such a good sport. Ellie was like, 'Guys, I peed my skirt.'" —Angela Kinsey ([20:19])

• [24:07] Carbon Monoxide Scare:
  • A portable AC unit pumped exhaust straight from the bus into the passenger cabin. Jenna's "allergy nose" detected the issue just in time:

  “I stood on a chair … and, sure enough, carbon dioxide. ... We have made a huge mistake. And we nearly killed the entire cast of The Office.” —Bryan Cranston ([24:04]–[27:35])

3. The Culture and Comedy of The Office Set

• Improvised Disaster:
  • The Office cast “never traveled well”—disasters struck whenever they left the main set (stories from "Booze Cruise" & beach episodes).
  • Leslie David Baker’s (Stanley) on-set mishaps:

  “Whenever we went on locations, he got the worst of it.” —Jenna ([28:44])

  • “I don’t go on location.” —Jenna on Leslie’s mantra ([29:03])

4. Directing Approach & Working with a Veteran Cast

• Cranston’s Philosophy:
  • Respect the established chemistry; the guest director’s job isn’t to overhaul characters.

  “The role of a guest director is not to come in … wouldn’t dare say anything to an actor about their character. Wouldn’t that be obnoxious?” —Bryan Cranston ([29:24])

  • Aim to deliver the “meat and potatoes” plus two or three extra flourishes.
• Favorite Moments from “Work Bus”
  • Ed Helms playing the banjo in the episode's end montage.
  • The emotional “roof” scene with Jim and Dwight, highlighted for its vulnerability.

5. The Lasting Legacy of The Office (and Breaking Bad)

• Streaming Changed Everything:

  • Both shows became “legendary” due to Netflix and streaming, not live ratings.
  • Jenna & Angela recall the early fear of cancelation, rating hotlines, and mass emails for support ([52:28])

  "We were going to get shit canned for sure." —Jenna ([52:30]) "It was Netflix that was the stroke of good luck for us." —Bryan ([55:23])

• Evolution from UK to US Office:

  • Steve Carell’s Michael Scott pivoted away from the “mean-spirited” Ricky Gervais model after Season 1, with direct advice from Gervais:

  "You can't have that character do this for that long. You're gonna need to find more layers..." —Jenna paraphrasing Ricky Gervais ([56:20])

• The Secret to American Audiences:

  • Each episode included one redeeming “moment of hope”:

  “Each episode has one redeeming moment ... And if you go back and watch, you see it—they kind of made me feel better about that ‘Work Bus’ day. We got to have pie.” —Angela ([57:11]–[58:09])

• Rumors of a Reboot & Cast Thoughts

  • Greg Daniels allegedly “cooking something up” for a new Office, but not an original cast revival ([49:46])
  • Both Jenna & Angela would love to appear in any “next gen” project or potential movie.

  "If Greg did it ... I would trust it 100%." —Jenna ([59:38])

6. Bryan Cranston on Art, Life & Learning

• Pursuit of Real Life:

  • Cranston yearns to step out of the “art bubble” and experience more real life for creative renewal ([41:00] onward).
  • Discusses the oddity of celebrity and seeking authentic encounters with strangers ([44:58])

• Legacy, Projects, and Mezcal

  • Now co-owns Dos Hombres mezcal with Aaron Paul (story of their unlikely business birth, [62:00])
  • Passionate about traditional methods and artisanal craft.

  "Dos Hombres is now the fifth largest mezcal in the world." —Bryan ([64:32])

• On the Need for Inspiration:

  • Inspired by “The Artist’s Way” and “artist dates” (self-reflective creative excursions).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with timestamps)

• On nearly killing the cast:

  “We nearly killed the entire cast of The Office.” —Bryan Cranston ([27:35])

• On directorial limits:

  "Wouldn’t dare say anything to an actor about their character. Wouldn’t that be obnoxious?" —Bryan Cranston ([29:24])

• On streaming’s role:

  "It was Netflix that was the stroke of good luck for us." —Bryan Cranston ([55:23])

• On changes to Michael Scott:

  "You can't have that character do this for that long. ... find more layers to your lead character." —Advice from Ricky Gervais via Jenna ([56:20])

• On hope in comedy:

  "Each episode has one redeeming moment...a moment of hope." —Angela Kinsey ([57:53])

• On living beyond art:

  “I want to read that classic novel … learn how to cook … be in another culture… I don’t want to talk about show business.” —Bryan Cranston ([41:00])

• On Dos Hombres:

  “Dos Hombres is now the fifth largest mezcal in the world.” —Bryan Cranston ([64:32])

• On possible Office movie:

  “What if there was like a movie? … Something where we can see where these people are…” —Bryan Cranston ([59:17])

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Key Segment Timestamps

• Bryan Cranston Introduced – [08:52]
• How Cranston Got the Directing Job – [11:00]
• Filming in Extreme Heat / Death Bus – [13:57]–[19:00]
• The Real Stunt Driver, Chaos on the Bus – [17:19]–[18:59]
• Carbon Monoxide Near-Disaster – [24:07]–[27:35]
• On Handling a Veteran Sitcom Cast – [29:24]
• Memorable Work Bus Moments – [31:31]–[32:38]
• Streaming Makes the Office & Breaking Bad Enduring Hits – [52:28]–[55:23]
• Evolution of Michael Scott & the US Office – [55:57]–[57:42]
• Legacy, Reboots, and the Idea of an Office Movie – [49:46]–[59:51]
• Bryan on Living Life & Learning – [41:00]–[44:58]
• Dos Hombres Mezcal Story – [62:00]–[65:08]

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Conclusion

The episode provides a hilarious and at times jaw-dropping behind-the-scenes account of the making of “Work Bus,” marked by both disaster and deep affection among the cast and crew. Bryan Cranston’s directorial adventure nearly resulted in calamity but ultimately contributed to an episode now beloved for its chaos and heart. The conversation expands into reflections on the creative process, the power of streaming, the evolution of TV comedy, and the importance of seeking new life experiences beyond the confines of fame and fiction.

Bryan wraps up with tales of his mezcal venture, his aspirations for more real-life inspiration, and the enduring appeal of both The Office and Breaking Bad. For Office fans and TV buffs alike, this episode is a goldmine of hilarious stories, TV wisdom, and a warm reminder of why The Office remains a legend.

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“You saved our lives… Finally, it did some good in my life.” —Jenna Fischer to Bryan Cranston on her legendary 'allergy nose' ([27:25])

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Transcript

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, because one who needs another subscription. And then also, you know, sometimes it's just too much. Right. And it's like, when do I need these meals?

[Jenna Fischer]

That's amazing. I'm jealous because I get into that whole, like, decision fatigue about, like, oh, what's for dinner tonight? But if you go on the website, you can, like, order a week of dinner and now that decision is made for you. And I also can't keep eating the same three meals. If I keep eating the same three meals, I'm gonna go insane.

[Angela Kinsey]

So if you go to their website, you're gonna see that they have an assemble and bake meal. These are one pan meals with minimal prep and minimal cleanup. Just a few minutes hands on, and then right into the oven and done. You get all the pre prepped ingredients and it's just easy. It was great.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

You know, like suddenly you have all these guests and you need a place for them to sleep, for example.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, well, here's the thing. At Bob's Discount Furniture, you can either get someone that chair they've always been wanting. I mean, my gosh, Josh, you know, he's always got his eye on a recliner. Or maybe you can get yourself that cozy sofa. So when your family comes visit, you have some more sleep options.

[Jenna Fischer]

They also have those sploosh chairs for kids. And you mentioned the recliners, lady, they have so many recliner options. I know this because I went to Bob's Discount Furniture when I was having to sleep in a recliner when I broke my shoulder.

[Angela Kinsey]

And you can also get smaller items too, like stylish decor and accent pieces. Bob's Discount Furniture really has it all.

[Jenna Fischer]

Shop, haggle, and hassle free when you holiday the Bob's way. I'm Jenna Fisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

We were on the office together and we're best friends. And now we're doing the ultimate office rewatch. Podcast just for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Each week we will break down an episode of the Office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you.

[Jenna Fischer]

We're the Office ladies.

[Angela Kinsey]

Good morning, lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, we have a really amazing guest on Office Ladies today.

[Angela Kinsey]

We sure do. All of you that listened to Work Bus last week know that today in the studio, we have Bryan Cranston. We cannot wait for you guys to hear this interview because, look, there are certain episodes of the Office that are just real big episodes and they warrant extra time. And Work Bus is definitely one of those.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's definitely one of those.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And we shared all about our experience on that bus, but we really felt like you needed to hear from the director as well. So we reached out to Brian. He was so kind and gracious. He came into the studio and chatted all things Work Bus with us and more.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now, I know a lot of people know Bryan Cranston from his many acting roles. He's been in film and television, and he's been on Broadway. You know, there's Malcolm in the Middle and Walter White on Breaking Bad, and he even won a Tony Award for the Broadway play All the Way. He's amazing. But Brian is also a very accomplished director. He directed episodes of Malcolm in the Middle of Breaking Bad, Modern Family, Sneaky Pete and his new series yous Honor on Showtime, and of course, this very epic famous episode of the Office.

[Angela Kinsey]

And he is just delightful. He is so much fun to talk to. It was such a joy having him and Jenna. You know what I was thinking? We didn't bring this up to him, but I want him to direct our Road trip movie if we ever do it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh. Yes. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

We have never even shared, have we shared about the fact that me, you, and Lee have a road trip idea?

[Jenna Fischer]

We came up with an idea for a road trip movie. Lee wrote it.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's so funny. It's so funny.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Some of the hardest I have laughed in a long time was when the three of us were sitting at your dining table and we were pitching jokes. Cause listen, you guys, this is a road trip movie about two gals that are, like, in their 50s.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

But anyway, I mean, it has a.

[Jenna Fischer]

Mom detectives element to it, I have to say.

[Angela Kinsey]

It really does.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

But would Bryan Cranston ever direct anything on the Road Again? That's the question.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think after you listen to this interview, you might find that he would be very hesitant to do so. Well, listen, the Office might have ruined him forever in directing anything in A moving vehicle again, but let's let him tell you about it. We're going to take a break and when we come back, our interview with Bryan Cranston about Work Bus, which is also known as Death Bus. We'll be right back. Such a great interview.

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah. Yeah. Woo hoo. Well, who wrote your opening theme song?

[Jenna Fischer]

Creed Bratton.

[Bryan Cranston]

Did he really? You know, I just realized who Creed was.

[Jenna Fischer]

You just did.

[Bryan Cranston]

I just in the, like in the last few weeks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Grassroots, all of that.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yes, the grassroots. And I'm thinking that can't be the same. It's the same guy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

Now my question to you, my first question. Thanks for coming on the show. By the way. My first question to you would be, did the show ever do a big backstage idea about what Creed's background was? Did someone ever go, that guy looks so familiar. And did you ever do anything like that? I don't remember.

[Jenna Fischer]

There were so many pitches. There were so many people who wanted to do a whole episode just on Creed and his life and wanted him to be outed as Creed Bratton? Creed Bratton. Because he's the only person on the show who has his full name as his character name. Like Angela is Angela on the show, but on the show Angela's name is Martin. But Creed Bratton the character is also Creed Bratton the man. But I don't think it was ever revealed.

[Angela Kinsey]

I will say though, of all the characters, we have a show bible. Sorry, I have to, you guys. Brian, his microphone this morning. Something's up with it. And there is a bar in front of his face. And so for me to talk to Brian, he has to look Angela, it's.

[Bryan Cranston]

Safer to have a bar in front of him. Of My face. It helps the restraining order issue that we have.

[Angela Kinsey]

That we have. But anyway, of all the characters had a. We had a show bible of all their back history, and Creed's is the craziest.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's the most fun.

[Angela Kinsey]

He has like a family in Canada. He lives under his desk half the time. It's like all over the place.

[Bryan Cranston]

Wait a minute. Why didn't I get a chance to read that? That would have been very Bible.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did they give you the show Bible?

[Bryan Cranston]

No, I didn't get it. That no one said it was available.

[Jenna Fischer]

Been given that.

[Bryan Cranston]

I absolutely should have been given that.

[Angela Kinsey]

What if change works, I'm quit.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Retroactive.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we always like to ask people when they come on first question. How did you end up working on the Office? Oh, how'd you get this job directing work bus?

[Bryan Cranston]

Tracy Katzke is a friend of mine, and she was working as a consultant with David in the last year you guys were on the air.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, right.

[Bryan Cranston]

And I had just finished my season with Breaking Bad. And that was 2012. Yep, I think it was 2012. And Tracy calls and says, we're looking for directors for this new season. Would you be interested in coming on board the Office? And immediately the answer was gonna be, of course no. But I love the show. It's such a legendary show that any chance to be a part of it in some small way. And she said, I know you've been directing Breaking Bads, and you're out in the desert and it's hot and it's sticky. How would you like to come to. What was it? Burbank, North Hollywood? Wherever we were. And we work inside. Yeah. Little off. It's a short day.

[Angela Kinsey]

Air conditioned.

[Bryan Cranston]

Air conditioned. Easy indoors. Five days. Bang, bang, bang.

[Angela Kinsey]

Boom, boom, boom.

[Bryan Cranston]

And I said, oh, it sounds fantastic. Let's do it. And she said, well, we have such and such slot open. And I looked at my calendar and I said, I'll take that slot.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And I don't know, you probably described it on your show before, but the way it works in television for directors is by time. You have no idea when you sign onto a show or what your episode is going to be by the time it gets to your time slot. So we had no idea. And it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God.

[Bryan Cranston]

It just so happened that work bus came onto my lap.

[Jenna Fischer]

What did you think when you read this episode?

[Bryan Cranston]

Well, first I was excited to read it. Read it right away. And worked bus. Oh, I don't know. Oh, they exterminate. Was it exterminating? We were exterminated. This is 11 years ago, I think.

[Angela Kinsey]

There was this electrical issue, electromagnetic things in the walls. And Dwight was going to have to open up all the walls and redo the electrical.

[Bryan Cranston]

So the basic idea is that there could not be a work stoppage for the whole team. So a work bus was found to be the best method to continue working while this work on the actual location the office was taking place. So everybody had to load onto the bus. Desks were on there, as we all know, and we had to just keep traveling. We're in the San Fernando Valley in August.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so hot in August.

[Angela Kinsey]

I went to the call sheets. It was 100 degrees this week. It was like triple digits.

[Bryan Cranston]

It was very hot. So the first thing I did was curse my friend Tracy Katzky and jam you as if they knew, you know. But it was a challenge. I think we shot on the set for a day and a half or something like that. Something short. And then the rest of the time.

[Angela Kinsey]

We were on a bus.

[Bryan Cranston]

On that bus or in the park. And then we were at a baseball field. I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right?

[Jenna Fischer]

We had that cold open. Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

I enjoyed it for the most part, but there was a.

[Jenna Fischer]

There were some tough moments.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I have to say. Okay. You know that our cast has renamed this episode Death Bus. This has come to you. I know. And Jenna and I wrote a whole chapter in our book about it, the office BFFs. We have a copy for you. We signed inside. It says, brian, we owe you our lives. Thanks, Angela and Jenna. It is chapter 12, and we dedicated.

[Jenna Fischer]

A whole chapter to just this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

And we have fantastic photos of you. But we realized after our book came out, you were doing press. We felt really bad because every single producer clearly wanted you to be asked about Death Bus. Jenna was like, oh, no, Ange, we were biased. We wrote about this. And now everyone is asking him the same, same question on every talk show. Why did you try to kill the cast of the Office?

[Bryan Cranston]

Why did I try to kill the cast?

[Jenna Fischer]

Was it a murder for hire? No one's asked. Was it a failed murder for you?

[Bryan Cranston]

Discuss those details. There is a current investigation going.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ongoing. Ongoing.

[Bryan Cranston]

And indictments will be handed down. I have every reason to believe you two are in the clear. I can't be positive on that, but I have set of circumstances. It was hot and tight. You know, you talk about the set being contained. Well, we were on a bus and we didn't have a lot of room. And if I recall, nothing was actually nailed down. Everything was kind of shifting around. Correct desks were actually shifting and moving. And I'm looking at this going, oh, my God. I think people didn't realize this bus is actually on the road on an open street and moving.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, at first there was comedy in that, right? Like, at first, we're traveling down the road, and, like, our little coffee cup is moving across the desert. Papers. You've got a graph.

[Bryan Cranston]

We're moving on to things.

[Angela Kinsey]

We hit a pothole. My lady slid in my lap. I caught it. Yay. That's funny.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

But then there was a part of the script where I guess Dwight swerves, and we all kind of slide, and we all are like, ah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, he's trying to get us to the pie.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, get to the pie. And I guess the AD yelled to the cast, we weren't really swerving. Lean right. And we kind of ah. And no one bought it. It didn't look good.

[Jenna Fischer]

And so then they unloaded Rain.

[Angela Kinsey]

Rain left, and a stunt driver got on the bus.

[Jenna Fischer]

They removed us from the tow rig, and now we are truly just a bus traveling down the road with a stunt driver.

[Angela Kinsey]

We listed what all was in the bus. Like, we went back and screen grabbed it. It was a full, like, arrowhead water jug dispenser, a microwave, a coffee pot. Coffee pot. Lamps, rolling chairs, desks, computers, a printer. Was there a little mini xerox machine? There was so many.

[Bryan Cranston]

I think there was.

[Angela Kinsey]

So it was a full office. And when the stunt driver swerved, right. It all swerved.

[Bryan Cranston]

Everything moved. And all of a sudden. That was not part of the production discussion that we had, by the way. It was like, we're doing this. Rain's gonna drive, and we're gonna do this, and it's all contained, and we'll have the cast move back and forth. It didn't look good. Everybody was in sync. And there was something funny about things happening at the same time. And once. And you can't. You can't duplicate that.

[Angela Kinsey]

You can't fake that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And so there was an idea, and I don't believe it was my idea, but I'm not saying it's not to actually heighten the movement of. Of the thing with a professional stunt driver.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, it was a professional stunt driver. It wasn't Rainn Wilson.

[Angela Kinsey]

We, however, are not professional stunt driver.

[Bryan Cranston]

This is true. And this is where the beginning of the indictments will start. Yes. And that's. And the reality of it in retrospect, you look back and you go, oh, my God, what were we doing?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh.

[Bryan Cranston]

And then.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Wait, wait, wait.

[Bryan Cranston]

We don't wanna get to that part.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wait, I have to ask. You're not on the bus with us at this point. You're in like a follow V and you're watching this footage on a screen. What?

[Bryan Cranston]

Hang on. I was in the bus the entire time.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wait, you were in the bus?

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, for that moment. I was in the very back, in.

[Angela Kinsey]

The way back on the back row.

[Bryan Cranston]

I remember that. On the floor with. Crouched down with a little viewfinder and watching the thing as I'm moving back and forth too.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember that I knew you were on the bus most of the time, but I thought there were a few shots where it was like we had to clear everybody. We cleared. Boom. We had just camera. And I did not know that you still stayed on.

[Bryan Cranston]

I stayed on when it was when there was room, when we were shooting, when I was able to hide in the back on the ground when there was no room and shooting in one direction. I think I was off the bus because it was too dangerous. And I said.

[Angela Kinsey]

We did skip over. So Jen and I, we were like trying to remember everything about this episode and filming it. And we were like, wait, we all had to get off the bus three times. The first one was because we got so tickled in. Ellie peed her pants.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

Remember?

[Jenna Fischer]

And we had to change her clothes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And she had actually.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no, Ellie, don't worry, it's in the book. It's in the book.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ellie is such a good sport. Ellie was like, guys, I peed my skirt.

[Bryan Cranston]

And we all laughed.

[Angela Kinsey]

And it wasn't a huge pee. It was just a little.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, she actually did.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. So. So then.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, it wasn't just a saying.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So we all pulled over, we hung out in the park. Ellie changed clothes. Then we all get back on the bus. And I remember Jenna, like, us being like, this is crazy. What a crazy day. Thinking like, that's the craziest thing that'll happen. Then the swerve and everything flew. I remember digging creed out of a pile of things. Do you remember that? Creed was totally covered.

[Bryan Cranston]

It was dangerous.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

I look back on it now and it was. I would like to think that that wouldn't happen today.

[Angela Kinsey]

It would all be zip tied or.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yes. Something.

[Jenna Fischer]

Here's the thing. Our show did not travel well. We were very good at shooting inside of an office. But pretty much any time we left to go on the road, even just metaphorically, the wills came off the bus.

[Bryan Cranston]

Something happened.

[Jenna Fischer]

Something happened. Yeah. We lost half the cast at C. Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Episode when you're on booze cruise.

[Jenna Fischer]

Me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Phyllis, Brian and Rain drifted out to sea for about 20 minutes on a dinghy at like 4:30 in the morning.

[Bryan Cranston]

4:30 in the morning?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Cause we were shooting nights and you had the choice, you know, we were wrapped. They were doing the scene with Jim and Pam. They're like, do you want to stay on the boat till we wrap or do you want to leave? And only this small group raised their hands because we had to kind of climb down a ladder, hop on a.

[Bryan Cranston]

Dinghy to get back to shore.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And then.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then the engine broke down.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then the engine broke and we.

[Jenna Fischer]

And they lost them.

[Angela Kinsey]

And we floated for a while.

[Bryan Cranston]

Let's take a moment and think about them for just a second. They were such great cast members.

[Angela Kinsey]

And the famous thing is that everyone was like, we lost Phyllis and me and Brian and Rain were like, ann, hello.

[Jenna Fischer]

People only cared about Phyllis.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know, I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sweet Phyllis.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sweet Phyllis.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, it's true that whenever we left set, things happened. So we're sorry.

[Bryan Cranston]

It was hard.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, okay. So there was a second thing that happened. Then we uppiled ourselves. There was. Then we were hot. And I remember being so excited after lunch.

[Angela Kinsey]

Didn't you guys have to turn the air off when we were filming? Because it was loud. The AC in the bus was loud.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, yes, it was loud. So there was this announcement. Guys, we have a great thing. We have a portable AC unit that we're going to pull on a trailer behind the bus and we have a hose that is going to go up through like this sunroof thing in the bus. And it'll be quiet. We can leave it on while we're filming. You guys aren't going to be hot anymore. And we couldn't believe our luck. We were so. This is fresh, wonderful, cool air.

[Angela Kinsey]

People were getting wilty. They were getting so we were like in a hot tin can.

[Bryan Cranston]

It was really tough. And San Fernando Valley, like you said, it was 100 degrees. And then we made it worse by having the closed up windows and everything else to where the heat inside that bus, oh God, I would think would be 110, 150.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was like a little sauna rolling down the road.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we were trying in the morning, every time we cut, they try to pump the air. But then we'd have to turn it off and you'd only be able to work for about 5, 10 minutes before it became unbearable. So we got the little Rollie unit.

[Bryan Cranston]

A brilliant idea.

[Jenna Fischer]

So wonderful. But then we started moving and my Chair was right under the little sunroof. I was very excited. I was like, this is awesome. You're gonna get all of that. I'm gonna get the first amazing cool air.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

But I.

[Bryan Cranston]

And you did.

[Jenna Fischer]

I sure did. And I was.

[Bryan Cranston]

That part is true.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was very cool.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was smelling the air as it was cooling me, and I was like, it doesn't smell right. It smells gassy. It smells not right.

[Angela Kinsey]

And so you started voicing that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I was more towards the front, and I was like, I don't smell anything. And there was a little bit of, like, Jenna. A little bit.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know. To be fair, I was the person on the set who had all the allergies. And I was ruining takes from sneezing all the time. And I think people thought it was just Jenna's allergy nose. Jenna's sensitive. And I was like, no, no, no, it's not that. It's like gas.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then Sarah, our camera operator, who was standing back there by you, she was like, I, like, wasn't she got a little woozy?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And then Brian, I think you came up.

[Bryan Cranston]

I did.

[Jenna Fischer]

And you were like, let me see what you're talking about.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wait.

[Bryan Cranston]

I stood on a chair right where your desk was, and I put my face right up to the. To the register where the air was coming. And sure enough, Carbon dioxide.

[Angela Kinsey]

Nice.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember you go get off the bus.

[Bryan Cranston]

That's right, Amy.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we all exited the bus. And that is when you can tell everyone what they discovered that happened.

[Bryan Cranston]

It was a great, great idea, but the execution, not thoroughly thought through. So what we came up with when we realized in production meeting, we're saying it's going to be hot as hell on this bus. How are we going to keep everybody from wilting? And they said, we can pull a portable air conditioning unit that is strong enough to pump fresh air into the bus. And my concern was I want to be able to shoot toward the back so I can't see it. We can make it low enough, small enough to where it won't be seen throughout the windows. And we thought about we'd have to adjust the rearview mirrors. Just. And what about the noise? And no, no, these new ones are. So we really thought about this. Okay, great, great, great. And we'll just tow it. We'll have a tow hitch on the bus. We'll hook it up and we'll just tow this unit. It has its own generator. It's quiet. And perfect solution. What could go wrong? Well, what went wrong was the intake for the Air conditioning unit was positioned the way it's manufactured. And it just so happens the way it was placed on this trailer was it was facing the back of the bus. At about a foot and a half away from where this intake is, is the exhaust pipe of the bus. So the fumes and exhaust from the bus only had about a foot distance away from the intake, from the air conditioning.

[Angela Kinsey]

Just getting sucked up, going right into the bus.

[Bryan Cranston]

Possibility of avoiding this. And it was locked down. But we didn't realize that until we were actually underway and the thing was fired up. And actually, Jenna, you and your sensitive nose saved our lives.

[Jenna Fischer]

Finally, it did some good in my life.

[Bryan Cranston]

You saved our lives at first. What? How can exhaust be coming inside? It just doesn't make any sense to me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And sure enough, when I went, oh, my God, we have made a huge mistake. And we nearly killed the entire cast of the Office.

[Jenna Fischer]

Really incredible.

[Bryan Cranston]

But I would say had no one detected it. What a beautiful way to go. All together, right? Oh, my God. All together. Kumbaya.

[Angela Kinsey]

Shibuya. Roll call. The big roll call. Well, Leslie. I remember looking at Leslie David Baker, and his eyes were bloodshot and watering. And I kept thinking, like, maybe the vent is hitting him at an angle. You know how it dries out your eyes, like if a vent hits you. But no, it was just poison.

[Bryan Cranston]

Now, was Leslie's desk close to yours?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. I'm trying to remember when we had the. When we all went flying into one another. I believe I flew into Leslie when we got off.

[Angela Kinsey]

I remember he was like, I'm not getting back on.

[Jenna Fischer]

Leslie said, I'm never getting back on the bus again. I'm done. I'm done getting on the bus. I remember him walking to his car and driving away, but I think that might not be true. But for some reason, I remember Leslie was like, goodbye, I'm out.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm out. Shoot around me.

[Jenna Fischer]

But also, poor Leslie. Whenever we went on locations, he got the worst of it. When we went to the beach, he got sand kicked in his eye and it scratched his cornea, and he had to wear, like, a patch for a week.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I think Leslie was like, I don't do scenes outside of the office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, forget it. Forget it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't go on location.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, Shit goes down.

[Bryan Cranston]

It almost sounds like his character. You just drool. I don't go outside.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jenna Fischer]

Don't leave the office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Were there any moments that you haven't talked about about this episode? Because we know you've been hit up with those Questions quite a bit. But any behind the scenes memories that you have that you'd want to share?

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, those things are so on the frontal lobe that it's hard to remember. It was just. I just had a really good time other than worrying about that. I was really happy to be able to be on your set and see it and feel it and you guys. By the time I came along, it was the ninth season. So you were a well oiled machine. And the role of a guest director is not to come in. And I wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare say anything to an actor about their character. Wouldn't that be obnoxious?

[Angela Kinsey]

Season nine, I think you could make a different choice for Dwight.

[Bryan Cranston]

Let's make this. I think he's friendlier.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Why is Angela such a bitch?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

What's with the cats? Let's do away with. Let's forget. No more cats.

[Jenna Fischer]

No more cats.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah. And then you two, you know, I'd say I'd pull you apart. Start to think about something about Jim that you didn't like just throw a wrench into everything. It's like I don't think this. So there's nothing. A director on episodic television just comes in and tries to. What my whole goal was whenever I direct television, which is different from directing features because in features you are trying and need to. To please yourself and make sure that you get all those elements and moments that you've worked so hard in breaking down that script. In television it's about staying true to these characters, putting them in positions where they can really be themselves, where they feel comfortable. It's delivering the meat and potatoes that every showrunner is going to expect from you. I always thought if I can deliver two or three things that the showrunner didn't see, that's golden. Just couple little things.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think there's a few. I mean, when I rewatched the episode, I completely forgot that Ed plays the banjo at the end.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh yeah. I mean.

[Angela Kinsey]

And just rips it. It's just so great. And everyone is just like, oh whatever.

[Bryan Cranston]

Well, no, and it's true. I taught him the banjo in two weeks and he was able to pick it up and. And be performing.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

I loved all the pie scenes too. I thought they were really sweet.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did you eat any pie?

[Bryan Cranston]

I had some pie.

[Jenna Fischer]

Do you remember your flavor of pie? That's probably hard to remember.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm thinking gooseberry.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

There that was. No.

[Angela Kinsey]

Look how happy you were. Well, if you remember that wasn't that.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, because it's such a funny name. I like it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. There was like a. It was like a. I think it was gooseberry because it wasn't BlackBerry.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. But there was a special berry crumble Pie.

[Bryan Cranston]

Pie.

[Angela Kinsey]

When I rewatched it, I just remember how happy we actually all were to sit outside and have pie. I had chocolate cream. It was delicious.

[Bryan Cranston]

Interesting choice on a very hot day, huh?

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Bryan Cranston]

Chocolate cream.

[Angela Kinsey]

Peel back the layers.

[Jenna Fischer]

Lady. I think there's something weirdly therapeutic about getting fresh socks. Brand new socks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Nice, good socks.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's such a treat. It's a nice thing to do for yourself. And I think the best socks are Bombas socks. I asked for Bombas socks for Christmas. My, my father in law said, what do you want for Christmas? I said, I want Bombus socks. Like every year just get me fresh Bombas socks. And he does now. Every year that's what I get and I absolutely love it.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're my daughter and I's favorite. I just ordered a two pack. I got her one and me one of the women's modern ribbed ankle sock. You can get it in an eight pack. I love them. I wear them all the time and so does she. But I have to share one other thing that I put. I put it on my Christmas list. What? Okay. Did you know that Bombas is making slippers now?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, lady, did you see them? They're so cute.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I did. Well, I just love this company because for every pair of Bombas that you purchase, Bombas donates one to someone facing homelessness on your behalf.

[Angela Kinsey]

We love Bombas. You guys head over to bombas.com officeladies and use code officeladies for 20% off your first purchase.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's B O M B A S.com officeladies use code officeladies at checkout.

[Angela Kinsey]

We want to talk to you guys a little bit about new Eggo protein waffles. It's really good, tastes great. Plus it's going to give you 20% of your daily protein.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Eggo Protein Plus Waffles provide the same great taste of Eggo that you know and love, plus 10 grams of protein per serving. I made the new Eggo protein waffles for my kids the other day. They didn't even know that they were protein waffles. They're just the Eggo waffles that you know and love. I know they have protein.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're just yummy waffles.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, listen, I know we're talking about breakfast, but I Have shared this before. I like them as an afternoon treat. And when your teenagers come home hungry, guess what's real easy to give them? A little protein waffle.

[Jenna Fischer]

They say you can fuel your morning, but you can also fuel your afternoon.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sure can.

[Jenna Fischer]

Head to your local grocery store to fuel your morning with Eggo protein waffles and pancakes. Available at retailers nationwide.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jenna, guess what?

[Jenna Fischer]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

The wait is over because Macy's biggest deals of the year are on. It is the best time to get ahead of your holiday shopping so you don't have to have any of that scrambling and stress. Well, Macy's Black Friday sale is officially on and it's really the easiest way to check everyone off your list.

[Jenna Fischer]

And you know they have something for everyone. For example, they have 20 to 40% off Lego. They have small appliances, they have clothes, they have accessories, perfume, makeup. I mean, it's all there. And when you buy your gifts at Macy's, you can round up for BBBs. 100% of funds will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters to help create one to one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Did you know Macy's has raised over $13 million for Big Brothers Big Sisters to support 280,000 mentoring moments.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is wonderful. The Macy's Black Friday sale is happening November 10th through November 29th.

[Jenna Fischer]

Shop now at Macy's.com or in store.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, I have got to do something. I have been going through the call sheets and on the back of the call sheet they do a thing called get to Know youw Cast and Crew and they ask a few questions, but they're so interesting.

[Bryan Cranston]

You mean on every one of your call sheets it was get to know your cast and crew there.

[Angela Kinsey]

Someone was featured on each call sheet we had talked about. Jen and I wanted to start with each new guest. Ask them a few of these questions. What was one of the first jobs you had in entertainment?

[Bryan Cranston]

One of the first jobs I had in entertainment, I think it was a soap opera. I did a three day role on Days of Our Lives. I love Days of Our lives back in 1981.

[Angela Kinsey]

What was your character?

[Bryan Cranston]

I was a cousin of the person. I will tell you this. Bill and Susan Seaforth. He and his wife, Susan and Bill, they were on that on Days of Our Lives for years. I happened to oversleep that morning the first day that I was to work and I missed the rehearsal, missed the blocking, missed everything. I'm panicking, absolutely panicking. And I race to NBC where we're shooting it and I'm panicking. I'm nervous, and all of a sudden, I hear a knocking on my dressing room door, and it's Bill Hayes, the big star of the show.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And he says, I understand you had a problem this morning. We stood in for you and we blocked. And he says, can I run down what we did? And do you need some help on the backstory of the character? I was so appreciative. I was just a day player. And he put himself out there to.

[Angela Kinsey]

Say, look, he was so kind.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, he was a lovely, lovely guy. And. And he helped me get over the anxiety of being late and the responsibility of that. And I spent all the money that I made on that episode to buy flowers for the people that I knew, stood up for me and Bill and the casting director. And it was like, I'm so sorry, but that was my. Yeah, it was my first experience.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. I love that.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love that story.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love the kindness you were shown. I didn't know where that was going. When you said, he knocked on the door, I was like, oh, no.

[Bryan Cranston]

In a good way.

[Angela Kinsey]

In a good way. Okay. Favorite place in the whole wide world that you've ever been to.

[Bryan Cranston]

I guess it would be Venice. I was there on my honeymoon almost 35 years ago. Very romantic and very unique. And we just had. There was one night when my wife and I were. There was a thunderous rainstorm, and we went to a Vivaldi concert in a church that had windows at the top of this sphere and this dome, and it felt like God was adding the exclamation to it, you know? And. Oh, my God, it was just so. It was just so magical and romantic. Unbelievable time.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. Have you been back since your honeymoon?

[Bryan Cranston]

Actually, no. It's been a long time. I've been there twice, and we haven't been back in 34 years. It's time to go back.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think it's time.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know. I say don't mess with it. What? I say leave it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Don't revisit. Never revisit a memory.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, it's too good. It's too good. You know what I mean? If you go back and then you're gonna be like, oh, my gosh, it smells. And it. I mean, no offense, Venice, but I hear that you're getting floods, and maybe it's a little stinky now, and a lot of surprise because the cruise ships and the.

[Bryan Cranston]

All the Venetians.

[Jenna Fischer]

I've lost the whole.

[Bryan Cranston]

The amount of gondoliers that listen to the show, it's just incredible.

[Angela Kinsey]

We just lost a few.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I'm just saying, you know, a lot of time has passed and this is an amazing romantic memory. Maybe it should just.

[Angela Kinsey]

I agree with you, I agree with you. Maybe in the church and the concert and the rain and all that, but I don't think you need to rule out all of Venice. I think there's maybe new places you could discover.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think leave it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, well, two very different takes on this memory. Okay, last question. They just asked three. Last question. Do you speak any other languages other than English? Oui, oui.

[Bryan Cranston]

I don't, actually. That was the extent of my French. No, I know a little bit of French and a little bit of Spanish, but that's one of the things I really, really do want to accomplish before I leave this. This earth is to be able to expand my awareness and culture and not just be so American centric. I want to step out of that. I spoke recently about not retiring, but taking a break. For the last 25 years, I've been working really nonstop. And it's been great, as we know. It's wonderful. And you're supporting and you're having fun and you're engaged and it's artistic and creative and all those wonderful things, but it's not real life experience. You're going from one bubble to another bubble to another bubble. And I'm getting to a point where I feel like I'm a little depleted. Like my ideas aren't as fresh, they're a little harder to come by. And ooh, am I being derivative of another character that I've done and can I break out of that? I needed more. I need more influences to come in so that it's more reciprocal. Right now. There's been a lot of outflow for the last two decades, and I think I need some real life experience to be able to say, oh, I've never even thought of that before. I want to read that classic novel that I've always sworn I was going to read. I want to learn how to cook. I want to learn a language. I want to be in another culture. And I don't want to talk about show business.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

We had an amazing conversation with Zach woods and we were talking about this exact thing where we were saying that as artists, you need a life to feed your art. You can't stay in just an art making bubble. No, because it's through our observations of other people and things, and it's through going to that weird cousin's wedding that you get your ideas, your inspiration, and I would Extend that even to. I remember Jerry Seinfeld doing an interview about this, talking about how much of his comedy comes from the frustrations and little annoyances in his life of standing in a line or someone, you know, butting in front of you as you're been waiting for a long. You know, all those little ways that you watch how different people handle these everyday, very universal situations. They inform you. They inform your art. And like you said, when you go from set to set to set, or bubble to bubble to bubble, you start losing all those. And those are the things that we use to make our characters.

[Bryan Cranston]

I used to joke that I haven't changed. I've had great good fortune in this business, but I really haven't changed. My dresser still puts on my pants one leg at a time.

[Jenna Fischer]

Good.

[Bryan Cranston]

He really does. He does a good job.

[Angela Kinsey]

Your valet. Your valet.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's my valet.

[Angela Kinsey]

Your valet. I traveled a lot growing up. My dad was a drilling engineer. I grew up in Jakarta, and we moved around a lot. But recently, I found an old travel journal that I kept as a young gal, and I read a little bit of it on the podcast. I was very snarky about a man who sat next to me who was taking a lot of notes about how to play poker on his napkin, but he would cover them so I couldn't see him. And I was like, what's up with this guy? And I had a whole journal of paper, and I would have given him a piece of paper, but he kept hiding his notes. So I didn't. It was like this weird, like, retaliation I had with him. But the story has a point, which is, as I go back and look at that journal of travel and. And seeing other things and experiencing other things, I just crave it. I'm like, I want to sit next to the guy on the plane who is taking notes on his napkin. What's that about?

[Bryan Cranston]

Now? What's interesting, though, is that now you have to hope that you're not recognized in order to have a legitimate conversation. Otherwise, it's weighted, and it's not the same thing. Celebrity is a strange thing, as we know. It makes people nervous, anxious, giddy, excited. They can't stop. They can't believe it. I mean, how many people have said, I can't believe I'm meeting you. It's blowing my mind. Well, that's not the way that person normally behaves. So there's no way that you're going to have a normal conversation with that person. So I always used to look for old people if I were in a. Some people who didn't know, chances are, wouldn't know who I am. And that way I knew I was getting an authentic conversation.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Do you know what I mean?

[Angela Kinsey]

I do. I do.

[Jenna Fischer]

I do. One of my favorite cities is New York. And one of my favorite things to do is just people watch. And so I love to go hide out in Central park and just watch everything unfold in front of me. And that's something I find. You can still go unrecognized. And if you wear your hat and you don't make a big fuss about yourself.

[Bryan Cranston]

Red nose.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, that's right. Your floppy shoes and my wigs and your sign.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then I smoke, you know, we know. I don't smoke in real life.

[Bryan Cranston]

Start making balloon animals. They won't know who you are.

[Angela Kinsey]

I feel the same way. When I go to. My family has a farm in Archer City, Texas. And there's a little cafe Mern's. Cause the woman who runs it is named Mern. Fantastic. And, you know, it's great. I go in there and it's just everyone that's been working cattle and they're all in there, and I just love it. No one knows the shop.

[Bryan Cranston]

Do they have your picture up on the wall?

[Angela Kinsey]

No, they don't. No, they have.

[Bryan Cranston]

Come on, Mern.

[Angela Kinsey]

They have the starting lineup of the football team and the cheerleaders and whoever is, you know, doing well at 4H Club that year. It's.

[Bryan Cranston]

That's rather sweet.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, it is. It's great.

[Bryan Cranston]

I used to travel a lot by motorcycle in the 70s, I traveled across the country for two years. I was on a motorcycle.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Bryan Cranston]

And I would get odd jobs here and there. And in the 70s, you could do that. You ladies wouldn't know that.

[Jenna Fischer]

How do you know I ride a motorcycle?

[Bryan Cranston]

You're way too young. And at one time, I took Route 66 from California, Santa Monica to Chicago. And on the way back, I took this Route 50, which is called the Loneliest Highway. And you go through Nebraska, Kansas, the places that people, for the most part, they go, well, there's nothing really to see there, so I want to avoid it. I want to go there. So we were going through Kansas and a little place called Peabody, Kansas. And it's flat, it's small, there's a bank on the corner. There's a coffee shop. And in the coffee shop, they list everybody's birthday for that day. And I said, these the people who work here. And I go, no, that's people in the entire town. We have Such a small town that they list everyone's birthday on that particular day. It's really. And it's quaint and sweet. And by the way, speaking of birthdays.

[Jenna Fischer]

We share a birthday.

[Angela Kinsey]

You do your birthday wedding.

[Jenna Fischer]

We are. We interviewed Tim Meadows for the podcast and we were all talking about our celebrity birthday partner. And I said you. Yes, I know. Happy birthday. Happy early birthday.

[Bryan Cranston]

March 7th.

[Jenna Fischer]

March 7th.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah. Same year?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. 74.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, that's right.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is my big 50th birthday this year.

[Bryan Cranston]

Are you welcoming it? It's gonna come whether you want to or not.

[Jenna Fischer]

But I am welcoming it.

[Bryan Cranston]

You're saying bring it on, world.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I'm saying bring it on. I'm doing big party. I am happy to celebrate my 50th. I'm excited about it. I find it very liberating.

[Bryan Cranston]

I think it's great. You look fantastic. You both look great.

[Angela Kinsey]

I am 52. I will be 53. I love my 50s. I love it. I told Jennifer.

[Jenna Fischer]

She is making it a lot of fun.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's my zero F's chapter of my life.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Super fun. I guess if it was truly my zero Fs, I'd say zero. Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

We like to keep it clean on Office Lane, too.

[Angela Kinsey]

We keep it clean.

[Jenna Fischer]

We have a lot of young listeners.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, I'll bet you do.

[Angela Kinsey]

We do. The age range is, like, really big.

[Bryan Cranston]

There's rumor that you probably already talked about. There's rumor of doing reboot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. We hear Greg is working on something.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, he's cooking something up, but it's.

[Jenna Fischer]

Not involving the same cast. We should say that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

But I would love to pop on as a guest.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ooh, me too.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'd love to be a guest on some sort of next gen project or something like that. That would be great. But I don't see bringing Pam back in a sort of permanent way and following her life again. At least it hasn't. But, you know, Greg Daniels is a person who could think it up and pitch it to me and get me on board, so. But I can't think of it.

[Bryan Cranston]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

You know, so if Dunder Mifflin still existed, there'd be other people working there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Maybe.

[Angela Kinsey]

We think Creed would still be there.

[Bryan Cranston]

Creed was there.

[Angela Kinsey]

Creed would still be there. Brian and Oscar and I, our little accounting clump. We used to have this pitch that we would be the spinoffs, but it would be on Telemundo and it'd be like Los Acantadores, Oscar, Angela, E. Cabin. And I would do that. I would do the Telemundo. Reboot of the account.

[Bryan Cranston]

Telemundo.

[Angela Kinsey]

Telemundo.

[Jenna Fischer]

Brian, what do you get approached about the most?

[Bryan Cranston]

Breaking Bad.

[Jenna Fischer]

Breaking Bad.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Still, I guess the most fervent fan base.

[Jenna Fischer]

Do you get pictures of people on Halloween dressed as Walter White?

[Bryan Cranston]

All the time.

[Angela Kinsey]

All the time.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, we get that too.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a crazy thing you get pictures.

[Bryan Cranston]

Of Walter White for.

[Jenna Fischer]

I do, I do, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

People want me to know she holds a cat. My Walter White.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's a crazy thing to have been on a show that endures. I just rewatched Breaking Bad. I got Covid, and it was my Covid comfort show. Let's see.

[Angela Kinsey]

I watched it during the pandemic.

[Jenna Fischer]

This was my rewatch. Because it is my opinion that Breaking Bad is the single greatest television pilot ever. I stand by that statement. And I have loved rewatching it. And people still rewatch it, right? And people still rewatch the Office. And it's such a cool thing to be part of something that endures like that.

[Bryan Cranston]

I think it's truly legendary shows. We're both all very fortunate to be chosen to be on such a thing. And as people have always asked you, I'm sure that always ask me, did you know it was gonna be a big hit? And you go, no, it was a job. I was happy to read this great script. You two were like, this sounds crazy, this sounds fun. I don't know exactly how it's gonna work. And let me ask you this. On the first year of the Office, what were the ratings like? I mean, a bit horrible.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our first season was six episodes and.

[Jenna Fischer]

We were going to get shit canned for sure. We were gonna get canceled. But then that summer between season one and deciding if we would get picked up for season two, the 40 year old virgin came out and Steve Carell became a massive box office comedy star. And I think NBC was like, I'm sorry, you don't cut loose the number one comedy box office star. You pick up that show. It was still only a. A little bit. Not a full season for season two. And Phyllis and I used to call the ratings hotline. We used to run how old we are.

[Bryan Cranston]

Old tech ratings hotline, May I help you?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, we would run on Tuesdays originally, before we moved to Must See tv, we were on Tuesdays and every Wednesday morning we would get on set and Phyllis and I would listen to the recording. And we knew that as long as we had like a 2.54 or above, we still had jobs and we would just hold our Breath and wait for the recording to tell us what our ratings were.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And it was like that for into the second season.

[Angela Kinsey]

Every week I would send out a mass email. I was like. That was. I was like, hey, you guys, can you guys please watch our show this week? It would really mean a lot. Thanks so much, everyone. Like, everyone I knew from all my improv days, all my theater days, everyone back home. And then finally, it was around the first Christmas episode, Yankee Swap, one of my friends wrote back and said, I don't think you need to send these anymore. You're gonna be okay.

[Bryan Cranston]

You're being a little annoying.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hey, stop sending me these emails.

[Jenna Fischer]

What about. Was Breaking Bad big in the ratings at first?

[Bryan Cranston]

No, not at all. No. We were on a cable channel, amc. We didn't. We. We weren't big hits at all. Although, like, the critics really, really loved us. So we had that. But that doesn't equate to being commercially successful. What happened for us was a stroke of really good fortune. And that was in 2009. Netflix switched from the red envelopes where they would send you the movies at once a week. Remember, the mail them to you to streaming to where you can push a button on a computer. It changed technology, it changed availability. And Breaking Bad, second season, we had two seasons and we were like, I don't know if it's gonna go a third. And like, well, maybe we'll let them go with the. And all of a sudden everybody started to go. Was able to go back and watch the first episode and then just start watching them all. And then that's what caught on. So really, it was Netflix that was the stroke of good luck for us.

[Jenna Fischer]

For us too, kind of.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's why we've endured since the show went off the air.

[Bryan Cranston]

Let me ask you this, because I seem to remember this, and I'm not completely positive, but when Ricky Gervais's version of the original Office, his character was caustic and mean spirited and rude and biting and all those things. And Steve's character, when it first started, had more of a flavor of an edge to him, didn't it?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

When I first started watching it, it was more of like, ooh. And I think at some point, and I'm asking as a fan, at what point did they go, well, let's make a. Let's turn the dial on this a little bit and give him more of that confident imbecile kind of level and.

[Jenna Fischer]

Not mean spirited that happened in that transition from season one to season two. I think, you know, people saw this lovable quality to his character in 40 Year Old Virgin, and they also just started writing the show more to see Steve and less to the template that Ricky had laid down with his character of David Brent. And so there was a little bit of a retooling, but we also got some really good advice from Ricky Gervais, who said, hey, you know, in America, you guys like to do hundreds of episodes of shows, and David Brent doesn't work for hundreds of episodes like you. You can't, like, have that character do this for that long. So you're gonna need to find more layers to your lead character or he's gonna burn out. And also so true, so true. So smart.

[Angela Kinsey]

The writers room also did something that I thought really worked for American audiences is each episode has one redeeming moment. One moment where it's either Pam listening to Jim's messages as she drives home and there's a montage, or it's, you know, Dwight getting a pat on the shoulder from Michael, even though the whole day they were, like, fighting. There's one little moment, and it doesn't have to be a huge one, but each episode has one.

[Bryan Cranston]

So you're saying that this was a concerted effort. This was a note that every episode, we want to have at least one redeeming quality come out of it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. One moment.

[Jenna Fischer]

A moment of hope. A moment of hope. One moment of hope within all.

[Bryan Cranston]

Moment of Zen.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

Look at that. I didn't know that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And if you. Now if I go back and watch, I see it, I can find them. I'm like, oh, well, that kind of made me feel better about that work bus day. We got to have pie.

[Bryan Cranston]

We got to sit outside. Was that our moment?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

We got pie at the end.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, the montage at the end of pie.

[Jenna Fischer]

There's another moment in this episode that I actually love, which is Jim and Dwight up on the roof of the bus. Yes. And I love any moment when you know that these rivals, these guys who are always, you know, Jim's always pranking Dwight and everything, but when there's this moment where Dwight gets vulnerable and Jim is there to catch him. And I love that. That was a really beautiful scene.

[Bryan Cranston]

That's true. Because that exposes the audience to the true character of. Of Jim and that he's. When it's necessary, when someone expresses vulnerability like that, it's like he doesn't come in for the kill. He backs off and actually lends support. Oh, see, it's very sweet.

[Angela Kinsey]

We Had a few moments like that.

[Bryan Cranston]

You know, we kind of. I mean, so let's say that there's not a reboot series, but what if there was like a movie?

[Angela Kinsey]

Like Downton Abbey?

[Bryan Cranston]

The movie? Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Something.

[Bryan Cranston]

Something to where we can see where these people are, these people in the entire cast that we're curious about. We wondered at the end, where did they go? What did become of them?

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, I'd do it. I would do it. I would do it for my kids because I think they would think that's fun.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, if Greg did it, because I would trust it 100% for sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

Greg is signed on in this hypothetical.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, as long as Greg is writing it and he's in charge of it, then I say yes.

[Bryan Cranston]

Okay, enough said.

[Angela Kinsey]

Bryan Cranston.

[Bryan Cranston]

Let's get Greg on the phone.

[Angela Kinsey]

Bitch. He's our new agent.

[Bryan Cranston]

I just want to be. I just want to be an extra in it. I do. You have to be. I would be an extra at it. I would be some guy. I'd be like a crossing guard or something like that. Just something.

[Angela Kinsey]

Maybe you're like one of Dwight's hired hands on troop farms on his farm.

[Bryan Cranston]

Now, why would I be the hired hand and not the foreman? Thank you.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's just how. It's how we see you.

[Bryan Cranston]

It would be sad. It's like, look at that old guy. He's just a hired hand.

[Angela Kinsey]

Why see him? And they're like, bail hay. Do all that heavy lift.

[Bryan Cranston]

He's an old man and they're making him bail hay. Oh, that's not right. That's not the moment of Zen. That's not a nice moment at all.

[Angela Kinsey]

Are there any projects you're working on right now that we can share with our listeners?

[Jenna Fischer]

We know you're working on the project of living life.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yes, the project of living life. That's a good way to put it. I really do need to do that. I'm very fortunate that I'm in a position where I'm getting a lot of offers, both for theater and films and television and things. And so I just have to pick and choose what is new to me and challenging. I don't want to do something that I've done before. And the more I go without that real life experience, the harder that is to find because I haven't changed. It's like you were saying, if a band just played the same music over and over and they never expanded, they never wrote beyond what they were. Like you look at the Beatles and they weren't together all that long. But they expanded and expressed themselves in so many different ways. Whatever they were going through, it was infused in their art. And I kind of want to. I want to do that. I want to get out of the bubble a little bit. So that's that. But before that may happen, there's responsibilities. I have. I have a Mezcal company with Aaron. Paul. Dos Hombres.

[Angela Kinsey]

Dos Hombres.

[Bryan Cranston]

And had I been a great guest, I would have brought you some. Damn it. I forgot. But that's going well. It's this business I never thought I'd be in.

[Angela Kinsey]

We'll share about it in our office. Ladies, pod stories.

[Bryan Cranston]

It's so good. It's so good.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did you get to go, like, do a tasting? Did you get to be part of the formula? How does that work?

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, well, here's Aaron and I, three years after the end of Breaking Bad. We missed each other. And, you know, it's like when you.

[Angela Kinsey]

We can relate, Ollie. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

You're together, you're together, you're together. It ends. And life goes on and sends you in different directions. And we happened to be in New York City at the same time, and we have to have dinner. So we were having dinner and we expressed how much we missed each other. And he said, you know what we ought to do is have a company. We ought to. You know, we ought to have a Mezcal company together. What? That's what I said. I go, what are you. That's random. What do you. That's terrible. That shitty spirit with a dead worm at the bottom. What are you talking about? And he goes, no, no, no, no. He took me to a Mezcal bar in New York City. We sipped some of the greatest spirits that I've ever had.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't think I've ever had Mezcal. I don't.

[Bryan Cranston]

So good. It's the older brother of tequila. Okay, Tequila is a mezcal, but Mezcal is not a tequila. A spirit like that that's made from agave plant is always a Mezcal. And the way they make tequila is to steam it and put it in a silo. And it's more of a fast process. Mezcal is smoked, and so it's in an earthen pit for four days and then mashed. In fact, ours, we have. It says artisanal on the bottle, and there's no modern technology used in the process of this, or else we can't say that on the bottle. So it's the old fashioned way. It goes from that to A rock pit where two donkeys pull this big rock wheel and mash this. Now, smoked agave. Then it ferments in an oak barrel for 10 days, and then it goes into a copper kettle for distillation. And that's the purity of it. It's mountain spring water and smoked agave. That's all that's in it. And it's done. Dos Hombres is now the fifth largest mezcal in the world.

[Jenna Fischer]

Come on.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is so amazing.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

We have to try it.

[Jenna Fischer]

We have to try it.

[Angela Kinsey]

We have to try it. We're gonna go get some.

[Bryan Cranston]

I will bring it to you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yay.

[Bryan Cranston]

I will bring it to you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Even better.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love this also.

[Angela Kinsey]

Just your description just. I don't know. I felt like I left my body for a minute. It felt like I went on a little vacation.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know. A journey.

[Bryan Cranston]

And we did. We went down to Oaxaca. We found this spirit and brought it to the marketplace. And in truth, the spirit found us because it's been around for hundreds of years, and we were just there to receive it.

[Jenna Fischer]

This sounds like a pretty good start on the project of living life.

[Bryan Cranston]

Yeah, it is. But like any other business, it takes a lot of effort and a lot of time and energy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Probably more than you expected when you started.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

And it's a lot of work. And I find that the business end of it, the case sells and this and the. It's not as interesting to me as the process of making it. And that nurturing sense. Yeah, that. And I have a production company, and that's interesting too, and it's good. But I'm now looking for ways to have more of that human real life experience.

[Jenna Fischer]

I have a crazy question for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did you ever, in your young artist life, ever do that book, the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron?

[Bryan Cranston]

No. Excellent.

[Jenna Fischer]

I highly recommend it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I highly recommend it. Jenna did it twice. I did a few pages of it.

[Bryan Cranston]

And how did the few pages go?

[Angela Kinsey]

They were fantastic.

[Jenna Fischer]

We're different personalities. I did it twice because the first time I didn't finish. And it bothered me so deeply because I realized that one of my challenges in my early artistic life was having tons of great ideas of which I finished. None.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

And so I thought, I need to get over this finishing things problem. Why don't I start by finishing the Artist's Way?

[Bryan Cranston]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

And so I had done 10 of the 12 weeks, and I went back and I started over again. I did all 12 weeks, and there are still things from that book, even today as an artist, that I think of. You know, one of the things is once a week, you have to go on an artist date alone, by yourself. Just you. That could be going to a symphony. That could be sitting in a park and watching people. That could be.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Taking yourself bowling alone. Like, whatever your artist date is, you have to do this once a week. But it's all creative, it's all artistic. And so sometimes when I'm, like, starting a new artistic journey or whatever, I'll refer back and I'll do an artist date, and I'll try to kickstart something. It's that business of living life.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right? That's fantastic.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's really awesome.

[Bryan Cranston]

The bowling part threw me the bowling.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's an artist date. If you want it to be.

[Angela Kinsey]

Really?

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah. Take yourself bowling.

[Angela Kinsey]

To be fair, the week I got.

[Jenna Fischer]

Go to an art museum.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was the week of my birthday, when I got this book as a gift. But I also got a pair of roller skates. And I was a child of the 70s, and I loved roller skating. And then I think I started it. And then I was like, I'm gonna go roller skate.

[Jenna Fischer]

That could be an artist state.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, it was an artist state that never stops. It was an art state that never. I still have the same pair of roller skates. They're by my front door. I still roller skate. That's gotta be something. Jenna, that's great. That came out of the artist's way for me.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think it came out of your birthday.

[Angela Kinsey]

My birthday buddy is Ricky Gervais.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, look at that. A little tie in.

[Angela Kinsey]

I once told him that.

[Bryan Cranston]

He was like, okay, we also have Rachel Weisz.

[Jenna Fischer]

Does she share our birthday as well?

[Bryan Cranston]

Peter Sarsgaard.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is exciting. We should have a dinner. We should have a March 7th.

[Angela Kinsey]

Busy Phillips has my birthday.

[Bryan Cranston]

Busy Phillips.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Mm.

[Jenna Fischer]

You Busy Phillips, Rakeechia Reyes are going to have dinner.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was having dinner with Rachel.

[Bryan Cranston]

That's not a bad idea.

[Angela Kinsey]

Birthday dinner for a show. Oh.

[Bryan Cranston]

You have a dinner with all the people who share the date, and you find the similarities and the differences between them, but they all have the same birthday.

[Jenna Fischer]

Brian, you have a production company. I'm so sorry. We're putting you to work again. This has to stop.

[Bryan Cranston]

Rather than let me give it to you and I take 10%.

[Angela Kinsey]

There it is. That's it. And welcome to Hollywood.

[Bryan Cranston]

Aw.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you so much for coming in today.

[Bryan Cranston]

It was fun. Thank you.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was so good to see you again.

[Bryan Cranston]

You too.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, this episode, it was beautiful. It turned Out. Great. I just rewatched it and it's so good. Even though we all almost died. It's a great episode and it's a classic and people love it and they.

[Angela Kinsey]

Don'T know it is classic. And now when people see us fly across the bus, I think we needed that moment. I think we need. I think it made the pie that much sweeter.

[Jenna Fischer]

We did use it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I noticed the actual tin there. Yeah. And now you can relive it in our book.

[Bryan Cranston]

Thank you, Angela. That's so cool.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, thank you very much.

[Jenna Fischer]

We love you so much.

[Bryan Cranston]

I'm gonna bring you some dose Sombre and we'll all. We'll all sip some.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you have it on ice? Do you have it? Did I straight?

[Bryan Cranston]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

How do you have it?

[Bryan Cranston]

You know, any way you like it is the right way. I like it just neat. Maybe one big ice cube and just let it chill without diluting it and just sip it. It's so great just sipping it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Do you ever mix it?

[Bryan Cranston]

Oh, yeah, all the time.

[Jenna Fischer]

It goes in a cocktail as well.

[Bryan Cranston]

It works so well in a margarita, in a paloma, in an old fashioned, a Negroni.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, you like old fashioned Negronis?

[Bryan Cranston]

On and on and on.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah, those are my faves.

[Bryan Cranston]

So good. Try a mezcal Negroni.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ooh, that's so good.

[Bryan Cranston]

You're going to love it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, there you have it. Our interview with Bryan Cranston. I could not have enjoyed that more, Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's the best.

[Jenna Fischer]

The best.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Big thank you to Brian for joining us in the studio, being so gracious with his time and thank you all for listening. We will be back on Monday with a special Monday motivation episode with Kendra Adachi, the lazy genius. We can't wait for you to hear it.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then on Wednesday it's here comes trouble. So two episodes next week.

[Angela Kinsey]

Two office ladies.

[Jenna Fischer]

Two office ladies.

[Angela Kinsey]

See you then. See ya.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

[Angela Kinsey]

Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

Our senior producer is Cassie Jerkins. Our in studio engineer is Sam Kiefer. Our editing and mixing engineer is Jordan Duffy. And our associate producer is Ainslie Bubico.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. We want to talk to you guys a little bit about new Eggo protein waffles. It's really good, tastes great. Plus it's going to give you 20% of your daily protein.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Eggo Protein Plus Waffles provide the same great taste of Eggo that you know and love. Plus 10 grams of protein per serving. I made the new Eggo protein waffles for my kids the other day. They didn't even know that they were protein waffles. They're just the Eggo waffles that you know and love. I know they have protein.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're just yummy waffles.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, listen, I know we're talking about breakfast, but I have shared this before. I like them as an afternoon treat. And when your teenagers come home hungry, guess what's real easy to give them? A little protein waffle.

[Jenna Fischer]

They say you can fuel your morning, but you can also fuel your afternoon.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sure can.

[Jenna Fischer]

Head to your local grocery store to fuel your morning with Eggo protein waffles and pancakes. Available at retailers nationwide.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jenna, guess what? What? The wait is over because Macy's biggest deals of the year are on. It is the best time to get ahead of your holiday shopping so you don't have to have any of that scrambling and stress. Well, Macy's Black Friday sale is officially on and it's really the easiest way to check everyone off your list.

[Jenna Fischer]

And you know they have something for everyone. For example, they have 20 to 40% off Lego. They have small appliances, they have clothes, they have accessories, perfume, makeup. I mean, it's all there. And when you buy your gifts at Macy's, you can round up for BBBs. 100% of funds will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters to help create one to one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Did you know Macy's has raised over $13 million for Big Brothers Big Sisters to support 280,000 mentoring moments.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is wonderful. The Macy's Black Friday sale is happening November 10th through November 29th.

[Jenna Fischer]

Shop now at Macy's.com or in store.