Loading summary
James Corden
This Life of Mine with James Corden is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible financial geniuses, Monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it most. So your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on your car insurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations Right, let's talk about winter. It's freezing, it's dark at about 4:12pm and you've got big goals, right? But somehow you're meant to be meal prepping quinoa at 9 o' clock at night? Absolutely not. That's where Factor comes in. Fully prepared meals designed by dietitians, crafted by chefs so you can eat brilliantly without planning, chopping or pretending that you enjoy washing up. Now my personal favorite at the moment is the high protein Creamy Parmesan Chicken. It's got lean, juicy chicken, loads of colorful veg, proper whole food ingredients and healthy fats that actually keep you full. There's no refined sugars, no artificial sweeteners or refined seed oils. Just real food that fits the let's be sensible this winter mood. It's perfect when I'm trying to stay on track, manage my calories and still feel like I've had a proper, comforting meal. And there's so much variety. There's over a hundred rotating meals every week. High protein calorie, smart Mediterranean, GLP1 support, even ready to eat salads. They've even launched Muscle Pro to support strength and recovery, which is incredible. It's like having a tiny little chef who genuinely cares about your goals. Now the best bit? It's always fresh, it's never frozen, and it's ready in about two minutes. There's no prep, no stress and no excuses. Honestly, it really makes eating well ridiculously easy even in the middle of winter. Head to factor meals.com lifeofmind50 off to get 50% off and a free breakfast for a year. Eat like a pro this month with Factor New subscribers only varies by plan. One free breakfast per item per box for one year while subscription is active. You can listen to every episode of this Life of Mine ad free with Lemonada Premium. You'll get access to a Quick Fire round of questions with this week's guest. And I mean quick fire really quick. Like two minutes or less. Just tap that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts or head to lemonadepremium.com to subscribe on any other app. That's lemonade premium dot com.
Hello, and welcome to this Life of Mine, the show where our guests pick the places, the people, possessions, music, and memories that have made them who they are. My guest today spent the first 20 years of his career acting in commercials, TV soaps, playing guest roles on iconic shows such as Matlock, Baywatch, and Seinfeld. And it wasn't until his 40s when he started to see real success when he was cast in the role of Hal on the much loved family comedy Malcolm in the Middle. But it was in his 50s that he took on the character that would raise his career to a whole new level and win him six Emmys in the process playing Walter White in the astonishingly good Breaking Bad. His career has been nothing short of incredible. His work in the theatre has brought him great acclaim with not one, but two Tony Awards. And recently, he's spoken very openly about his want to perhaps retire from acting, at least for a moment. So before that happens, I'm very glad that we found some time with him. Are you ready to do this?
Bryan Cranston
I am.
James Corden
Then take us away.
Bryan Cranston
Thank you, James. I'm Bryan Cranston, and welcome to this Life of Mine.
James Corden
I'm very happy that you're here.
Bryan Cranston
I am, too.
James Corden
I was thinking last night about when my daughter Charlotte was born. Yeah, she came three weeks early and I couldn't host the Late Late show. And Harry Styles stood in the first night and we'd sort of already said, tim, look, you're in LA around this time if anything happens. And he was like, yeah. And then we had some complications with Charlotte's birth after she was born, and it was very clear that there was no way I could go into work the next day. And so we called you and you so willingly said yes to stepping in. But my memory, and I don't know if I've told you this, it was kind of around about 6pm that day that Charlotte came out of the NICU. And it was clear that everything, what we thought was a complication had kind of cleared itself up and it was gonna be okay. And 12:30 at night, Charlotte, this newborn baby's asleep in the little crib here, and Julia was asleep after the drugs and things on. And I turned the show on and you were hosting the Late Late Show.
Bryan Cranston
As I'm sure you have determined by now that you've realized I am not Julie James Corden. I'm actually Harry Styles. It's been a rough 24 hours.
James Corden
And I was like, okay, this guy's a little too good at this. And we started thinking about, I think there was maybe, like, Joe Jonas would step in the next day or something. And I was like, oh, no, this guy is a natural. Late night talk show host. I need to get back to work as soon as I can, because if CBS are watching this, I could be fired tomorrow.
He's that good.
Bryan Cranston
God, that's tremendous. Praise.
James Corden
You were brilliant.
Bryan Cranston
Oh, I. Well, thank. And I know Ben Winston was wanting to play pranks on you months later when you were all trying to decide what episode should we submit for. Like he said, I think the one where Bryan Cranston was the host, he
James Corden
was so good at it.
Bryan Cranston
You set the template to that with the game playing and the willingness to just dive in. So every time I went on your show, it was about, would you be willing? And I say, yeah, whatever. Whatever he says is yes. You know, and also encouraging me to come in with some ideas and things. But in order to not be nervous about it, I thought, how do I do this? And then I realized, oh, you know, what I should do is just think of it as a character. I'm not going out as Bryan Cranston. I'm gonna slip into the shoes and the clothes of a character who is playing a late night talk show host.
James Corden
That's kind of what I did if I wanted to.
Bryan Cranston
Is that what you did?
James Corden
It's kind of. I never really saw it as, like a true representation of me. It was just like, well, the character I'm gonna play is this version of myself. Cause it's a deeply unnatural thing to do.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah. Every night I think there's people wondering. I bet James has these guests over to his house, and he sits on the couch and goes, tell me, Dwayne Johnson.
James Corden
Well, I had a guy come up to me. I've realized, and I've realized quite recently that I think I've got quite a. What I think the professional term would be a resting bitch face. Where someone came. I was with my son, we went to watch a soccer game, and I was blissfully happy. I have to tell you, me and my son, we've got this idea to go and watch as many local derbies as we can. So we want to go and watch AC Milan be Inter Milan at some point. And the first one we chose because we live in North London, was the North London Derby, which, when Arsenal played Tottenham, I'm like, oh, my God, we're really doing it. Me and my son, we're doing it. And someone came over to me, cheer up, it might never happen. And I went, what do you mean? And he said, guy, you look grumpy. And I said, no, this is just my face. I'm not always just jumping around going, stick around.
Bryan Cranston
We'll be right back, everybody. Do you know, mine is resting. Mean face.
James Corden
Wow.
Bryan Cranston
When I'm walking through a store, mothers will grab the hands of their children and start to steer them away. And it's like, huh, I wonder why they did that.
James Corden
Well, I'm so happy that you're here.
I'm so happy that you're getting a feeling for it, in case you ever need to stand in for me if I need to miss one of these shows again. But we've, obviously, we've asked you to pick a person, a possession, a place, a memory, a piece of music.
We've asked you to pick a movie,
and we're gonna start with the movie choice. Tell us the film that you've chosen as being particularly significant in your life.
Bryan Cranston
Very interesting movie, which is not on anyone's top 10 list, but it is on mine, at the top because of what it meant to me. And that's Cat Ballou. Cat Ballou was a movie in 66, I believe.
James Corden
I think it was 65. It came out. Yeah.
Bryan Cranston
It starred Jane Fonda and Lee Marv. It was a silly kind of Western, but Jane was in her peak and beautiful and Lee was at his peak. But more importantly, it was during a time when movie theaters around the United States had one screen at a time, and they would play a movie for two, three months at a time. During the time my parents were starting to go through some bad time, they were starting to.
James Corden
So what age are you?
Bryan Cranston
I'm 11. 10 or 11. And they were really starting. Starting to fracture, right. And for some reason, my dad leased a coffee shop and a nightclub in a bowling alley, right? Thinking, okay, this will stabilize us, and then I can continue on with my acting career. He was an actor. Not a tremendously successful one, but that's the life. And every day after school, my brother and I would go to this coffee shop and we would do our homework quickly. And then we start setting up and working and busing dishes and washing dishes and loading ice machines and things like that. And at a certain point when it slowed down, my mother would allow us to go next door to the Corbin Theater. This was at the Corbin bowl in San Fernando Valley. And at the Corbin Theater, we would go there. And she made a deal A bargain with the guy who was the manager said, come on over, I'll feed you. Let my kids go and watch the movie. Kind of occupy them. So every night for two months, we would go to the Corbin Theater and watch Cat Ballou. If only Cat had behaved these folks would befriend her if Cat had behaved their hearts they would lend her But Cat was depraved to help now they'll send her she could have lived like others do Cat balloon Wicked through and
James Corden
through they'll now be hanging Cat balloon
Bryan Cranston
My brother and I memorized all the dialogue and when we'd come home, we would recite the movie to each other, playing all the roles. It was a way of distraction so that we wouldn't hear my parents arguing and becoming this ugly scenario. So it was my salvation in some ways. And because of that, I latched onto storytelling and filmmaking. To say this is an unbelievable way to distract someone of their troubles. And I learned at that age that that's really valuable. It helped me just cope for that period of time to get through.
James Corden
So would you. Would it be fair to say it's sort of less about the film.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah.
James Corden
As a piece of film and more about what it represented to you and your brother at that time?
Bryan Cranston
Yeah. It was so much more than just a movie. It was our babysitter. It was a confidant. It was a safe haven to sit in the dark, my brother and I next to each other, and allow your troubles to disappear for two hours.
James Corden
Wow. And so how soon after that did your parents divorce?
Bryan Cranston
They split up about a year after that. And I didn't see my father from the time I was 12 to the time I was about 22.
James Corden
Oh, my God.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah.
James Corden
So hang on. So tell me, what do you say to your dad when you're 22?
Bryan Cranston
My brother and I got in touch with him because we were both interested in becoming actors and he was an actor. And I think that was on the surface as a reasoning that's something we can break the ice with. The iceberg, of course, massive underneath that surface that really never thawed. We never were able to get to a point where we were able to have a truly healthy relationship ever again. Yeah, it's disappointing.
James Corden
Well, let's stick around the time of your 11 and 12 year old self because the person that you've chosen for the show is also somebody from this period of your life. Tell us the person that you've chosen
for the show today.
Bryan Cranston
Mrs. Betsy Crawford.
James Corden
Now, who is Mrs. Betsy Crawford?
Bryan Cranston
Mrs. Betsy Crawford. Mrs. Crawford. We left out the Betsy when I was in grade school. She was my sixth grade teacher, and I adored her. And she was the first person to see me to say, you know, Brian, you don't always have to just write out a book report. You can act it out.
James Corden
Oh, wow.
Bryan Cranston
And I went, I can. And she said, yeah, you should try that. Try getting up and telling the story of the book as opposed to trying to write out the book that you read. And this really helped me because, undiagnosed, I absolutely am convinced I have ADHD. But back in the day, in the 60s, all it said on my report card were, brian needs to pay attention. Brian needs to stop daydreaming. Brian needs to quit fooling around. And my parents would go, come on, come on, let's go. Pay attention. What are you doing? And I kept thinking, I don't know why I'm not trying to not do my work. And that's basically it. And my daughter has adhd. And we went to the psychiatrist after the testing, and the psychiatrist points to me, and she goes, and she got it from you.
James Corden
Wow.
Bryan Cranston
And then she started saying, did this ever happen? And did you ever hear this growing up as a child? And it all of a sudden rushed back to my report cards and the parent teacher conferences that were going on. And then my parents telling me, you've got to start paying attention. And all of a sudden I realized, oh, that's what that was.
James Corden
So it's quite incredible that she saw this in you, this ability to tell stories.
She must have seen that there was
something in you that wanted to perhaps speak or perform in a different way
Bryan Cranston
beside the resting mean face.
James Corden
Yes.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah, I guess I was very animated and very active, and I really enjoyed school. And I think she said, you know, this is an avenue for you. And I took to it. And that was it. It was, oh, my God.
James Corden
So from this point on, you can start doing school plays and shows and things like that. What was your first?
Bryan Cranston
My first role was the lead in the school play where I was the inimitable Professor Flip Noodle. By God, I was a good flip noodle.
James Corden
Which show is this? I don't know what this show is.
Bryan Cranston
You're not familiar with.
James Corden
I'm not okay with the Flip Noodle Chronicles of the Flip Noodle.
Bryan Cranston
Professor Flip Noodle invented a time machine.
James Corden
Right.
Bryan Cranston
And as with all school plays, there's a huge component of historical merit to it. And my character invented the time machine. We went back into parts of history that were important, and I narrated the whole Thing. And I made a mistake one time during our performance where I mistakenly said a different word for what I was supposed to say. And there were stores in the southland of Los Angeles called White Front. They were as ubiquitous as a Target or a Walmart. White Fronts were everywhere. And a friend of mine, who is still a friend of mine, said, wouldn't it be funny if you said instead of, president Lincoln will deliver his Gettyburg address as soon as he returns to the White House? He said, wouldn't it be funny if you said as soon as he returns to the White Front? And I thought, oh, it would be funny, but I'm not going to say that. And to ensure that I wouldn't say that, I created a mantra. Don't say White Front. Don't say White Front. Don't say. So, of course, when the time came, I said, president Lincoln will deliver his Gettysburg Address as soon as he returns from the White Front. At that moment, I saw parents bursting out in laughter, falling to the floor of the aisles, uproarious laughter. All the kids around me were laughing. The teacher in the wings was laughing. Everybody was laughing at me at the same time. I didn't know how to reconcile that. I didn't know what that was. I was humiliated. She told me to go back and I went back and I started came up and they were anticipating again, and they started laughing again. And like, oh, my God, is this ever going to end? And I'm flop sweating and embarrassed. And I realized only in retrospect, maybe 20 years later, at that moment, the power of language replacing one word created this massive reaction that would not have happened if I said the correct word. Nobody would have reacted had I said the correct word. So all of a sudden I felt this surge of energy thinking, well, God, what if you did that on purpose? What if that was something you wanted to? And that's when the language started swirling around in my head. And you start to develop the personality and a sense of humor and a way of crafting a joke or a setup as to something. And it was mind blowing.
James Corden
That's so interesting that you saw the possibilities of what it is.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah, not right away, but it took a little while after that.
James Corden
It's a much better story than my friend who was in the national tour of west side Story. And they used to sing backstage. My Ria I've just had a man in my Ria and one rainy matinee in Plymouth, he went out and sang My Ria I've just had a man Girl called Maria. It did Not. I don't think it went down quite well.
Bryan Cranston
It didn't go over well.
James Corden
New year, new goals. You want to eat healthier, you get that dietician, you want to get focused. How about a life coach? Or that Beachbody, a personal trainer? But it's hard to find people who are so good at what they do. It's like, if you're hiring, how can you find the best people for all of the different roles on your team? Well, now it's easy. Zip recruiter. And right now you can try it for free@ziprecruiter.com LifeOfMine ZipRecruiter's matching technology works ridiculously fast, connecting you with the top talent before you've even finished your to do list. So you're not wasting time, you're not wasting money, you're just hiring great people. And with ZipRecruiter's advanced resume database, you can instantly unlock top candidates contact info, which means less waiting around. And I love that. No wonder ZipRecruiter is the number one rated hiring site on G2. I mean, of course it is. Let ZipRecruiter find you the best people for all of your roles. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate and within the first day, see for yourself. Just go to this exclusive web address right now to try ZipRecruiter for free. It's ZipRecruiter.com LifeOfMin Again, that's ZipRecruiter.com lifeofmine ZipRecruiter the smartest way to hire regular listeners of this life of mine will know that really on the show often we talk about great moments in people's lives, whether that's great memories or people that they love or songs or films. But you know and I know that life isn't always full of just great moments. And we all have times when everything just kind of piles up, whether that's work or family, friendships, relationships, whatever it might be. And you think? I think I might need to speak to somebody. I've had one of those stretches fairly recently actually. And I'm away from home at the moment. I'm working in New York. And I tried to find a therapist online and honestly, it was hopeless. Every therapist I found, they were either fully booked or they were out of network or they were charging prices, which made me think, sorry, does this come with a yacht? And I remember thinking, it really shouldn't be this hard. Affordable, accessible mental health care shouldn't be something that's out of reach. But too often it is. And look, if we use insurance for physical health, why shouldn't our mental health get the same treatment? And that's exactly why I love what Ruler is doing. Here's the deal with Ruler. Most online therapy platforms don't work with insurance at all, which means you'll be stuck paying out of pocket or signing up for some incredibly expensive monthly subscription. But Ruler does it differently. They partner with over 100 insurance plans, which means the average copay is just $15 a session. And Ruler doesn't just match you with the first available therapist, they actually take the time to understand your goals. And then they will give you a curated list of therapists who are in network and genuinely aligned with what it is that you need. So if you go to ruler.com lifeofmind you can get started today. That's R U L A.com lifeofmind for quality therapy that is covered insurance. There are no wait lists, no endless emails. Ruler helps you find someone who is available as soon as tomorrow. Because finding the right therapist, well, that could be life changing. Thousands of people are already using Ruler to get affordable, high quality therapy that is actually covered by insurance. So if you visit ruler.comlifeofmine you can get started straight away. And after you sign up, they're gonna ask you how you heard about them. And it would be great if you could support our show and let them know that we sent you. That's r u l a.com lifeofmine. You deserve mental healthcare that works with you, not against your budget. Right, let's talk about winter. It's freezing, it's dark at about 4:12pm and you've got big goals, right? But somehow you're meant to be meal prepping quinoa at 9 o' clock at night? Absolutely not. That's where factor comes in. Fully prepared meals designed by dietitians, crafted by chefs so you can eat brilliantly without planning, chopping or pretending that you enjoy washing up. Now, my personal favorite at the moment is the high protein creamy Parmesan chicken. It's got lean, juicy chicken, loads of colourful veg, proper whole food ingredients and healthy fats that actually keep you full. There's no refined sugars, no artificial sweeteners or refined seed oils. Just real food that fits the let's be sensible this winter mood. It's perfect when I'm trying to stay on track, manage my calories and still feel like I've had a proper, comforting meal. And there's so much variety. There's over 100 rotating meals every week. High protein, calorie, smart, Mediterranean, GLP1 support. Even ready to eat salads. They've even launched Muscle Pro to support strength and recovery, which is incredible. It's like having a tiny little chef who genuinely cares about your goals. Now, the best bit, it's always fresh, it's never frozen, and it's ready in about two minutes. There's no prep, no stress and no excuses. Honestly, it really makes eating well ridiculously easy, even in the middle of winter. Head to factor meals.com lifeofmind50 off to get 50 off and a free breakfast for a year. Eat like a pro this month with Factor New subscribers only. Varies by plan. One free breakfast per item per box for one year while subscription is active.
You're 12. You realize you've got a talent for performing, but you don't pursue it. Feels like it took you a long time to acknowledge that this was something that you wanted to do.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah.
James Corden
And we're gonna get to that because I want to talk. And it really ties very neatly to your next selection, which is your possession. Tell us about the possession that you've chosen for the show.
Bryan Cranston
A 1974 Honda 550 motorcycle. Honda 550cc.
James Corden
I didn't know that you were a motorcycle rider. I didn't know this. I'm aware that you're a badass, but I didn't know this. But tell me, why is this bike so important in your life now?
Bryan Cranston
I'm well out of high school and in. I went to a junior college. I didn't have any money. Dad's gone. My mom started drinking, and we got our house foreclosed on. My brother and I went to live with our grandparents for a year, then back with my mother. And it was like, it was odd, it was weird, and there was no parental oversight. And so we're basically on our own. And in retrospect, I think I went to college to study police science because I thought that a policeman was possibly a good surrogate father figure. So I studied that and I was actually pretty good at it. But my second year at this junior college, I was in an acting class. And my assignment in this acting class was to kiss this pretty girl. My first scene in this class, a couple is making out on a park bench. And I went, oh, my God. And she was really pretty. And I thought, okay, I'm really gonna kiss her. This is gonna happen. And she was on me and all over me and kissing me, kissing me, kissing me passionately. She put her body on top of Mine. And she's, you know, with tongue and the hands. And then she starts slapping my upstage thigh. And I thought, is that what spanking is? And I slapped her a little bit. And then she kind of separated a little bit and looked at me and I got it. I had the first line, and I needed to deliver this first line. And my first line was saying, beth, we need to talk about this relationship. Whereas she was all into this relationship. I wasn't. And so I. Oh, my God, I completely forgot. So she was trying to prone. Get on with the scene. Jerk. I'm not gonna keep kissing. What scene? I don't even know what a scene. And it went okay. The scene went okay. Not great, but it went okay. But at the break, I thought, oh, this is gonna be an easy date. So I went up to her and I said, so that went pretty well. She goes, yeah, it was a rough start. And I went, sorry, but anyway, we should go out and have lunch sometime. And she looked at me as if I were a lost little puppy. And she, like, with pity and went, oh, God, no, no. And I feigned disinterest, like, that's okay. Got plenty on the Rolodex. You know, just pluck them out, no problem. She went away. And I went, ha. Is my nose bleeding? What just happened? I would have bet any amount of money that she liked me and she didn't dislike me. It's just she was acting.
James Corden
Yeah.
Bryan Cranston
Which made me go, oh, my God. Oh, my God. I completely believe that. And oh, my God, oh, my God, look how pretty this girl. In this class, my responsibility was to kiss her. That never happened in police science classes.
James Corden
Yes.
Bryan Cranston
And so I thought, should I, I don't know, go into the same profession as my dad, who did not become successful and his life fell apart? So instead, my brother and I, we had these motorcycles because we couldn't afford cars. And we thought, why don't we just travel until we figure out what we want to do? And so we did. And I hopped on my Honda 550, and I left California in September of 76. And I didn't return to California until October of 78, two years later. And all that time I was on my motorcycle, we would stop at places and get jobs for a little while just to fill the coffers again. And then on the road, and we went to every state in the union, basically.
James Corden
But was it on this trip that you finally had the feeling of going, well, I just want to act and I want to perform, and that's What I'm gonna do.
Bryan Cranston
That's what it was.
James Corden
What happened in that time, One of
Bryan Cranston
the trips that we took after we were in Daytona Beach, Florida, working and then we during the winter and we got up all the way to Maine during the next summer and then on our way back down to the south for the winter, like, like birds. We were on the Blue Ridge Parkway of Virginia. Beautiful, gorgeous parkway. But in the day, this is in the mid-70s, you just have a map, there's no GPS. You don't know if you're five minutes away or five hours away from the next town. So it was pissing rain and we thought, oh my God, we gotta get off. So we signaled, let's get some shelter and we went down. We saw a picnic area and there was a slab of cement, four posts and a roof and a picnic table. Pulled our bikes up onto that slab and there we stayed for the next five days because it never stopped raining. We would do push ups in the morning, play gin rummy. We got to know each other's way of playing that we. I know he's going to pick this up. I know he's going to throw me this. It was like so predictable. And then I started reading plays and I had a little book of plays and I was reading, reading, reading and it was allowed me to take refuge once again. And I thought there at the time, as I was looking out at the rain and just being numb from being there so long, that I thought, okay, this is what I should do. I should try to do something that I love and hopefully become good at it as opposed to doing something that I was good at but didn't love. And that was my credo.
James Corden
It's extraordinary because when you're talking like this, you're saying, well, it was around the age of 11 or 12 that you had that first feeling of being on a stage in front of a lot of people and the impact that that could have, which is when lots of people who decide to become performers in any capacity would go, well, that happened and a lightning bolt hit me or the light bulb turned on and that was it. You couldn't stop me. So then that happens at 11. You wait 10 years with this somehow must have been burning inside you because who takes an anthology of plays with them on a biking road trip? You know what I mean? There's something in you that's going, that's it. But that's 10 years. And then it's 20 years after that moment that you achieve what people would say would like be Your first sort of flush of real success. It's been such a slow burn in so many ways, which now, as you look back on it retrospectively, are you grateful for all of these experiences, or is there any part of you thinking, well, if I'd have started sooner?
Bryan Cranston
No, because I looked at my father's trajectory and why he was in it. He really wanted to be a star. He wanted to make a mark and be famous.
James Corden
Right?
Bryan Cranston
And that was not what I wanted. I set my level of expectations to a realistic point, and that was. I just want to be able to honestly say that I make my living as an actor if I can get to that point. Anything else beyond that is just gravy. And so that happened when I was 25 years old, I was hired to play a role on a soap opera in New York. And that's what did it. There was a moment I'm on the set doing this, and I went, oh, I can do this. I'm home now. I know that I will be able to make a living. And for some reason, I had the confidence at that moment that from that point on, that's all I'll have to do. And that's what happened. At 25 years old, I started working full time as an actor and haven't. Haven't stopped.
James Corden
I have two questions for you. What happened to the bike? And how's your relationship with your brother Kyle now?
Bryan Cranston
My relationship with my brother Kyle's great. He's now 70. I'm a couple years behind him. We've been through so much, and we shared so much together. He's the closest person that I have outside of my own immediate family. We've depended on each other from very early on until now. My motorcycle found its demise. I had a girlfriend before I went to New York in 1983 to do this soap opera. I only had the motorcycle. She had a car. And so we took her car on an outing one day and went back to my apartment. And we popped on the news as we were making something to eat. And they're saying, well, the Beverly Hills arsonist has struck again. Here right behind me, you can see that a garage is still in flames and a car and a motorcycle are in the. You know. And we're looking at. It's like, Beverly Hills, hey, hon, that's your neighborhood. And then they zoom in on the motorcycle. I swear, we're zooming on the motorcycle. And I went, that's my motorcycle.
James Corden
Oh, my God.
Bryan Cranston
It basically melted. And seeing it afterwards, it was almost like going to the Morgue.
James Corden
Yeah.
Bryan Cranston
And, you know, identifying a body, it's like, yeah, that's him. Yeah. But I will say, I had so much history on that motorcycle, I don't think I could have just, hey, I'm gonna sell my bike. Anybody want to buy it? And sure. So in a way, it decided for me, and it was like, okay, that chapter is officially over. Wow. Yeah. Said goodbye.
James Corden
Well, let's move on to your place. Tell us about the place that you wanted to talk about.
Bryan Cranston
On this life of mine, I think I was frustrated. Architect in a previous life, maybe successful, who knows? But I love architecture. I will be the geek that any town I go to, I'm with this three other people, and with binoculars and cameras, and we're just walking around neighborhoods, looking at the various homes and the architecture of that city. I really enjoy it. I love the artistry of architecture. So I thought, I wonder if I could design my own house? And I was up for that challenge. I bought a plot of land on a beach in Ventura county here in Southern California. And I thought, I'm gonna build a house. It was manageable because it's a 40 by 40 square foot lot. So the challenge was, how do you make something that is a square, not a square in looking, you know? So I just started designing and drawing, and then I hired an architect to do what I just drew.
James Corden
Right.
Bryan Cranston
And challenge me to say, this is not possible, you know, whatever engineering wise and all that.
James Corden
You designed the house. You built the house.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah.
James Corden
It must have been such a special place for you.
Bryan Cranston
It was. It was a very special place. We're very proud of it. I take pride in to the inch of being very careful in how I delegate space and what I dedicate that to, you know, And. And so there was no wasted space. You know, I wanted very tall ceilings so you can have a smaller room, but if you have tall ceilings, it feels much, much larger. So. And we had huge windows looking out over the ocean. It was a great place. And I sold. I sold it a couple years ago because I didn't use it as much as I thought I was going to. And I didn't want to feel obligated. We've got to go to the beach house, you know, And I said, I think someone else is going to appreciate this more, but I was very proud of it. And there's a credo the Boy Scouts use, is that leave your campsite better than you found it. And I know that we built something better than we found that Quonset hut that was there before It. And I think in an exercise of real humanity, it's reciprocal. We pulled it in, we designed it, we created it, and now we let it go.
James Corden
I think that's a really important lesson in all facets of life, to not cling on to stuff. And I think you bought the house 2007. So it was right after Malcolm in the Middle.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah.
James Corden
I can only imagine you would have been offered countless other sitcom pilots and things like this at that time, but you. Am I right in thinking you made a very definite decision after Malcolm Little finished to go, I'm not going to work unless it's a character that can show truly what I think is a performance that I've got in me or
Bryan Cranston
that's gonna pay me a lot of money. Right again. Money will come. I am not against money. I was raised without money. And now having a financially secure life is much, much, much better. But it still doesn't motivate me. You can't put a dollar sign in front of me, and I won't reach for it. It's gotta be the story.
James Corden
How long did you sit in the sort of silence of saying, no, I've done that. I'm not gonna do that. I'm waiting for a character that comes my way that I think, oh, I can do this.
Bryan Cranston
I was willing to wait however long. But as I tell young kids, you have to have talent. You have to have patience and persistence, and then you also have to have a very healthy dose of luck in order to have a career. Things have to shift and change for you to do it. In 2006, we finished our seventh season of Malcolm in the Middle. Fox told us, don't take down the sets. We may do another season. Oh, man, that would be fantastic. We're having a great time. We go to work to make people laugh. It's great. Late in April, they said, no, I'm sorry. We have pretty good pilot season. We're gonna let the series go. Oh, too bad. Okay. Then about two months later, my agent calls and says, do you know a guy named Vince Gilligan? And I said, no. He said, well, you worked for him on the X Files. He wrote your X Files episode. And I went, yeah, I don't remember. He goes, well, he wants to see you because he's got a show that he's doing called Breaking Bad. And I said, what does that mean? Nobody really knows what that means, but if you want to read it, it's really good. And so I read it, and I thought, oh, my God, this is a fantastic story. And what he wanted to do was to change a character from good to bad. That's never happened in the history of series television, to change designed. Change a character. Even Tony Soprano was Tony Soprano all the way through. And any other character, but he wanted to completely change that. I thought, oh, my God, this is exciting. Well, it turned out he liked me and I liked it, and we talked about it. He became my champion to get that role. We shot the pilot of Breaking Bad in February and March of 2007, and had Malcolm in the Middle gone an eighth season, we wouldn't be sitting here right now, or you'd be sitting here, but you'd be talking to Matthew Broderick or someone. Someone else who played Walter White instead of me.
James Corden
Is it true that Matthew Broderick turned it down?
Bryan Cranston
No, it was never offered.
James Corden
I read that somewhere.
Bryan Cranston
He was being considered okay. But it came to me because of the fact Vince Gilligan said, no, he's the guy. And they thought Sony and AMC were skeptical, and they were thinking, wait, the dodge from Malcolm. Yeah, that's the one. You want to be the evil kind of. Ooh, no. And he goes, trust me, this is what they do. And that's what you need. I needed a champion in my corner.
James Corden
It's such an extraordinary performance. It's such an extraordinary piece of work. I sometimes think. I wonder what it felt like for you when people say, oh, hey, Brian, what are you up to right now? And you say, well, I'm doing this show about a man who gets told he has a terminal illness, so he starts selling crystal meth to provide for his family. I think it's rather good.
Bryan Cranston
Well, good luck with that.
James Corden
Yeah, exactly. That's exactly what I imagine people were doing.
Were people going, have you heard about what, Brian?
Bryan Cranston
Crystal method.
James Corden
Yeah.
Bryan Cranston
But when you read that script, you realize it's not about glorifying drug use or drug selling or anything like that. It's about decision making.
James Corden
Yeah.
Bryan Cranston
And had Walter White been a mathematician, then I think his method would have been to count cards in Vegas or something, using math, because that's what he knew to do that. But this, he was a chemist. So it's like this is. This is what it is.
James Corden
The most extraordinary line, I think, in Breaking Bad is when he says to his wife, I was good at it.
Bryan Cranston
It. Skyler, all the things that I did, you need to understand. I have to hear one more time
James Corden
that you did this for the family.
Bryan Cranston
I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really. I was Alive. Oh, yeah.
James Corden
I was good at doing this.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah. And that's the genius of Vince, is that he not only wanted to explore, and we talked about it a lot, the physical change of Walter White, going through two years of disintegration of the body, but also the ascension of his ego and ability, and he felt empowered. It's just brilliant.
James Corden
I want to move on to your next selection, which is your memory. Tell us about the memory that you've chosen for us today.
Bryan Cranston
It was basically a lesson in assertiveness and being bold and courageous, and I didn't have that in the fifth grade. I was still kind of trying to figure things out, as most kids were, and I had this crush on this girl named Carolyn Kiesel in Sunny Brae Elementary School. I was excited about her, and she was nice to me. And so it was like, it's right there. Just ask her out. In those days, you ask them if they wanted to go steady, right? So I was prepared. I'm going to ask Carolyn to go steady maybe tomorrow, you know? And I was like, ooh, I just didn't have it. I didn't know what that ingredient was yet. And so I delayed it. And there we are at a party, and I thought, this is the perfect time. We're at a kid's birthday party, and the records are stacked, and we're playing. This is 1965, 66, something. Something like that.
James Corden
What song would be playing at this party? What kind of song are we listening
Bryan Cranston
to, do you think? Yeah, the song that I remember very distinct, succinctly, is. Is Simon Agarfunkel's Mrs. Robinson. Right. It's playing, and I'm going, okay, this is it. I'm gonna go up to Carolyn and ask her to go steady. Okay, here it is. I'm going to do it. It's coming. It's right now. Do it now. Okay, wait. I'm gonna do it. You know, I kept getting the courage up to do it, and just as I'm looking at her, a new kid, a skateboard kid with long blonde hair, walks up to Carolyn and he says, do you want to go steady? She said, yes to you, Mrs. Robinson Jesus loves you more than you will know hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. And they kissed and they walked off, and I was dead dumbstruck. I mean, the thunderbolt hitting my heart at that moment was devastating. I delayed and delayed and delayed. I didn't have the courage to be told no if that was going to be the answer. And I wasn't assertive. So that memory is indelible. Fast forward to my 20th high school reunion, and I cannot wait. I'm married. I have a child, and I want to tell her about this. And I'll say, I was madly in love with you, and I wanted to just pour it out and say, did you have any idea. And things like this and see what she has to say and meet her partner or whatever, and all that pressure is gone. And it was like you felt free. And I go up to this table to sign in, and I ask the person, is Carolyn Kiesel here yet? And she looked at me and said, oh, yeah, no, she died. She died in a car accident about two years after we graduated. Oh, my God. And then all the hopes of being able to share a moment of sweetness and innocence with her just vanished. So I had all these years to develop and rekindle this thought, this memory of happiness and innocence and vulnerability and missed opportunity. And I was going to say, Carolyn, here it is. I was such a boy. How are you? And I couldn't do it.
James Corden
It's amazing how these things live forever in you. Like, I find it really interesting or fascinating, really. This is the third of your selections today that are essentially from the same period in your life. Why do you think that is?
Bryan Cranston
Are you a psychologist? I mean, James, you're really good. Do I have to pay you for this? Is that. No. I think it was the last period of childhood for me. I grew up then really quickly after that because of no parental guidance, and my dad wasn't around. My mother was. Wasn't emotionally there, and I had to pivot and turn and shift and figure things out. I wrote and developed a show called Sneaky Pete.
James Corden
That's right.
Bryan Cranston
That is based on what my uncle called me. He called me Sneaky Pete because during my preteen years and teen years, I'd figure out the easiest route and how do I avoid certain things? And I became a sneaky little guy. So I created this character in that vein to say, what would happen to him if he was now 35, if he didn't have a course correction at 19, 20, what would happen to that person? And he became a real con man. I would have become a con man.
James Corden
You've been talking a little bit recently publicly about your future, where you've talked about some plans that you have to. Perhaps I don't think you will ever stop acting or. But. But to take perhaps a step back, you talk about moving, you and Robin moving abroad maybe for a year to live in another country. Is this Real. Because it's funny. I've mentioned this to people who know you and they've gone out. It's no ch. He'll go for three weeks and then he'll get some movie and he'll go, I just gotta do it, Robin. I gotta go to Atlanta to shoot this.
Bryan Cranston
You know, there is that temptation because the unknowingness of what's ahead. But I would say that for the last 24 years, since the beginning of Malcolm, I've been working nonstop. But our lives are reciprocal. I have to have real life experiences coming in in order for me to be inspired, to create characters that are fresh and new and not derivative of something I've already done. And without new life experiences, you're going to run low. You're going to be depleted of that. Well, and I feel a little depleted now. I want to go someplace where they don't know me and I can have an experience for several months to a year of learning to cook. I do not know how to cook. To meet new friends, to have a vegetable garden, to read some of the great classic novels that I've always sworn, at some point I'm gonna get to you and read you Moby Dick. And it's like, oh, I'm about to crack Moby Dick. Oh, I've got a script to read. Okay? And then you go and do what you do because that's your career. And at some point, I need to step away to take a pause, to reset, to have a new approach to what will be the last push of my career. You know, we'll see. I don't know what it. What's in store. No one really does.
James Corden
Let's move on to your final selection, which really ties in with your wife. Robin, tell us about the piece of music that you've chosen. And I love this.
Bryan Cranston
I fell in love with Vivaldi's Four Seasons when we were on our honeymoon in Venice 35 years ago. We were in St Mark's Square and we were in love, and it was new and relatively young. And we're walking through and we're just enjoying the Italian essence and culture and taking it in. And we cross over the Bridge of Sighs and we're walking the other side. And there's this beautiful church there. And there's a little sign on the church in Italian that says Vivaldi. And I said, honey, look at this. Vivaldi. And we deciphered that. Oh, there is a string orchestra playing Vivaldi. Oh, that's tonight at 7:30. Let's go ahead and go to this. So we bought tickets at their little window. We go back to our hotel. We do what newlyweds do. We embraced each other, had some champagne. We made love. We're. It's fantastic. All the while while it starts to rain and really, really rain hard. And we thought, oh, should we go? Come on, let's go. Let's just run through the rain and let's get to the church and we'll. We'll see this. So we do. We run through the rain, and we're splashing in St. Mark's Square in the water. And the. You know, it's like, it was so romantic. And we get to the church, we get inside, we're drenched. Everyone else is drenched. It doesn't matter. And we sit in one of the pews and they stop, start playing the Four Seasons. And we had the champagne already, and it was an afterglow. And we were listening to this, and it was. And there's a rotunda at the top that's glass. And now the rain turns into a thunderstorm. Lightning and thunder. And it seemed like at the crescendo of any one of the pieces, then boom. And there's lightning that crushes. You just gasp. And you're pushed back in your seat. And they're playing and playing and playing. This was one of the more memorable moments of our honeymoon, and we cherish that.
James Corden
Bryan Cranston, your movie is the 1965 movie Cat Balloo. Your person is your sixth grade teacher. Mrs. Crawford, your possession. Your Honda CB550 motorbike. Your place is the seafront house that you built in Los Angeles. Your memory is almost asking a girl to go steady in fifth grade. And your piece of music is Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Thank you for sharing this life of yours. What a pleasure.
Bryan Cranston
Thank you, James.
James Corden
Next week is this.
Bryan Cranston
I'm Jeremy Renner, and welcome to this life of mine. Started noticing things, you know, my eyeballs
James Corden
out, for God's sakes, and my lung is struggling. And I didn't know what was broken. I just knew that I had to breathe.
Bryan Cranston
And then once I can figure out breathing, then I'll worry about the next stuff. Dude, I went to Oscars with my mom. I had no power, no running water. I had to brush my teeth at a starvation bus.
James Corden
No.
Bryan Cranston
Yeah.
James Corden
Stop.
I want you to tell me if this is true. There's rumors that you were invited to join what turned out to be a very, very successful boy band.
Is this true?
And was that band the Backstreet boys.
Bryan Cranston
I know it wasn't wasn't Back Street.
James Corden
It wasn't the Back street bo.
If you haven't subscribed to Lemonada Premium yet, now is the perfect time. You can listen to this Life of mine completely ad free, plus you'll unlock exclusive quickfire rounds of questions with all of my guests. They're all in two minutes or less. Just tap that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts or head to lemonade premium.com to subscribe on any other app. Or you can listen ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership. That's lemonadapremium. Com. Don't miss out.
Release Date: January 6, 2026 | Lemonada Media
In this engaging and reflective episode, James Corden sits down with acclaimed actor Bryan Cranston for an in-depth conversation about the people, places, possessions, music, and memories that have shaped Cranston’s life. With warmth and candor, Cranston reflects on formative childhood moments, the slow burn of his career, personal losses and victories, and the lessons gleaned from both. Listeners are treated to a thoughtful journey through Cranston’s influences, both tender and funny, painting a picture of a man shaped as much by perseverance as by serendipity.
On the impact of storytelling:
“It was my salvation in some ways...I latched onto storytelling and filmmaking. To say this is an unbelievable way to distract someone of their troubles. And I learned at that age that that’s really valuable.”
(Bryan Cranston, 11:26)
On discovering acting:
“...She was just acting. Which made me go, oh my God. I completely believe that...And oh my God, oh my God, look how pretty this girl. In this class, my responsibility was to kiss her. That never happened in police science classes.”
(Bryan Cranston, 29:32)
On building his self-designed house:
“There’s a credo the Boy Scouts use, is that leave your campsite better than you found it. And I know that we built something better than we found...”
(Bryan Cranston, 38:46)
On the essence of Breaking Bad:
“It’s not about glorifying drug use or drug selling or anything like that. It’s about decision making.”
(Bryan Cranston, 43:03)
On missed opportunity and regret:
“I delayed and delayed and delayed. I didn’t have the courage to be told no if that was going to be the answer. And I wasn’t assertive. So that memory is indelible.”
(Bryan Cranston, 47:04)
On temporary retirement:
“At some point, I need to step away to take a pause, to reset, to have a new approach to what will be the last push of my career.”
(Bryan Cranston, 51:56)
On the honeymoon and music:
“And they start playing the Four Seasons. And we had the champagne already, and it was an afterglow. And we were listening to this...at the crescendo of any one of the pieces, then boom. And there’s lightning that crushes...we cherish that.”
(Bryan Cranston, 53:30-54:17)
Cranston’s style is open, reflective, and often self-deprecating, blending humor with heartfelt candor. He charts a journey marked not by meteoric rise but by patience, resilience, and openness to life’s unexpected lessons. His stories are laced with nostalgia, humor, and vulnerability, making this episode a rich listening experience for fans and newcomers alike.
Recommended Segment for New Listeners: