The multi-faceted Bryan Cranston has showcased his brilliance across multiple genres, from playing a comedic dad in a sitcom to a meth-maker in his all-time best, the Breaking Bad television series. Of course, embodying such versatile characters must not have been easy, especially when it comes to his iconic role as Walter White in the latter-mentioned series.
However, irrespective of how hard it may have been to bring to life such a troubled character, Cranston isn’t scared to admit the harsh truth that his role in the AMC series is the greatest role of his life. On the other hand, his fellow peer and Mad Men star Jon Hamm seems to think differently as he expressed fear at working on that level again after playing the notable Don Draper.
Bryan Cranston Unhesitantly Admits Walter White is “the Greatest Role of My Life”
Bryan Cranston may have started his career decades ago back in the late 1980s, but he didn’t receive true cinematic excellence and appreciation until he landed the role of Walter White in the Breaking Bad series. Despite having multiple other parts up his sleeve, none seems to have fared better than his role as the chemistry teacher turned meth maker.
Not only did this role land him four stunning Emmy wins along with two other nods for the same, but it also paved the way for him to become the recipient of multiple other accolades that just may not have acknowledged him this tremendously in other roles. But as harsh as this reality check is, the actor isn’t hesitating to admit it.
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, he was asked about his thoughts on whether he could land another role like this one. To this, Cranston’s clear-cut response was an unhesitant “No” as he went on to say:
This is the greatest role of my life. I know that I will never have another role as good as Walter White.
While immense critical fame is one thing, the 68-year-old actor has also received some really big bucks adding to his net worth through this series. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Cranston was granted a $225,000 – $230,000 per episode salary at the height of the show’s peak fame, resulting in a stunning net worth of $40 million.
Adding to this, the fame further paved the way for him to star in multiple other fan-favorite masterpieces like Your Honor, The Upside, and even 2014’s Godzilla. All of this being said, it’s inevitable to say that the actor cum director cum producer was actually met with the greatest role of his career in the name of White in Breaking Bad.
Meanwhile, Jon Hamm Doesn’t Want to Play His Iconic Character Again
On the other hand, someone else in the industry has instead expressed fear about working at that level, which granted him such extreme levels of fame, again. This someone else is none other than Jon Hamm, and the role he doesn’t want to play again is the very role that granted him his breakthrough in the entertainment industry: Jon Draper in Mad Men.
In an interview with TODAY, he confessed the same, saying:
It’s a drag, pretending to be somebody that’s so bummed out all the time. […] The only thing I kind of knew I didn’t want to do was play Don Draper again. You always think like, ‘Oh, I’m never gonna work again.’ I mean, that’s really what it is, for me, anyway. I’m just like, I’ll never work again or I’ll never work at that level again.
Turns out, that level of embodying such a dark character and receiving such colossal fame through it wasn’t something Hamm wanted to go through again, even if that granted him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and a peak salary of $275,000 per episode at one point (as per Celebrity Net Worth). To say the least, Hamm tried not to live in that fear, “but it’s always there.”
Well, perhaps, to each their own.
Currently, Breaking Bad is available to be streamed on Netflix while Mad Men can be streamed on Prime Video.
