Why Bryan Cranston Is Cooler Than You Think

Though Easy Rider isn’t on Cranston’s list of film credits, he did live out that story to some extent. In 1976, 20-year-old Cranston was torn between career in police science and pursuing acting. Unable to decide, he and his brother jumped on motorcycles and headed across the country, taking odd jobs, sleeping in cemeteries, and garnering perspective.

After one experience, shut in by pouring rain for a week, Cranston resolved to turn his dream of acting into reality.

Cranston keeps a ping pong table in his yard, and according to GQ magazine, it's not just for show:

[He proceeded] to wipe the floor with a visitor in two straight games, the balls darting and spinning like iron filings yanked from the air by a magnet. One kill shot [seemed] to hover in space before dropping to the left, barely nicking the edge of the table.

In 2018, Cranston hosted Matthew McConaughey and Clayton Kershaw's 6th Annual "Ping Pong for a Purpose" tournament to raise money for disadvantaged children.

In the wake of Charles Manson's death in 2017, Cranston alluded to a chance encounter he had with the infamous cult leader in 1968 during an interview with People magazine. Cranston recalls that when he was 12, he ran into a "little bearded guy with with big, dark eyes and wild hair" as he and his cousin were horseback riding. Cranston said, “It was crazy. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.”

Just a year later, Manson orchestrated some of the most shocking murders in 20th century America. Cranston immediately recognized the convict, and said he “shuddered” thinking about the man.

Before becoming Malcolm’s dad, Cranston assumed dozens of small commercial acting and voiceover television roles on everything from Coffee-mate to Excedrin. He found he had an affinity for on-screen villainy, vocally portraying two monsters in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from 1993.

Cranston played Snizzard, a reptilian mutant that shot snakes out of his mouth, and Twin Man, who fought with mirrors. Eventually, he shifted away from his mischievous ways, portraying Zordon, the Rangers’ voice of guidance, in the 2017 cinematic reboot.

Fictional or otherwise, it's rare for a hostage to marry their captor, let alone remain married for almost 30 years. Cranston met his wife, Robin Dearden, on the set of Airwolf in 1986 while playing the “villain of the week.” His character held a gun to the head of hers, and their brief professional encounter didn't immediately turn into romance.

However, a chance encounter between the two a year later turned into a relationship. Despite Airwolf's lackluster legacy, it did yield one of Hollywood's longest lasting couples.

From an early age, Cranston learned he would have to rely on his own diligence to succeed. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Cranston said he had very little supervision growing up, which he admits wasn't necessarily a good thing. He described his parents as "broken people."

While this did instill a sense of self-reliance in the young star, he says he relied heavily on his grandfather and brother as role models throughout his childhood. Cranston knew if he was going to make something of himself, he had “to figure it out” on his own:

I was 40 when I did Malcolm In The Middle. If you come from an uninspired, aimless youth, with no money and a tremendous amount of misdirection, it’s nearly impossible to feel elitist or entitled. Anything that comes to me is a gift.