Spotlight on: Bryan Cranston

Lights off, spotlight on! Time to see in which series this actor portrayed a character. As a crystal meth-making science teacher, Bryan Cranston conquered the world. His Walter White from Breaking Bad is known by most. An iconic character that developed from an insecure man with lots of worries to a rock-solid, incalculable druglord. And all that to help his family.

How did that happen? By now, Cranston has had quite a long career. It started with some small guest roles in Loving, a twelve-year long American soap series, in which he played a minor role in the first four episodes. This happened in 1983.

In the years after that, it's a bit quiet. He only has a couple of guest roles. Cranston is, however, becoming more familiar with the world of voice acting. He voiced a character in the English dub of the Japanese animated film Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa (Wings of Honneamise).

Cranston is obviously looking for his type of genre. Soaps didn't suit him and voice acting wasn't an ambition of his. His next project enabled him to get a taste of comedy. Raising Miranda, which released in 1988, is unfortunately not a big success. After only nine episodes, the series is cancelled and Cranston's uncle Russell quietly leaves the stage.

The years that follow mainly resulted in a lot of small roles. He was part of Land's End and also had a role in Nowhere Man. In Murder, She Wrote he was part of three episodes in ten years time. These were all three different characters. In these years, Cranston is developing his voice acting skills. He was part of quite a few animated series and movies, such as; Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1933), Orguss 02 (1993), Macross Plus (1994) and Armitage III (1995).

In 1994, Cranston decides to give comedy another try. This time it works quite well. He receives a role in the enormously popular sitcom Seinfeld. It is definitely not a big role, but it is surely the next step in his career.

After a lot of guest roles, Cranston finally acquires his first major role in Malcolm in the Middle. His character, Hal - the father of the dysfunctional family -, enables him to unleash his all. In seven seasons, he shows that he can portray both a good and a bad father. Naturally, a lot of things misfire. In part due to the lack of intelligence in the entire family.

When Malcolm in the Middle ends in 2006, he has a role in the miniseries Fallen before he presents himself in all his glory. Starting in 2008, he becomes bound to Breaking Bad, which ensures a lot of sympathy for his character Walter White even though he commits the most horrible acts.

This may not be that well known, but he was also part of a lot of animated series in this time. Through the years, we hear him in American Dad!, Archer, The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Robot Chicken, Supermansion and Family Guy. It may be a bit obvious, but a lot of these series have been created by Seth MacFarlane.

That Cranston likes to do a lot of various things is quite obvious. In more recent years, he was part of How I Met Your Mother and Sneaky Pete. His latest project is nearly finished. It'll release in December 2020. We will see Bryan Cranston in the crime series Your Honor. A new Breaking Bad in the making? We'll find out!

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