The Year of Bryan Cranston

What if I told you that between September, 2011 and September, 2012, there was an actor who was in films directed by Steven Soderbergh, Nicolas Winding Refn, Andrew Stanton, and Ben Affleck, as well as roles in the film adaptation of one of the biggest Broadway hits of the last decade, a film produced and financed by George Lucas that isn’t Star Wars or Indiana Jones, and a co-starring role in a remake of one of the most iconic science-fiction films of the last 25 years?  Not to mention he stars in the most critically-acclaimed show on television.  One would think that this was one of the biggest stars on the planet, and yet outside of the people who watch him on TV, he barely registers as a household name.  For those who have not guessed already, the actor in question is Bryan Cranston.

(Note: Yes, I know the title gives away the answer to the question in the first paragraph, but bear with me for effect.  It's more fun that way.)

At 55 years old, Bryan Cranston has reached his acting prime.  He won three consecutive Emmys (and if justice is served, he’ll make it four this year) and has become the go-to middle-aged male character actor of the moment.  To go back to the films I alluded to earlier, Cranston, in that period of time, will have been in the following films in order of their release dates: Contagion, Drive, Red Tails, John Carter, Rock of Ages, Total Recall, and Argo.  I also failed to mention that in that same time period he also provided the voice of Commissioner Gordon in the animated adaptation of the canonical Batman comic “Year One.”  That’s a pretty prolific body of work he’s developing in addition to his biggest time commitment of all, Breaking Bad, which comes back to AMC in July or August.

Granted, many of these films feature him in roles with little screen time (i.e. Contagion, Red Tails, Rock of Ages that I know of), but he has a crucial role in Drive and he’s playing the lead villain in Total Recall (therefore being the only reason I will even entertain the notion of seeing this film).  His presence, no matter how small, in all of these films only serves to increase his profile among average moviegoers and bring Mr. Cranston the fame he so richly deserves.  He will most likely take on more prominent and interesting film roles when Breaking Bad finishes shooting its final sixteen episodes this year.

I could go on for days about how brilliant Breaking Bad is, but everybody else on the web is doing that already, so I don’t want to be too derivative by praising it to the heavens as well.  All I will say is that Bryan Cranston’s performance on the show is so good, that not only should he win the Emmy every year for Best Actor, but the Oscar as well.  There is no better acting performance in any visual medium today than Cranston’s as chemistry teacher turned meth cooker Walter White.  Seeing the transformation his character undergoes over the course of four seasons, with each season exceeding the last in quality, is something that those who have witnessed it will treasure for the rest of their lives (some might see this as hyperbole, but those people clearly haven’t watched the show).  I will be devastated when Breaking Bad ends because the best program on television since The Wire will be gone, but I will also be excited for what the future holds for Bryan Cranston post-B.B.  He has been making very smart choices with his film roles, associating himself with great artists and learning what it takes to succeed on the big screen.  It may lead to some Oscar recognition in the future, but why worry about that when his present is something all fans of great art should cherish?  For that reason, I am dubbing 2012 The Year of Bryan Cranston.

(Note: The first three seasons of Breaking Bad are available for streaming on Netflix.  I suggest to those who haven’t watched it to take a three-day weekend and plow through all of the episodes.  You’ll thank me later.)