Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade - Bryan Cranston

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Trying standup, kissing in acting class, and hosting SNL with Bryan Cranston. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know, a couple summers ago, my wife and I were out tooling around looking for a place to have a good time. And we didn't want to stay in a hotel. So we actually got an Airbnb in this certain location and I loved it. It was great. There's a little pad with a key in it. You know, you get directions, you go, you open it up, you get the code, you open up, you get the key, you go in and the place is spotless. Welcome to the place.

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at night for you. Plus staying together is often cheaper than booking separate hotel rooms and it's a lot more fun. So this summer skip the lobby and hang out in the living room. Explore Canada your way with Airbnb. Brian Cranston Dana. Brian Cranston. I'm a big fan of Brian Cranston and you know I don't really run into him out there in the world and most these people usually kind of bump into here and there but maybe they were doing Malcolm in the world and most of these people usually kind of bump into it here and there but maybe they were doing Malcolm in the middle on CBS Radford lot when I was doing Just Shoot Me. It feels like it's synced up around the same time. Yeah. Super cool, super light on his feet, always is laughing, doesn't take it too seriously for being a really good dramatic actor and comedic actor.

No, he doesn't take it seriously at all. And you try to pay him a compliment. He's very, very humble about it. I'm not sure he can really grasp how great he is, but it's hard to not gush a little bit because he was so brilliant in Breaking Bad. And I think it's a quintessential show. Just someone really fun to hang out with, had a great sense

humor, told us all about his adventure trying to be a stand-up comedian for a full year. That's a very interesting story and where he came from and how he started in a soap opera in New York and when he felt like he made it. Yeah, oh Malcolm in the Middle was huge. And he got, was it Breaking Bad within a year? It's so weird how those timeframes, because Malcolm in the Middle seems like forever ago. Breaking Bad does not seem like that long ago, but I guess within a year,

he got it. Yeah. And then it just goes to the idea of, I call it whimsy or luck in show business. And he kind of talks about these pieces of his career. There was this sort of like just planets lined up for him. And of course the Phoenician. It's out right now with Wes Anderson. The Phoenician scheme, was it?

Sorry about that. With Benicio del Toro who I love Yeah, and Tommy Tommy Hanks or Tom Hanks to you Tombo Yeah, so Great chat. We all cracked up as always and hope you like it. Here's the guy. Here is mr. Brian Cranston Hope you like it. Here's the guy. Here's Mr. Brian Cranston. Shit, that dude's here already. Oh fuck, Brian Cranston. God damn it.

Don't say anything. He can't hear us yet. He can't hear us yet. I can't hear anything. Not one thing. Look at this guy. Brian Cranston. Brian Cranston is a name you want to say. It feels good to say.

It feels good to say it. Brian Cranston, our whole goal is not to bore you. So, that's our way. How's that going so far? I think we're boring. You know, I just watched your monologue of Brian Cranston, Brian Cranberry, the SNL mono.

God. Thanks for coming on. You're a, you know, you're Brian Cranston. When did you first realize that? Like I'm fucking Brian Cranston. Yeah, when do you put fucking in it? When did you kind of go, hey, I'm Brian Cranston, I'm Brian Cranston, I'm Bryan Cranston.

I'm Bryan fucking Cranston. I want to know the moment, because we don't have a real structure here. I'm assuming sometime during Breaking Bad, it must have hit you at some point. This is fantastic. This show's great. And I think I'm really killing it here.

This is fucking, you know what I mean? You must have had a moment or maybe it was a gradual series of moments. When I got an SNL, it worked out for me. I was sort of like, Oh wow, I'm actually on SNL and it's doing pretty well for me. So the same kind of thing was that, was it there or was it Malcolm in the middle? Was it, was it Seinfeld or I assume Breaking Bad? I'll let you talk. There you go. Yeah, was it Seinfeld, or I assume Breaking Bad? I'll let you talk. There you go. Yeah, you know, I mean, those elevations along the way when you're hoping that you have opportunity,

I think I started to talk to some young actors a while ago, and also those of us who have been around a while. And I said, I think I realized what it was. When you first start out, you have tremendous ambition, but low opportunity. And you want to conquer everything, but it's like you're struggling to find an audition. And then if you get really lucky, as we all have,

I think the opportunities grow sometimes larger than the ambition. And that's where I find myself now, is putting out the same amount of energy, but going, oh my God, okay, yes, I will read that script. I will get to that at some point. I instruct my agents now. I said, listen, please don't send me anything

that you don't really love. So let them do that work to be able to say, no, this script is really, really great. So you should take a look at it. But I think it's a question I actually had for you, for both of you. Thank you. Can I do that?

Can I turn it back? We love that. We like it better, yeah. It's better for us. Okay, you know, the interesting thing of when you feel like you've made it, when I was 25 years old, I got a job on a soap opera here in New York.

And, you know, it's churn, man, you're just one script. You do the script, you throw it out, read. So hard. The next day, next day, next day, next day. It's a lot of churn that you're going through. But there was something about feeling like, oh man, I could do this. I feel like I can do this.

And it was from that moment on at 25 that I've only worked as an actor since. And so I wanted to find out from you guys if that's the way you felt when you got on SNL. Did something click? Did you cross over a threshold that you went, holy shit, this is it for me? David?

My answer would be, it was such a slow grind. I think Dana popped quicker on SNL, but I was doing stand-up, then I got on an HBO Young Comedians, then I got on SNL, then I was a writer first. So it took me to getting through SNL and having to make one more jump to something that worked because I wasn't quite solidified yet.

Like you can always make one misstep off SNL and you get one like free pass. Hey, we'll give you a movie, we'll give you a TV show or something. And if that doesn't work, to generate that heat again is so fucking hard. And so I got to a sitcom. And then when the sitcom started to work that one old one

just shoot me was probably on around when yours was on. But when that got to like year three I started to breathe again and go okay this might be what I do you know. I don't think I'm going back now but uh when was yours Dana? Because that was that was it took that long to be honest. Um I bombed a lot you know I just started doing stand-up there wasn't ground lanes or theater because that was, it took that long, to be honest. I bombed a lot. You know, I just started doing standup. There wasn't groundlings or theater groups up in San Francisco in those days. So I was doing standup, but I didn't find out

until 10 years later, literally, almost from my first set to getting to SNL, like, oh, this is where I belong. So when I got on SNL and I'd done these characters as a standup, and then I put the wig on and the dress with churchlay and stuff. It was like, this is really fun. We'll talk about when you host it,

but and also your LBJ, which I think is extraordinary. I was watching some of it. You do one of the best LBJs out there. Well, the only one where you- You, Fred Travolina, and this one. Well, he was doing it as an actor. I mean, I know, I know. Hollywood wanted to use me.

I screen tested for Amadeus, you know. For real? Yeah, yeah. I did a sitcom with Mickey Rooney and Nathan Lane in New York City when I was 25 years of age at Studio 6A in Rockefeller Center. And then eight years later I got on there. So to answer your question shortly,

it's like once I got in SNL I felt like a fish in water. Like I really belong here. And so that was it for me. How old were you then, Dana? I was 51. No, I was 31 in my first set in a shit box comedy club where these comedians came up and I thought, well, they're not that great. It was a no. It was in Berkeley. And I, and I, I scrolled on a napkin. I do a Howard Cosell. I do John Wayne, you know. And then a guy came up and levitated the room and it was Robin Williams.

And then I crumpled the paper or the napkin, put it back in my pocket because I didn't know there was only one of him. But basically, it was the classic 10 years of this. But the standups always have a baseline like a band. You just go back to the clubs, go to the theaters, do standups. So it's it's a nice little side job. It is foundational for you. I did stand-up for about nine months.

Oh boy. Back in 1981. And I did it only because it scared the shit out of me. Yeah. What you guys do was something that terrified me. So I thought, wow, the only way I'm ever going to get over this fear of it is to dive in. So I rose from being terrible to being mediocre in those. That's a big jump. Yeah, it's a big jump. It is, instead of, you know, It's a big job. It is, and Stan, if you're like,

now I'm not just walking everyone. Do the job, get a consistent laugh. Was it New York? It was in LA. Oh, in LA. Back in 81, when they had, there were plays like the Playboy Club was there in Century City, the laugh stop,

of course, the Comedy Store Improv. Is Laugh Stop in Newport? There was. There was, yeah. There was one in Newport, right? Then there was one in the Valley where I had a great night. Oh, okay, okay.

My best night was in the Valley. I did, you know, about eight minutes or something and killed. I got in my car, I drove to the improv, I begged the guy, you've got to get me on. I'm on fire. I'm on fire. And he says, well, I could stick around because someone may not show up. And so- Come on, you're blowing it, guy. I know. So he says, I think, I think what's his name is not going to show up. So in about 45 minutes, you can go on. Okay. Okay. 45 minutes, 45 minutes. I walked around the block in that neighborhood.

I walked around the block in that neighborhood doing my set, just trying to recall it exactly as I did it. That got such a great reaction. And I felt great. And I got up. It wasn't the same. Not the same, yuck. It's so weird. Crowds are like fingerprints. They're all a little bit different. And then you go,

I just was on the road. And I'm like, one night, these three jokes work the best. The next thing, these three. So overall, it's about the same, but you go, why? Why didn't they bite on that? Did I say it wrong? Is it a different attitude? Something about it. It just, it didn't work. on that? Did I say it wrong? Is it a different attitude? Something about it. It just, it didn't work.

And you could drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out. Anyway, and I started turning down auditions because I was drinking too much. I was in the clubs and if I had a good night, someone would offer me a drink. If I had a bad night, someone would offer me a drink. If I had a bad night, someone would offer me a drink.

Oh yeah. And they're all free, which is great. Yeah. And you're just going and then sleeping in till noon or one and turning down auditions. And finally I just went, wait a minute, wait a minute, what am I doing? And I realized that what you guys had innately was not me. It was not in my being. I was trying to overcome a fear. And all of a sudden I realized, wait a minute, I did that.

Oh, let me go back to that. That was the point. Yeah, you did that, which was a huge thing. I remember- But does it scare you with acting? Does it scare you, or is it the fact you have a few takes so it's you with acting? Is it scary you, or is it the fact you have a few takes so it's a little easier? Well, it's just a different muscle, right?

You're attracted to certain types of performing and you find something that you do well and it's inspiring. I didn't wake up thinking, oh, I've got to get on stage and try to tell this joke. I love being different people and getting into their skin and doing the research and figuring out what made that guy tick and why was he important

and all that. So what- Are the police coming to your house right now? Yeah, that's usually, that's from our parent company. Just saying pick up the podcast a little bit. It's a little bit of- They put a siren in. It's a little bit like-

I gotta go! I'm just curious for a second because you become one of our great actors. It sort of maybe happened secretly or whatever, but I know you would never put yourself probably with your nature into the people you watch growing up. You know, and then you realize, you must realize at some point,

you're doing work as good or better than a lot of your heroes. Right. I'm talking, I know what age group we're in. You know, there's- You're the people, you're the guy now when people are growing up. Spencer Tracy, Spencer Tracy would have loved you. Jimmy Stewart, just so that's kind of

surreal, isn't it to realize that I, I, I still don't feel that. I don't know. Maybe it's just the way I was raised, but, um, there is that imposter syndrome that I think many people go through that you go, Hey, man, I don't, I don't always know what I'm doing, but people think I do. That's like. You can get away with a lot.

Yeah, you can let go, oh my God. Your acting choices are like so genius. I forgot my line. It's throwing a dart, yeah. That stutter you did. I was searching for the word. Yeah, I didn't remember. Oh, when you spaced out, you looked off.

You know, it's so real. You know, Dan, I always say raccom after I say like a 10 out of 10 joke. That reminds me of Rakuten. If you're shopping while working, eating or even listening to this podcast, then you know and love the thrill of the hunt. But are you getting the thrill of the best deals? Rakuten shoppers do. They get brands they love with the most savings and cash back.

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Download the free Rakuten app and never miss a deal. Or go to Rakuten.ca to start getting the most bang for your buck. That's R-A-K-U-T-E-N. Rakuten.ca. When did Bob Odenkirk first come to you and go, oh, that was a great take. Oh, Brian, you're killing it. Oh my God.

That's so great. People are going to love it. Oh my God. Yeah's so great. People are gonna love it. Oh my God, yeah. That's funny. That's so funny. Wheel him, Bob. When he was hired for Breaking Bad, he hadn't seen the show yet.

And I just ribbed him about that. I go, so you got hired to be on a show and the episodes were readily available to you, but you chose. Redly. You chose hired to be on a show and the episodes were readily available to you, but you chose. You chose not to be. But he learned quickly. And boy, what a lovely thing that's happened to him.

And when he was offered a better call Saul, he asked if he can go out to lunch with me. And I said, sure. And he said, I'm not that guy. I'm not the, Hey, follow me. I'll lead you to the promised land guy and a guy. And I said, you know, I don't know that I was that either, but there is the need for that person to kind of take care, to kind of be the dad of a company. Of a show.

Of a show. You're number one on the call sheet. It's kind of saying, there it is for you to take. It's like quarterback. Yeah. They look up to you even whether you know it or not. Exactly. So I said, there's going to be a vacuum.

If you don't take it, someone else will, or it'll be taken up by someone who you don't necessarily think is the right person. I said, when I first started getting some comments of my work, I used to push back, hey, you're really good. No, no, no. I used to say that, oh, you're a really becoming a television star. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm just an actor. And I found it did terrible things. First of all, it made the person wrong, which is not a good thing.

It made them feel bad, yeah. It made them feel bad. It forced them to then continue the fight. No, no, no, no. More compliments. I'm being serious. It's a good trick. So what do you say now?

Thank you. Yeah, thank you. That's it. You don't want to go on a set and be run by number nine on the call sheet. I'll tell Bob. Let me ask you a question about the, and I don't know exactly, I know the Malcolm in the Middle is in that, but was you were the lead lead in Breaking Bad and you were in the flow all day long.

I mean, the pacing of yourself, but also when you're someone who comes in and does a guest spot or has one line, you're waiting all day. I mean, you get into a flow, right? Where you're just that character for so many hours. Is it harder, better? Obviously it's how do you handle the sheer exhaustion

and do you get almost hypnotized even deeper into the world because you're just doing so much of it? Well, as you guys know this, so for the listeners, it's basically you find your rhythm when you're needed, when you can rest, you develop a system of how and when you're going to rise to an occasion or when you can shut down a little bit. But I always thought, and we've all been on shows where you have the person coming on the show who has one line and they know nobody and they have to come in and nail that line

and that's one of the hardest things to do. Yes. So I would always try to greet every- Avoid them? Co-star. Sabotage them, no go ahead. And just try to make them feel at ease because number one, it's the right thing to do to help this person.

But number two, it also helps your show. They're very important. Those people that come in, it's so important to get, they get it right and they're in a vibe that they don't know. They're just getting in the current going, are we playing everything like this? And you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no,

we're all down here. But they don't know. And then you go, okay, let's make it all. It's late in the day, all the makeup is kind of wearing down on the people have been filming all day long. The crew looks wasted. They're exhausted. They're coming in to land that line.

Yeah, it's it's. Yeah, they bring them in. You're up. It's like, oh, right before we wrap. Now, just relax. OK, never thought of it. Great. Now just relax. Okay. Never thought of it. Oh, I didn't think of that. Hey, great. Yeah. But so you, so how old were you

when you really made it, made it in your mind? Cause you struggled for a while. No, but you know, I expected to struggle. So I guess I didn't feel like I was struggling. So, but after this Hope Opera, were you saying like that, that was 25. So, but after this Hope Opera, were you saying like that was 25? So you kind of consistently worked after that. So that's really making it, right?

Very consistent after that. I'd never had to do anything but act after that point. And that kind of confidence going into whatever you're doing next is brilliant. And it was a savior. And then about 30, I guess 35 years ago or so, I stumbled upon a philosophy that I realized, oh, I was doing everything wrong. I was thinking that an audition was a job interview and that because I'm an actor and they're casting for

a movie or a TV show or something, that's a job. And I'm going to go in to try to get something. And I realized by doing that, you're putting, you're giving up your energy and you're sending it away from you. And so I thought, oh, whenever anybody wants or needs something, they don't have control. They're giving up control, because they need something. They need a job, they need validation, they need something. So I thought, oh, I'm just gonna hold on to that. And I'm not gonna want some,

I'm gonna give them something. I worked on this scene, I think I can do it, but you know, it's their option. Here, here's an idea, you take it. If that works for you, fantastic. If it doesn't, we'll see you later. Oh, like we're 50-50. I'm going in. This is good. You want my product? Take it. Exactly. Goodbye. And in the modern era, I like that you can audition with your phone or with a friend, which is kind of nice. Like here's how I play it. You can see me, you know, a lot of people get roles that way as well. You can tweak it a little bit.

That helps. I hated going in those rooms and I always bombed and it was horrible. I bombed in front of Paul Newman, terribly. And Joanne Woodward. What did you do? Holy shit. Well, I had no... Paul Newman, the superstar.

Take a shit in front of them or something? Were you there? I think Robbie Benson got the part. I had no training at all. I was just a standup. And so acting terrified me. So I went in, they put us off in pairs. They auditioned.

So I went with a lovely young woman. We read the scene. I was all over the place. I knew I was bombing. Joanne Wood was there with the dog. Paul Newman with red socks, really tall red socks. And then Paul Newman was so sweet. We just bombed. And then he spent 10 minutes saying, well, I appreciated that. It was just so nice about it, but the air was thick.

And so I walked out with my partner. I just, I just met and I said, well, that didn't go well. And she was like, yeah, yeah, it didn't go well, did it? I mean, I really ruined her audition. Yeah. So anyway, what you just said, I hope young actors listen to that, that you're just showing them something you're not really trying to get a job.

The difference is, do not go in there to get a job, go in there to do a job. That's it. If you can just say, this is my job, I'm gonna create something, it's either funny or it's appropriate to this character. Here's my idea, there it is. If you like it, great, if you don't, that's a good thing.

I like it, you don't look so desperate and thirsty. No desperation. That's my angle is desperate and thirsty because when I would go in, I would try to joke them. I didn't know what I was doing. So this is Dana probably does too. We spent eight minutes talking about the 405 and how the crazy drive and then they're laughing. And then I read it and then when it stops laughing,

he goes, oh, forget it. Oh, that happened to me. I'm trying to win them over with the meeting. I made Suzanne Plachette laugh so hard. I spent, I had 15 minutes, I'm doing, I'm doing everything and them over with the meeting. I made Suzanne Plachette laugh so hard. I had 15 minutes. I'm doing everything. Well, I'm excited to hear you read. And then it was just dead silence.

And you know, I mean, so I'm just curious. I thought- Again? I'm curious about our guest today. I think I heard you say at one point that I'm just gonna do this show business. This is you made a decision wherever it goes I'm just gonna do this and what was that after the soap opera? No, no I was I was actually going to a junior college in LA. I had no money. So I was studying police science. I was going to become a cop.

And you look like you could play a detective. You look pretty cool. We'll get to that. You must have played a cop or detective. Yeah, I played lots of cops. And I didn't know what to do. So I was going to become a cop and transfer to a university to finish before I went into the LAPD. That was the general plan. But my second year of this junior college, I took an acting class and in the class, my job was to kiss this really pretty girl.

I am making out with this pretty girl and I'm thinking, oh my god, this is amazing. And so after that semester, now I'm 19 and I went, I have no idea what I want to do. That just spun me out of control. And so I hopped on a motorcycle and traveled around the country for a couple of years, getting jobs and... Celebrating the kiss? So I hopped on a motorcycle and traveled around the country for a couple of years, getting jobs and odd jobs. Celebrating the kiss?

Well, no, I was so confused. So in a way at the time, I felt like I was running away. And I suppose I was because I didn't know what it was I wanted to put all my energy in. And it wasn't until I was on the Blue Ridge Parkway of Virginia waiting out a rainstorm on my motorcycle underneath a picnic covered picnic bench with a slab of cement and me. And I stayed there for like five days because it just never stopped raining. And it was at that time I had this epiphany that, okay, I am going to go after something that I really feel I can be in love with, but I wasn't necessarily good at yet, as opposed

to something I was good at, which was police work, but I didn't love it. And so that was the distinction to me. And I thought, okay, here it goes. I'm going all in. There's no plan B. God, that's ballsy too. One of them's like a set job and the other one is iffy, very, very iffy. It will always remain that way too.

When did you first get a, without giving numbers, a check where you kind of went, holy shit, you know, compared to regular, you know, I was a waiter, a busboy, dishwasher, all the rest, but you know, like, wow, that's amazing. They're actually, I love this. And they're paying me a lot of money to do it. It's very heady thing. like that, but it was in 1979 is when I got my SAG card and started working and making a living. And I did commercials and I did industrial films and whatever would pay the rent and all that stuff.

It was fun. When did you get paid too much money? When did you wanna give some of it back? Cause clearly this is wrong. There are some of those jobs that you say, no, no, no. Wait, what? You want to wait? What did you get for Godzilla 2017? What did you get?

We don't ask. We don't. You don't answer that question. I'm sorry. I do know that, you know, I did when I was coming up, I worked, did voices for the Power Rangers. I did so many voices for the Power Rangers that they renamed when they changed all the names from a Japanese name to Americanized sounding names. They said, why don't we name the blue Power Ranger Cranston, Billy Cranston, not Brian.

Really, do you mind? I said, I don't mind. We didn't think it was gonna go anywhere. And it goes there. So the blue power ranger, Billy Cranston, is named after me because I did so many of those voices. Let's go, team. Let's go.

Oh, I love that show. You will never defeat me, I will kill you. Oh, I love it. You've kind of done everything, haven't you? Voiceovers, sitcoms, movies, theater. It's you have to expand your ability to work or else you're really narrowing the field, I think. Discover the magic of Bet MGM Casino, where the excitement is always on deck. I think that, right? them throughout your experience to feel like you are actually at the casino. The excitement doesn't stop there with over 3000 games to choose from,

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Well, I think you're in this new Phoenician, is that correct? The Phoenician scheme. Phoenician scheme. The Phoenician scheme, which is very interesting. The movies. Which I will see this one because you're in it and we're buddies now, but also because

it's just those are so cool those movies that he does. He is. Wes Anderson is probably the most un-Texan like Texan you've ever met. Yeah. He's very madly dressed. He's very, he's very erudite and polite and worldly. And he, it's not to say, let me clarify. It's not to say that Texans can't also be that, but the sensibility. Send all your letters to Dana and David. But, you know, so I've done,

this is the third project that I've done with Wes Anderson. It's brilliant, he's such an auteur. You cannot go into it thinking, oh, I know where he's gonna twist this or turn that. It's like he blows your mind with where he goes with stuff. Yeah, it's crazy. I think I saw that last one, maybe Astro something, with Scarlett Johansson.

Astro 8 City. Yeah, yeah, Astro 8 City. And went and saw that last one, maybe Astro something, or Scarlett Johansson. Asteroid City. Yeah, yeah, Asteroid City. And went and saw the theater, it was so fun and so cool. And it just like wakes you up like, okay, here's a movie. Okay, pay attention. I was in that movie. Everything, set dressings, everything. Very good, you did a great job.

And I love Benicio also. Benicio in this one, he's cool. Cool guy, I've run into him along the way here and there. But he's very elusive, very mysterious. Yeah, give us some Benicio. So Tom Hanks and I played brothers. We played brothers in the Finnish escape and we were shooting this in Germany.

So we go over to Germany and we're in every scene together. So we're rehearsing together and stuff. And we had basically in this movie, Venetian scheme, it's kind of light lift for us, but Venetian has a shit ton of dialogue, very specific, very Wes Anderson-y, you know, the way it's carved and moved, it's like, wow. And so, I was just saying, if there's anything I could do for you, man, you let me know, because

you're carrying the load here. And he would just nod and look and he would cram. And so, it's challenging work because of the fact that he is so specific and is in a shooting style and a symmetry of his camera angles and everything. It's amazing. But the film works. The Venetian scheme really does work. And those things I've already heard people that have seen it immediately. Yeah, you can tell it's one person is making the movie.

I mean, I know that he's, it just sort of hit me researching that sometimes he collaborates with Roman Coppola. And I did a commercial with Chevy Chase and Molly Shannon, whatever, for a phone company and Roman was directing it. And he had an immaculate suit on and he was such a gentleman.

It was just very interesting to watch him do that. And so when I saw him connected to Wes Anderson, there is an eloquence about them. That is a type of director out there. Also, it's nice to be in a movie, Brian, where they're not just like, who do we get to direct this? Because it's gonna look so specific to a director when he does it. You just watch the trailer, you know, because it's gonna look so specific to a director when he does it.

You just watch the trailer and you go, oh, that's, okay, that's what that is, you know? And that pulls people right in, I think. And to be an actor to be in it would be, what a blast. It's cool. I mean, there is some pressure behind it, like when we were shooting Asteroid City in Spain. Oh, that was Spain?

It was shot in Spain for the California desert. Yeah. The California, Nevada desert. But I believed it. Wes lives in Paris most of the time, and he doesn't like to fly, so he takes his big bus coach that he has all decked out and he travels that way. So he usually stays on the continent. What a life.

He's in pairs with a bus and he has complete control over his work. And he gets like 10 superstars. Yeah. So the budget for the acting, I heard Hank's got 20 million for this one. Or is that what? That's right. Interesting. I heard Hank's got 20 million for this one, or is that? What? Saturated. Interesting, wow, that's interesting. But how does he manage?

Because you're doing it for the love of the art. I mean, is it, right? And he gets just the greatest Bill Murray and you guys? Yeah, we all make the same amount of money. And I honestly can't even tell you what that is, but I know it's not much. Yeah, I believe it. It's just more like if he wants you and you do it.

That's such a great thing that he has. It obviously must be just a hell of a nice person till you want to be around. And it's a great hang because there are no trailers. You all go and you're in one like really souped up kind of tent with the rugs and nice comfortable chairs and floor lamps and everybody just kind of hangs out together and you go in, you only work usually about eight hours

or nine hours a day, that's it. And then at night, every night, there's a long rectangular table and all the actors and all the department heads and the writers and producers and Wes, we all have dinner together every single night with wine and kind of. And so where do you watch porn? That's my next question.

Yeah, where, how? I know where, how? Who has to ask someone? It's so embarrassing. Can we do it at dinner? Do we have to wait? I do anyway. I thought, yeah, you'll find, you'll figure it out.

How do you personally, or I guess it's project, like to be directed? You know, do you like a soft touch? You like someone in your face, Cranston, I don't believe a word you're saying. I don't get it. Or does Wes Anderson kind of just sort of wander around and sort of give you subtle notes or are you like it all? I mean the first

day I worked on Asteroid City I had a quite a large speech to give and I got through it in his tricky dialogue and I thought I did pretty well and he did too. He came to me and he said, yes, Brian, that was, that was very, very good. Now I just need it much, much, much, much faster. And it was like, oh, to hear that. Like, oh my God. So you're, you're going so fast. You don't even hear yourself. You don't even think you're thinking and you're getting it out. So the work is, the work is. It's hard with dialogue. People forget you're memorizing. It's so hard to get every word right. Especially if you're working for a writer director and you go,

I've had one where he came back and he said, you were great. You missed this one word here. Let's go again. And I go one word. It was like one word that didn't change anything. Yeah. But that's the way I wrote it. I go, got it. it was like one word that didn't change anything. Yeah. But that's the way I wrote it. I go, got it.

You said and instead of both. Exactly. Oh, I hate that. So I hated movies, but you go in the morning for the master shot and then you're in your close up eight hours later and the script supervisor says, no, your elbow was on top of the chair. Yeah. Oh, really?

I mean, that's why's why, have you done movies where it's like a moving master minimal shooting, that kind of freedom? Yeah, yeah and actually you know I don't know if you remember this Dana but we worked together. I remember running into you at Letterman right? No we've done that but no., like Dave said. Was I first on the call sheet? Where was I? Yes, sir, you were.

Was I nice? Wayne's World. Opportunity knocks? Yeah, kind of, no, it wasn't that. Clean slate? Clean slate. Whoa! You were in that movie? That's probably your lowest grossing movie.

No, that's crazy. I'm so sorry. If I could write you a check, actually I'm gonna do a Venmo, where are you? I played the very pivotal role of club official. Yeah. Dana, what would that be, do you remember? We were in Santa Monica on the beach at a tennis club.

And I don't remember anything else. Not a thing. Dana, does he remember Santa Monica? I don't remember a thing. So I play a character with amnesia. It was Tara, one of his acting coach, and his theory was, you don't have amnesia. Your character is pretending to have amnesia. But your character does not have amnesia. Your character is pretending to have amnesia, but you don't, your character does not have

amnesia. Was that real from the movie? Yeah, this is Roy London, God rest his soul. He's this great actor. So that was his way of getting you out of your own way. So then there was a guy playing a blind person. We were filming at the beach and he had the stick and he's playing a blind person. We were filming at the beach and he had the stick and he's playing a blind person. And I say, I said to him, you know, I don't really have amnesia. I'm just pretending. And he goes,

I'm not really blind. He'd gone to the same acting coach. You know, whatever. I just feel, but yeah, that was, that was ridiculous. That was me making a foolish choice right off of SNL. I had way too much heat, no experience, and I wish I could take it back. If we could have switched, and that you became the lead and I was guard number one, it might've had a chance.

No, I was club official. Oh, club official. God, Wikipedia sucks sometimes. Yeah, that was written by Robert King. Yeah. Robert King. He's great. Worked with since, yeah, I was partners with him

on a series called Your Honor. And he's terrific. Oh yeah, that's a great show. I've never seen you bad. I don't know if you like. Oh, you were kind of bad. Oh, I wanna, yeah. Well, let's see, what was...

What was that? It was the one we circled. No, but by the way, how about... When I heard a Malcolm in the Middle reboot, is it... That's right. What is it on? What is on Disney Plus? It's gonna be on Disney, yeah.

Since they bought out Fox, we were originally owned by Fox. Oh yeah. How do they do that? And so now we're owned by Disney and they bought four episodes of this reboot. I didn't think it'd reboot. It's something I was trying,

I was pushing for for the last 10 years because I thought that that audience is- It was that hard? Wow. Well- It'd be fun. No, Linwood Boomer, who is the creator of the show, when I first pitched it to him, he said, "'No, I'm not interested, no.'"

About a year and a half later, I said, "'What about it?' And he goes, "'No, I really don't think "'it's something I wanna do.'" And I went, really? Really? Starting to improve. And then a third one, the third time, three years after that, it was like, well, you know, if someone else wrote it,

maybe I'll look at it. And I just started wearing him down until he said, I've got an idea. And I said, good, go get it. We just finished it. We shot that a month ago. And it's amazing how these boys, who were my boys on that show,

are now around the same age I was when we first started. Oh no, really? Yeah. They've got children of their own. There's a kid on their name, Eric, is there? Yeah, Eric. Sullivan? Yeah, Eric Per Sullivan.

Played a little Joe Dirt in an old movie I did. That's right. He played me as a kid. Now, David, did you remember that or did now that you were doing the research? I didn't, I remembered he was on it back then. He was really cute and funny. And he walked on little cowboy boots in the movie.

But now that you say it again, I'm like, oh, that's right. He's probably, you know, older now, but. He is the only one who's not, who didn't come back to act in the show. Oh, for real? Yeah, I talked to Eric and I said, hey, we got the show, it's gonna come back. He goes, oh, that's fantastic.

And I go, yeah, so we're looking forward to having you back. He goes, oh, no, no, I don't wanna do it,, that's fantastic. And I go, yeah, so we're looking forward to having you back. He goes, Oh, no, no, I don't want to do it, but it's fantastic. Yeah. Because he's, he's actually going to Harvard and he's a normal person. Now. Well, I don't think he's, he's not normal because he's really not my circle. Normal. He's, he's really, really smart.

And he's getting, I think he's getting his masters at Harvard right now. He said, oh God, no, I haven't acted since I was nine or something, so I'm not into it, yeah. Wow, because he's like, it just makes us all feel so dumb that we're actors. He's like, I don't want to go do that stupid shit again. I'm like, no, it's pretty smart what we do.

And they're like, no, no, really. It's not that hard. Oh, cool though. Well, that's good. I'm glad you did that. All right, pick a topic. Okay. SNL, you hosted.

Oh, God. And just because it was all over the place a couple of years ago during the strike, that just the idea of AI and robots integrating with our industry and where it seems to be going is fascinating to me because we keep seeing these digital films by alphabet Google where you're like, you know, what, what the hell? I mean, it's getting surreal. We are actually digital copies right now. I just want to be full disclosure, but it is kind of bizarre, isn't it? Just to watch the future. It is. It just feels like something a little impersonal, but you know, I remember it so

fondly and being invited to host at that time when Breaking Bad was at its, you know, pink. And I immediately said yes. And it's such a rush. I mean, I know you guys have talked about this on the podcast before and everyone's experience, but it was incredible. And how deep dive involved you are in every moment of that. And that, you know, from the first time I'm sitting in Lauren's office in that chair in the middle and everybody, all the writers are on the floor and behind the curtains and things.

And I thought the pitches that were going on that first day, that Monday, were actually supposed to be sincere. It was like- Some of them are. Some of them are. Most are fake pitches. Yeah, most of the, I just want to say this

because it'll be rejected and let it die a cold death. Someone said, okay, so you're a barista at Starbucks and you finish your drink and you call out, Trevor, Trevor, I smoke a latte, Trevor, Trevor, and no one ever shows up. That's that, that was his pitch. That's the whole pitch. That was the whole pitch. I went, ah, I thought this is gonna be a long week.

Yeah, people think of that at Starbucks on the way to the meeting. That was the whole pitch. I went, ah, I bet this is gonna be a long week. Yeah, people think of that at Starbucks on the way to the meeting. They're like, because they have, I think the problem is you end the show Saturday, you don't wake up until Sunday at three in the afternoon, you do your laundry and then you're in front of Brian Kranz since you're like,

I will think of something for him. I just have not. I would say a guy walks up and says his name is Travue. Travue? No, not Trevor. Trevor. And then another guy walks up. Taneve? No, Trevor. Trevor. I'm Trevor. Travue. I'm just trying to complete this. We can write it.

We'll write it. Lauren will be listening to this. We'll have him back, you know, after, you know, the West Anderson kick. We'll get good numbers with the Malcolm people. Do they have nicknames for Malcolm in the middle of fanatics? Like Malcolmites or Middlers? They probably do, but I don't know. Not aware. I'm not aware of that stuff yet.

So what was your monologue like when you were coming out there? Did you have a strong one? I did have some ideas and John Mulaney wrote it. I remember that guy. Did he do that barbershop kind of quartet one or whatever you did? Yes, that's right, the barbershop kind of thing. And he said, you know, what if we take the point of view that people kind of know you, but they don't really know you. And I said, yeah, okay. He's like, because I was getting that,

or you the guy from Malcolm and the man, you're the dad, you're the guy, you're the guy. It wasn't associating name with face. Breaking Bad was on at that time, right? Yeah. But then you're kind of going up. You're kind of that guy. Oh, you're the guy from Breaking Bad was on at that time, right? Yeah, but then you're- Still kind of going up. You're kind of that guy, oh, you're a wolf. You're the guy from Breaking Bad. Right, you're the guy from Breaking Bad. And it's not until someone actually knows your name connected to your face that you go,

okay, things have changed. Which goes back to your original question, Dan. Is that that's when you go, oh, things have changed. But we did, yeah, things have changed. But we did, yeah, we did the monologue and I just wanted to do anything. I had a couple pitches for them, which I pitched ideas, which were almost immediately shot down. I had a great pitch, which I think you still had.

I'm a circus clown and do you remember the pitch? I do remember great pitch, which I think you still had. I'm a circus clown. And do you remember the pitch? I do remember the pitch. But let's hear it and let's see if it's really that bad. We'll grade it. Okay, so. One to ten. So myself and a date and another couple, we can't believe we got reservations for this

restaurant. It's supposed to be amazing. It's called In the Sauce. and it's like wow and this very snooty waiter comes in and says are you ready? Can we see a menu? No, we don't give menus. We serve you food. You eat the food you leave, you know It's like, okay. Yes. Yes. Yes, and he said it's all about the sauce So he puts down a crudite and we dip it in the sauce and it's like, oh my god, just amazing. Crudite is taken away. Here comes the entree. You're eating the entree. We're eating. Oh my god, this sauce is absolutely insane. We're overeating. We eat too much. We throw up.

We dip the barf in the sauce. Oh my god. It's all about the sauce. It's like no matter no matter what you're eating as long as the sauce is good. What's in the sauce? Do we know? No I like it's in the sauce. It's in the sauce. What if it's soylent green at the end? It's like you know you have a severed finger and you dip it in the sauce. And whatever I got you. Yeah. Still good. Still good. That didn't get past Monday meeting. No, it didn't get past Monday. I truncated that pitch now. It goes much longer. I can do a longer version. Sauteed pig snout to take a bite.

Oh, this is horrible. Oh, yes. Dip in sauce. Oh, isn't it? Get everyone to come in with a funny accent. You're halfway there. Yeah. Did you get to play big, broad accents, Italian,

get that out of your system? Cause you have a great ear. I mean, hey. You know, it's like that, your listeners know the system now. So I mean, Tuesday is the big writing overnight. Right. And then Wednesday, the binder, the binder of 60 sketches.

Terrifying. And each writer is, can I talk to you a second? Okay, now you're a pirate. You're a pirate. There's absolutely no system. He's grabbing you in the way of a bathroom. He'll just grab you. You're a pirate. And so you're just making big choices. Okay, I'm going to do a New York accent, a Southern accent, an English accent. I'm a pirate, I'm a baseball player. Yeah. Just, you know, and so I don't know what I was doing.

It was just one after another after another. And it's dizzying, as you know. And then, but you know, he's weighing, Lorne kind of knows what he wants already. And then I'm shuttled into the room. Shuttled. Seth, yeah, kind of. Yeah, secret Lorne Lawrence office, powered with ground. Seth and Steve came in.

Steve Higgins, Seth Meyers. Steve Higgins, yeah. And Seth and we're looking at the board and he is, and Lawrence said, well, is there any particular sketch that you felt connected to? And I said, yeah, that this other one is a laundromat one. Yeah, that's not as strong as this one though. You know? It's like.

He hoped you'd agree and then he was like, no, actually you're wrong. What you just picked would never work. Here's one that's better. You're a novice. It's not your fault, but we'll take care of it. Is there anyone you don't like? That'll be the cold opener.

Marcy, any more popcorn? Brian, he's starving. Help him. But yeah, I mean, it is, there's nothing like it. It's been called an athletic event on this show by some people like a sporting event. It's tactile. It's high risk. I don't know. I mean,

we got to get you back on. I want to co-host with you and David. Yeah, I would love to go back on because it is, you know, Steve Higgins said, there's two things, I two pieces of advice I can give you. And I,'t known Steve before because I worked with his brothers, Al Higgins and David Higgins, who were connected to Malcolm. Al was one of the writers of Malcolm. Dave Higgins was one of the actors on the show. So Steve says two things. First and foremost, trust the cards. Don't think you can go off the cards and I got this. I know what it is, because they're constantly changing. Cues are changing. Lines are changing go off the cards and I got this I know what it is because they're constantly changing cues They're changing your lines are change trust the cards and second

Don't try to be perfect. Allow it to not be perfect. Allow it to be Wherever it's gonna go part of the fun. Yeah. Yeah, and so I took it that advice and I think by doing so I mean I had a blast and man that 90 minutes was over in, it felt like. Two seconds, oh yeah. It felt like, you know, 85 minutes. It was amazing. It was. Yeah.

Yeah, the energy that comes, because you're going, when you host that show, you're pretty wiped out by the time the dress and all this stuff, and you're coming out and you're like, damn. And then of course, it just. It's a beating. It just comes when you need it. As soon as you hear that, and it's adrenaline. Yeah. And then to hear for the first time, I'm backstage at that door with the facade and people are scribbling their names on the thing. And you're waiting behind the door and I'm standing there going, Oh my God, I'm about to host Saturday Night Live.

Oh my God. And I just, I just took a couple of deep breaths. And then I hear Don Pardo's voice going, I'm the host, Brian Cranston. And I went, that freaked me out. And the door opens and out we go. And it was like, Oh God, like shot out of a cannon. Yeah. Ugh.

Well, Brian, before you go, I definitely want to tell you, it's great, first of all, great to have you. And second of all, to have a line like, I won't get exactly right, but that scene when you say I am the danger, everyone knows it, everyone talks about it. It's great to have a show. It's already, everyone's all over it,

but then to have such a cool thing, what a blast. It was a gift, man. It possessed me, I was completely possessed by that show, the acting and Aaron Paul, all of it was just so new and different. I try to think, cause I was talking to someone, I got with Sopranos, Breaking Bad. You know, when they say television's better than movies,

you know, like. To be up in that category. I thought Ozarks was really good. There's been a lot of other shows, but I can for sure say Sopranos, Breaking Bad. Like if you have people who haven't seen Sopranos, you gotta watch that. Haven't seen Breaking Bad, you gotta watch that.

And I think they're seminal. I think they're some. The wire also is a- The wire is another one. There are others as well. Where it's like not arguable. People are like, okay, okay. It almost didn't happen for me either.

We were finishing Malcolm in the Middle's seventh season and Fox said, keep all the sets up. We might pick it up for an eighth season. Then they turn around a month later said in May of 06. Now we had a good pilot season. So we're done with Malcolm. Thank you very much. We're all a little disappointed.

We would have been, it would have been fun. But later that year is when Vince Gilligan wanted to see me for Breaking Bad. And we shot the pilot for Breaking Bad in February and March of 07. Had Malcolm in the middle gone that eight year, I'm not doing Breaking Bad. Someone else is. So I try to tell that to young actors all the time to say, luck has a weird way of working. So just when something happens that you think is bad luck, it may be putting you in a position to have better luck.

You don't know. Yeah, that's I love Paul Newman for a lot of reasons, you know, his charitable work, but he always people would try to go how great cool and Luke and how great you are. He goes, it comes down to one thing, dumb luck, you know, whether that's completely true or not. But, you know, there is whimsy whimsy to this life and whimsical things happen in show business you never know. But you still should not have taken a shit on his red socks. No, that's crazy. That was that was a mistake.

I know, but I did have a dream last night. I'll leave you with this. I had a dream last night because I thought of you as in a way. I know, but I did have a dream last night. I'll leave you with this. I had a dream last night, because I thought of you as in a way like archetypal, like you could have been an actor from the 40s and 50s or whatever, just because of who you, how you look, you're timeless in a way. And Henry Fonda came to me in the dream.

And I said, well, what do you think of these young actors? Bryan Cranston, he said, well, he's as good as anybody's ever been. He sure knows his way around a camera. Would have loved to have done a movie with Bryan Cranston. And then I woke up, you know, I said to my wife, I just heard Henry Fonda talking about Bryan Cranston. So I just wanted to do that for you. Thank you.

No one asked me to do Henry Fonda anymore. That's a perfect Henry Fonda. Unfortunately, you gotta be 60 to know who he is. They only remember Jimmy Stewart. They don't remember Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant. It's Jimmy Stewart because of the Christmas movie. It's a wonderful life. Ryan looks like a little bit like Springsteen today.

Yeah. Oh. Don't you think a little bit? He does look a little bit. There's an underbut there. Yeah, he got an underbut, yeah. I like that. She's cool.

We were- Brian, thank you, buddy. All right, thank you, Brian. Brian, such a pleasure and good luck in everything. And I'm gonna go see this Wes Anderson picture. I'm gonna see this thing. The Phoenician scheme. The Phoenician scheme, why not?

Yeah, the Phoenician scheme. and we got Malcolm coming out soon. I love it all. Yep, yep. Thanks, guys. All right, okay, bud. Have a good day. Be well. Thanks, buddy.

You too. This has been a presentation of Odyssey. Please follow, subscribe, leave a like, a review. All this stuff, smash that button, whatever it is, wherever you get your podcasts. Fly on the Wall is executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Jenna Weiss-Berman of Odyssey, and Heather Santoro.

The show's lead producer is Greg Holtzman.