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

Episode Date: March 18, 2026

Let’s revisit 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

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I am the danger. Brian Cranston. Yeah. Wow. You know, it's very rare to have someone go from Malcolm in the middle, which is a very funny show, very culty, funny, and flip into breaking bad. I mean, a million things in between, but the two that come to mind. Yeah, and then and now back to Malcolm. Yeah, back to Malcolm.

The show is back. I've seen some. Running around his underpants. Yeah. Yeah. So he's like, uh, he's like, uh, he's like, like he's totally like a regular guy like he doesn't it where Brian Kranz is like any kind of ego he just sort of but then breaking bad was I mean you know arguably one of the best acting things has

ever been recorded in his case I talked someone yesterday who says they're rewatching breaking bad for real that's something just kind of like the Sopranos everyone you can rewatch it if but to be able to do broad comedy and get big laughs and then do breaking bad which got so dark and so scary and weird is such a range. But yeah, he's a fun guy to talk to. He's very real, smart guy. Yeah, very light, likes to laugh, likes the comedian world, and just wants to crack up. So we had a blast with him, and I think Malcolm in the middle is on presently.

So you can see him in that. Here he is. Brian Cranston. 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. You guys. Brian Cranston. Our whole goal is not to bore you. So how's that going so far?

I think we're bored. You know, I just watch your monologue of Brian Cramston. Brian Cranberry. Ooh. The S&L mono. God. Oh, God. Thanks for coming on. You're a, you know, you're, 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 Brian Cranston. I'm Brian fucking Cranston. Yeah. 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'm, I think I'm really killing it here. This is,

fucking, you know what I mean? You must have a moment or maybe it was a gradual series of moments. When I got an S&L, it worked out for me. I was sort of like, oh, wow, I'm actually on S&L and it's doing pretty well for me. So the same kind of thing, was it, 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 you know i mean those uh 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 um those of us who have been around a while and i i said i think i realized what it was when you first start out you have tremendous ambition but low opportunity and right

It's like 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. You know, I instruct my agents now. I said, listen, please don't send me anything that you don't really love. So, you know, let them do that work to be able to say, oh, this script is really, really great. So you should take a look at it.

But I think it's this question I actually had for you, for both of you. Thank you. Can I do that? We love that. We love it better. Yeah. It's better for us. 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. So hard. 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 HBO Young Comedians, then I got an 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, it 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 when was yours, Dana?

Because that was, it took that long, to be honest. I bombed a lot. You know, I just started doing stand-up. There wasn't ground lanes or theater groups up in San Francisco in those days. So I was doing stand-up, but I didn't find out until 10 years later, literally almost from my first set to getting SNL, like, oh, this is where I belong. So when I got an SNL and I'd done these characters as a stand-up, and then I put the wig on and the dress, the church-laying stuff, it was like, this is really fun. We'll talk about when you host it. And also your LBJ, which I think is extraordinary.

I was watching. You do one of the best LBJs out there. Well, the only one were you, you, Fred Travelina, and it was fun. Well, he was doing it as an actor. I mean, I know. Hollywood wanted to use me. I screen tested for Amadeus, you know. For real.

Yeah. Yeah. I did a sitcom with Mickey Bruny, 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 the, So to answer your question shortly, it's like once I got an S&O, I felt like a fish in water, like I really belong here, you know. And so that was, that was it for me, you know. How old were you then, Dana?

I was 51. No, I was, I was 31 in my first set in a shitbox 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 scrolled on a nap. 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 and 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 stand-ups always have a baseline, like a band. You just go back to the clubs, go to the theaters, do stand-ups. So it's a nice little side job. It is foundational for you. I did stand up for about nine months back in 1980, 81. And I did it only because it scared the shit out of me.

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, there's a big jump. It is in Stannab. It is big.

Now I'm not just walking everyone. Do the job. Yeah. Consistent laughs. Was it New York? It was in L.A. Oh, in L.A. 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 and improv. Is laugh stop in Newport? there was there was one in Newport right

then there was one in the valley where I had a great night my best night was in the valley I did I love it 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 can stick around because someone may not show up. Oh, come on. You're blowing it, guy.

I know. So he says, 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. Your crowds are like fingerprints. They just, 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? Yeah. Something about it. It just, it didn't work.

And you could drive yourself crazy. Oh, we do. It's trying to figure it out. Oh, anyway. And I started, I started turning down auditions because. I was drinking too much. You know, 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. Oh, yeah. And they're all free, which is great. Yeah, and you're just going and then sleeping in until 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 it. 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 a little easier. Well, it's just a different muscle, right? And you're attracted to certain types. performing and you find something that you do well and it's you know inspiring i i i didn't i didn't wake up thinking oh i've got to get on stage and try it to tell this joke um i 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

Yeah, we, that's usually, that's from our parent company. It's 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'm just curious for a second because you become one of our great actors. It sort of maybe happens 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. 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 you know there's you're the people you're the guy now when people are trying out

mr tracy would have loved you jimmy stewer i 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 minute i don't I don't always know what I'm doing, but people think I do. You can get away with the line. 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. It's so real.

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It was so chaotic. It's almost like a university on a siege. Listen to and follow Campus Files. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. When did Bob Odenkirk first come from to you go? Oh, that was a great take. Oh, Brian, you're killing it. Oh, my God.

That's so great. God, yeah. That's funny. That's so funny. When he was hired for Breaking Bad, he hadn't seen the show yet. And I just ribbed him about that. I go, so he got hired to be on a show and the episodes were readily available to you, but you chose not to be. But he learned quickly. And boy, what a lovely. thing that's happened to him, you know. And I, you know, when he, when he was offered, a better call Saul, he asked if he can go out the 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 kind of 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 of a company of a show of a show you you're number one on a 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 don't know you know it or not exactly so i said there's 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 is the right person you You know, so it's, you know, just I said, when I, when I first started getting some comments of my work, I used to push back. Hey, you're really good. No, no, no, no. I used to say that. Oh, you're a, you're a really becoming a television star. Oh, 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. And feel bad. Yeah. and feel bad, it forced them to then continue the fight. No, no, no. More compliments. I'm being serious.

It's a good trick. So what do you say now? Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. That's it. You don't want to go on a set and be run by number nine in the call sheet. Let me ask you a question about the, and I don't know exactly.

I know the Malcolm in the middle of this and 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 this year 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 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. Yeah, they're very important. Those people that come in. It's really hard. It's so important to 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.

We're all down here. Like, 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 and 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. Yeah. They bring them in Europe. It's like, uh, right before we wrap. Now, just relax. Yeah. Okay. Never thought of it.

Oh, I didn't think of that. Great. So how old were you when you really made it, made it in your mind? Because you struggled for a while. No, but, you know, I expected the struggle. So I guess I didn't feel like I was struggling. So after the soap 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. 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 TV show or that's that's a job and I'm going to go in to try to get something and I realize by doing that

you're putting you're giving up your energy and you're 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 and something so i thought oh i'm just going to hold on to that and i'm not going to want so i'm going to 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 that works for you fantastic but it doesn't we'll see you oh like we're 50-50 i'm going in this is good do 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'd 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 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. I, you know, at all, I was just a stand-up.

And so acting terrified me. So I went in, they put us off in pairs. They auditioned. So I went to the lovely young woman. We read the scene. I was all over the place. I knew I was bombing. No.

N. Wood was there with the dog. Paul Newman with red socks, really tall red socks. Red socks. And then Paul Newman was. so sweet. We just bombed. And then he spent 10 minutes saying, well, I appreciated that he 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? You know, I mean, I really ruined her audition. Yeah. So anyway, what you just said, I hope, I hope young actors listen

to that, that you're just showing them something. You're not really trying to get a job. it's it's the the difference is do not go in there to get a job go in there to do a job yeah that's it if you can just say this is my job i'm going to create something it's either funny or it's it's appropriate to this character here here's my idea there it is yeah if you like it great if you know that's i like that you don't look so desperate and thirsty that's my 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 spend eight minutes talking about the 405 and how the crazy drive and then they're laughing and then I read it and when it stops laughing he goes,

oh, forget all that happened to me. I'm trying to win him over with the meeting. I made Suzanne Plachette laugh so hard. I spent, I had 15 minutes. I'm doing, well, I'm doing everything and well, I'm excited to hear you read and then it was just dead silence. And, you know, I mean, so I'm just curiously, I thought again. I'm curious about our guest today. I think I heard you say at one point that I'm just going to do this, show business. You made a decision wherever it goes. I'm just going to do this.

And what was that after the soap opera, went back to soap? No. No, I was actually going to a junior college in L.A. 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 yeah you look pretty cool yeah we'll get to that you must have played a cop or detective i played yeah played lots of cop and 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 l-a-b-d that was a 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 years getting jobs and odd jobs and carnals. Yeah, just, well, no, it's 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, I was on the Blue Ridge Parkway of Virginia waiting out a rainstorm on my motorcycle underneath a picnic covered, um, 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 god that's

ballsy too one of them's like a set job and the other one is iffy very very iffy and will always remain that way 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 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 a very heady thing. Well, I was doing some community theater and some summer stock and dinner theater and stuff 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 it would pay the rent and all that. It was fun. When did you get paid too much

money. When did you want to give some of it back? Because clearly this is wrong. There are, there are some of those jobs that you say, no, no, no, wait, what? What did you get for Godzilla, 2017? What did you get? We don't ask Mr. Franzill. 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? And I said, I don't mind. We didn't think it was going to go anywhere. And it goes there. So the Blue Power Ranger, Billy Cranston, is, is, named after me because we did i did so many of those those voices let's go team it's go and oh i love that show defeat me i will kill you you know oh i love it you've kind of done everything haven't you

voiceovers sitcoms movies theater it's you you you have to expand your ability to work or else you're really narrowing the field i think that right well i think you're in this new phoenician The Phoenician scheme. The Phoenician scheme, which is very interesting. He shows movies, which I will see this one because you're in it and we're buddies now, but also because 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 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 sure, the sensibility. Send all your letters to, yeah. To Dana and David. But, you know,

so I've done, this is the third project I've done, Wes Anderson, and he's, it's brilliant. He's such an autour. You cannot go into it

thinking, oh, I know where he's going to 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 or something, 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. Everything set dressing, everything. Very good. You did a great job. And I love Benichio also.

Benichio in this one. He's cool. What a cool guy of running him along the way here and there, but he's very elusive, very mysterious. Yeah. Give us some Benichio. So Tom Hanks and I played brothers.

We play brothers in the Phoenician scheme. And we're shooting this in Germany. And 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, Phoenician scheme, It's kind of light lift for us.

But Benicio has a shit ton of dialogue. Very specific. Very Wes Anderson-e, you know, the way it's carved and moved. It's like, wow. And so I would 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 his shooting style and his symmetry of his of his of his camera angles and it's it's it's uh it's amazing but the film works the nation scheme yeah really does those things i've already heard people that have seen it immediately of course yeah you can tell it's it's one person is making the movie i mean sam i know that he's uh it just sort of hit me researching that sometimes he collaborates with roman coppola Yeah. And I did a commercial with Chevy Chase and Molly Chan, whatever. For a phone company, 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 West 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, you know, because it's going to 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 beyond, like when we were shooting Asteroid City in Spain. Oh, that was Spain? It was shot in Spain for the California Desert. Yeah. California, Nevada desert.

I believed it. He worked, Wes lives in Paris most of the time. And he doesn't like the 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 contract. God, what a life. He's in Paris with a bus and he has complete control over his work.

And he gets like 10 superstars. Yeah. So the budget for the act. I heard Hank's got 20 million for this one, or is that what? Is that sure? Interesting. Well, 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. of a nice person do 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 and nice comfortable chairs and speak easy lamps and and you know and everybody just kind of hangs out together and you go in uh you only work usually about eight hours or nine hours a day that's it and within reason And then at night, every night, there is a long rectangular table and all the actors and all the department heads and the writers and producers and West. We all have dinner together every single night with wine and all kinds of things.

So where do you watch porn? That's my question. Yeah, 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 figure 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 you like it all? I mean, the first day I worked on Asteroid City, I had 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 needed much, much, much, much, much faster. And it was like, oh. Oh. To hear that. Like, oh, my God. So 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 challenge. 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. You said, and instead of bone. Exactly. Oh, I hate that. That's why I hated movies, but you go in the morning for the master shot.

and then you're entering your close up eight hours later, and the script supervisor says, no, your elbow was on top of the chair. Oh, really? I mean, that'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 work together. Why? Whoa. I remember running into it, 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 Knox? 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 great. I'm so sorry.

If I could write you a check axe, I'm going to do a Venmo. Where are you? I played the very pivotal role of club official. Hmm. Yeah. Dana, what would that be? Do you remember? We were at, we were in Santa Monica at on the beach.

Yes, I remember that. Mm-hmm. Right? And I don't remember anything else. Not a thing. Dana doesn't remember Santa Monica. I don't remember a thing. So I play a character with amnesia.

It was Tara, went to this 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. Was that real from the movie? Yeah, this is Roy London. God rest his soul. He's this great act.

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. And I said to him, 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, but yeah, that was ridiculous. That was me making a foolish choice right off of S&L. I had way too much heat, no experience. And I wish I could take it back. If we could have switched that you became the lead and I was guard number one, it might have had a chance. No, I was club official. Oh, club official.

God, Wikipedia sucks sometimes. That was written by Robert King. Yeah. Robert King. He's great. I worked with since. Yeah, I was partners with him on a series called Your Honor. 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 want to see. Let's see. What was the one we circled?

No, but by the way, 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 going to 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's reboot. It's something I was trying. I was pushing for for the last 10 years because I thought that that audiences. It was that hard? Wow. Well,

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? He goes, no, I really don't think it's something I want to do. And I went, 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. Love it. Go get it. Love 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 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 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 a little cowboy boots and 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 i said hey we got the show it's going to 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 i don't want to do it but it's fantastic oh really yeah because he's he's actually going to harvard and he's a normal person Well, I don't think he's, he's not normal because he's really not in my circle normal. 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 you're like, no, not really. It's not that hard.

Oh, cool, though. Well, that's good. I'm glad you did that. Okay, SNL, you hosted. Oh, God. And just because it was all over the place a couple years ago during the strike, 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 short films by alphabet Google where you're like, you know, 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, right? 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, 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, in Lawrence, office in that chair in the middle and everybody all the writers are on the floor and behind the curtains and things and 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 but most are fake pitches yeah most they go i just want to say this because it'll be rejected and let it die a cold yeah someone said uh okay so you're a barista at starbucks and you finish your drink and you call out Trevor, Trevor, ice, mocha, a latte, Trevor, Trevor, and no one ever shows up.

That's that, that was a pitch. That was the whole pitch. I went, ah, I thought this is going to 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 Krantzis. You're like, I have, I will think of something for him. I just have not. I would say a guy walks up and says his name is Trevue.

Trevue, no, not Trevor, Trevor. And then another guy walks up, Taneve? No, Trevor. Trevor. I'm Tever. Trevue. I'm just trying to complete this. We can write it. We'll write it. Lorne 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 Malkanites or middlers? They probably do, but I don't know. I'm not aware of that stuff, yeah.

So what was your monologue like? Did you, when you were coming out there, did you have a strong one? I did have some ideas in John Mullaney, wrote it. I remember that guy. They did you 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 are you the guy from Malcolm in the middle? You're the dad? You're the guy. You're the guy. It wasn't associating name with face. The Breaking Bad was on at that time, right? Yeah, but still kind of going up. You're kind of that guy. Oh, 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 then. Is that that's when you go, oh, 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 is still. 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 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, oh, yes, yes, yes. And he said, it's all about the sauce. So he puts down a crudette and we dip it in the sauce. And it's like, oh, my God, just amazing. Crudette is taken away. Here comes the entree. 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 what you're eating, as long as the sauce is good. No, I like. It's in the sauce. What if it's soiling green at the end? It's like you have a severed finger and you dip it in the sauce.

And whatever, I got you. Still good. Still good. That didn't get past Monday meeting? Yeah, it didn't get past Monday. I truncated that pitch now. It goes much longer. I can do a longer version.

Saute pig snout. You take a bite. Oh, this is horrible. Oh, yes. Dip in sauce. Yeah, get everyone to come in with a funny accent. You're halfway there. Did you get to play big, big broad accents, Italian?

Get that out of your system and just, because you have a great ear. I mean, 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. Terrified. 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. They just grab you in the way to the bad. They just grab you. Oh, yeah. You know, and so you're just making big choices, you know. 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, you know, he's weighing, Lauren kind of knows what he wants already. And then, and then I'm shuttled into the room. Shuttled. Yeah, kind of.

Yeah, Sir. Lauren's office. Powered ground. What brings you? Seth and Steve came in. Steve Higgins, Seth Myers. Steve Higgins, yeah.

And Seth, and we're looking at the board and he's, and Lawrence said, well, is there any particular sketch that you felt connected to? And I said,

yeah, this other one is a laundromat one. Yeah, that's not as strong as this one, though, you know? He hoped you agree. And then you're like, no,

actually you're wrong. Would you just picked, would never work. Here's one. It's better. Oh, you're a novice. It's not your fault. It will take care of it.

Is there anyone you don't like? That'll be the cold over. Marcy, any more popcorn? No butter. Brian, he's starving. Help him. So fun.

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, I don't know. I mean, we got to get you back on.

I want to co-host with you and David. I would love to go back on because it is, you know, Steve Higgins said there's two things. Two pieces of advice I can give you. And I hadn'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 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 going to go. It's part of the fun. Yeah. And so I took that advice. And I think by doing so, I mean, I had a blast.

man, that 90 minutes was over in, it felt like, two seconds. It felt like, you know, 85 minutes. It was amazing. 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 the 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 music. 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 was standing there going, oh, my God, I'm about to host Saturday Night Live. Oh, my God. And I just took a couple deep breaths. And then I hear Don Pardo's voice going,

and host Brian Kronzstan. You know, and I went, that freaked me out. And the door opens and out we go. on. Oh, God. Like shot out of a cannon. Yeah. Oh, 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 guest, 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 because I was talking to someone, I got 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 people haven't seen Sopranos, you got to watch that. Haven't seen Breaking Bad. You've got to watch that. I think they're seminal. I think they're... Yeah.

The wire also is a... The wire is another one. There are others as well. 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 and a month later said in May of 06. Now, we had a good pilot season. We're done with Malcolm. Thank you very much. We're all a little disappointed. We 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 go on that eighth 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 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 Ann 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'd never know. But you still should not have taken a shit on his red socks. No, that's crazy. 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, like archetypal,

like you could, you could have been an actor from the 40s, 50s or whatever, just because of 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, is Brian Cranston. He said, well, he's as good as anybody's ever been. He sure knows his way around a camera.

Would I love to have done a movie with Brian Cranston. And then I woke up, you know, I said to my wife, I just heard Henry Fonda talking about Brian 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've got to be 60 to know who he is.

They only remember Jimmy Stewart. They don't remember Spencer Tracy, Carrie 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. Don't you think a little bit? He does look at a little bit.

There's an underbought there. Yeah, you got an underbought. Yeah. I like that. She's cool. Right. Thank you, buddy. All right.

Thank you, Ryan. It's just such a pleasure and good luck and everything. And I'm going to go see this Wes Anderson picture. I'm going to see this thing. scheme the finition scheme and we got malcolm coming out soon i love it all yep thanks guys okay bud have a good day hey guys if you're loving this podcast which you are be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app give us a review five-star rating and maybe you can share an episode that you've loved with a friend if you're watching this episode on youtube please subscribe we're on video now

fly on the wall is presented by audacity and executive produced by dana carvey and david Heather Santoro and Greg Holtzman, Maddie Sprung Kaiser, and Leah Reese Dennis of Odyssey. Our senior producer is Greg Holtzman, and the show is produced and edited by Phil Sweet Tech. Booking by Cultivated Entertainment. Special thanks to Patrick Fogarty, Evan Cox, Mora Curran, Melissa Wester, Hillary Schuff,

Eric Donnelly, Colin Gaynor, Sean Cherry, Kurt Courtney, and Lauren Vieira. Reach out with us any questions to be asked and answer on the show. You can email us at fly on the wall at odyssey.com. That's A-U-D-A-C-Y-I-I-com.