Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - Bryan Cranston Almost Lost Everything

Episode Date: April 17, 2026

Bryan Cranston was once wanted for murder. And this could have ended his acting career before it had a chance to start.

Did you know that Brian Cranston, the actor, was once wanted for murder? This is a true story. So this all starts with, of course, Brian, who you know from Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the middle and a bunch of other stuff. And so Brian, he's around 20 years old when this story starts and he's living in Los Angeles. And it's 1976, so he looks like this during this time. But most importantly, Brian wants to be a successful actor. The problem is, as you know, a lot of actors sort of. struggle to pay their bills. In fact, Brian's dad also had a dream of being an actor, but he couldn't

get enough work to support his family. So he essentially failed as an actor, and that led him to drink all the time until he developed a massive drinking problem. And it got so bad that when Brian was just a kid, his dad abandoned him and his family, causing them to lose everything, including their home. And this messed up Brian's whole childhood. So, even though Brian wants to act, he's terrified of failing like his dad did, and that fear causes him to feel really lost in life. So one day, he gets an idea. Why not go on a big motorcycle trip?

I mean, he can explore the whole country, and during that time, he can maybe figure out what the hell he's going to do with his life. So Brian goes to his brother, who we'll call brother. And so Brian asked brother to go with him on this trip, and brother's like, All right. So Brian and his brother get on their motorcycles and they head out across the country. And they have a great time doing this.

However, they're broke. Like really broke. So they sleep in shelters or in churches and sometimes on just random lawns outside. And every time they run out of money, which is all the time, they stop in whatever town they're in and they pick up an odd job. Like they wash dishes or bus tables or whatever helps them get enough money. for gas to get to the next place. So at one point on their trip, they stopped in Daytona Beach, Florida,

where they get jobs as waiters at a Polynesian-themed restaurant called the Hawaiian Inn. And that is when they meet their new boss. This guy, Mr. Wong. And Mr. Wong, he's the head chef of this place, and he's apparently a real d-a-old... Like, any time Brian does something remotely wrong at this job, Mr. Wong will scream at him,

loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear, humiliating him in front of the other waiters and even the customers. And if like the kitchen gets an order wrong, he'll scream at the entire wait staff, even if it's the kitchen's fault. He's just a super angry dude who makes all their lives miserable. So pretty much everyone working there despises him. Now eventually, Brian vents his frustrations and he starts talking to the other waiters about Mr. Wong. And one of those other waiters is like, I can't believe what a jerk he is. And Brian's like, ha ha, yeah, maybe we should kill him. And they even start talking about all the creative ways they'd like to dispose of Mr. Wong. And like Brian jokes like, oh, we could slice him up and make a stir fry. And someone's probably like,

oh, we could roast him up like a Hawaiian pig. And you know, they're just, they're just waiters having fun blowing off some steam or whatever. But what Brian doesn't know is that there are actually people out there who really do want Mr. Wong dead. Because here's the thing about Mr. Wong. The man has two weaknesses, gambling and women. And he has this thing where he likes to go gambling with huge stacks of cash and he'll like flaunt them around to impress the women, I guess. And so one day, around this time, Mr. Wong goes to the local dog track to gamble.

And he's got a big wad of cash with him. And he's like waving it around while he places his bed. just being a real show-off. And that is when he catches the eye of a woman there. And this woman marks him as a target for a honey trap. Because, you know, she's about to rob him. So the woman goes up to him, and she starts flirting with him. Like, hey, nice to meet you, Mr. Wong.

Do you want to come back to my place and smash? And of course, Mr. Wong does. So they go back to her place. And while they're there, Wong, he's all distracted. And suddenly, someone sneaks up behind him and phow hits him in the head with a blunt object, and this knocks him out. Then they take all his cash and they throw him into the trunk of an abandoned car and they leave him there. And as far as anyone at the restaurant knows, Mr. Wong has disappeared.

Now, right around this same time, Brian and his brother, they decide it's time to move on from the Hawaiian Inn and continue on with their road trip. So they get on their motorcycles and they leave town. A few days later, police discover Mr. Wong inside the trunk of that car, and he is unfortunately dead, and so they start investigating. And their investigation eventually leads them to the Hawaiian Inn, where they start questioning the wait staff. And they're like, is there anyone working here who dislikes Mr. Wong? And the staff's like, yeah, pretty much everyone.

And police are like, is there anyone working here who would want to harm Mr. Wong? And the staff's like, yeah, pretty much everyone. Then they break the news to them. They tell them that Mr. Wong has been murdered. And the staff is like, oh, shit. Then police ask them a crucial question. Is there anyone who was working here who recently left? And one of the staff says, yeah, Brian Cranston.

He just skipped town last week. And police are like, oh, snap, that perfectly aligns with Mr. Wong's estimated time of death. And so then the staff tell police, Brian said he was going to chop Mr. Wong up and put him in the stir fry. And so suddenly, boom, Brian becomes the number one suspect in Wong's murder. And police, they get a full description of him and his brother and their motorcycles and the details of where they're headed to. And they like put out an APB alerting every cop in the region to be on the lookout for two dangerous men on motorcycles. Now, by this point, Brian and his brother, they're long gone. They're somewhere in the Carolinas, cruising along, and they have absolutely no idea that they're wanted for murder back in Florida.

And pretty quickly, police are actively pursuing them. And if they find them, this could actually ruin Brian's acting career before he even gets started. Imagine a few jokes about a boss that he hated ended up destroying his whole life. And then we'd like never get Malcolm in the middle as we know it, breaking bad as we know it. Until until local police in Daytona Beach

look into this further. And they find out that Mr. Wong was actually at the dog track that day. And they're able to look at some surveillance footage of the place. And in some of that footage, they see Mr. Wong leaving the track with that woman he met and they realize

right away that this was a honey trap. And so they start looking at suspects other than Brian. A few months later, Brian and his brother, they come back to Daytona Beach, and they're looking for work again. And so they stopped by the Hawaiian Inn.

And Brian, he sees his old waiter friends, and he's like, hey guys, what's up? And they're all shocked to see him like, dude, did the cops ever catch you? And Brian's like, what? And they're like, you didn't know that you were wanted for murder? Now, eventually, the police do find the real killer, and bam, he's arrested.

And this guy ends up taking a plea deal and he's sent to prison and later he's actually murdered while he's in prison. Meanwhile, Brian decides to not let the fear of failing like his father did stop him. And he takes the risk to follow his dream of becoming an actor and he pursues it full time. And of course, as you know, he goes on to star in arguably the best TV series of all time.