Cranston On The Other Side Of Drug World In New Drama
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Actor Bryan Cranston has done it all.
From his early days as the dentist on 'Seinfeld,' to his multi-year run as the dad on the hit sitcom 'Malcolm in the Middle' to the role that earned him four Emmy's, four SAG wins and a Golden Globe award - that of Walter White on the mega hit HBO series 'Breaking Bad' and even successful stints on Broadway.
CBS4's Lisa Petrillo sat down with Cranston along with his megawatt co-star Benjamin Bratt to talk about his latest movie, 'The Infiltrator.' But, she began with her favorite project of Cranston's - Breaking Bad - and asked how it changed his life.
"Quite literally I wouldn't be sitting in this chair right now if it weren't for 'Breaking Bad.' It changed my life completely. After seven years of playing a silly, fun dad on a situation comedy and then to go to that, it was a great gift. I don't take it for granted at all. It was a lucky break for me and I'm riding it as long as I can," Cranston said.
In 'The Infiltrator' Cranston plays Robert Mazur - a real life federal undercover drug agent whose job it was to infiltrate Pablo Escobar's drug trafficking world that was plaguing the nation. To do so, he poses as Bob Musella, a slick money laundering businessman going head-to-head with the most dangerous criminals in the world. It's a character Bryan knew he had to play.
"How he was able to navigate that life, as this macho character and then come home and be dad and take out the trash and answer questions like, 'how was your day?' To do that life was such a conflict to me. I was fascinated by that aspect, "Cranston said.
Bob befriends Escobar's inner circle and right-hand man, Robert Alcaino, played by Benjamin Bratt and the two, actually become close friends all the while knowing he must take down these criminals in the end.
"The fact that the filmmaker really, truly wanted to bring humanity to both sides of the story, so you're not just rooting for the protagonist. You actually feel conflicted about the human fall out...on the other side of the line Robert Alcaino is a criminal and he should be tried and convicted and yet we see the fallout has to do with his family and other people," Bratt said.
"I think sophisticated audiences that like 'Breaking Bad,' that like the ambiguity of characters are demanding it now of the characters' they watch in film and TV - that no one person is always bad and always good. There's a grey area," Cranston said.
Petrillo asked Cranston,"Is Robert a hero to you ?"
"He is and to our society. He did great work under tremendous stress and pressure and he did tremendous work, "said Cranston.
'The Infiltrator' opens in theaters July 15th.