I’m Sorry, But Bryan Cranston Doesn’t Need The Next Breaking Bad

Bryan Cranston reached an all-time high when he played Walter White in Breaking Bad, but I don’t think he needs to try to replace his best show. Bryan Cranston has experienced nearly universal acclaim and recognition for playing Walter White on Breaking Bad. His performance is often cited as one of the best in television history, and his portrayal of the chemistry genius turned meth dealer is a piece of pop culture history. While he was absolutely fantastic in Breaking Bad, the show has also unfortunately cast a shadow over his acting career.

For years, people have been wondering what new project could be Cranston’s replacement for Breaking Bad. Every time he’s announced to star in a gritty, dark drama, people compare his character to Walter White and the show or movie to Breaking Bad. Quite a few of his recent projects since 2013, from The Infiltrator to Your Honor, have experienced the same comparisons. While it’s certainly understandable that everyone wants to know how Bryan Cranston will top his performance as Walter White, given it was the best shows of Cranston’s career, I don’t think he should try to replicate Breaking Bad.

I Want To See Bryan Cranston In More Diverse Roles, Not The Next Breaking Bad

While seeing another show that’s the same caliber as Breaking Bad is an extremely exciting prospect, I think I’d rather see Bryan Cranston in something else entirely. Cranston is easily one of the best working actors in Hollywood, and I would hate to see him get typecast as a brilliant but angry anti-hero. Instead of trying to find a replacement for Breaking Bad, I think Cranston should show everyone why he doesn’t need a replacement at all. The fact of the matter is that Bryan Cranston doesn’t need to do another crime drama like Breaking Bad to be successful.

I think a much more exciting direction Bryan Cranston could take in his future projects would be to do something new. He has a chance to make something truly creative and innovative, and I believe his career would benefit a lot more by branching out. I can’t even imagine how amazing his next show could be if Cranston brought the skills he displayed in Breaking Bad to a new and unexpected genre. He could do for another genre what Walter White did for crime dramas: revolutionize it. One of Cranston’s shows from before Breaking Bad proves how much range he has and how capable he is.

Malcolm In The Middle Proved Bryan Cranston Can Tackle Vastly Different Roles

For years before he became Walter White, Bryan Cranston was known for an entirely different kind of acting. Cranston was mostly known for his comedic roles, such as the dentist Tim Whatley on Seinfeld, and more importantly, as Hal on the long-running sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. In fact, Cranston was so well-known as a comedian that it was strange to see him in a drama like Breaking Bad, even though he’s now known for playing the meth-dealing Heisenberg. To this day, Malcolm in the Middle stands as proof that Bryan Cranston can handle a wide range of roles.

Cranston’s previous shows are proof that he can be light, airy, goofy, and funny, like Hal in Malcolm in the Middle, or he can be dark, brooding, enraged, and methodical, like Walter in Breaking Bad. Comedy and drama are already the two extremes of the acting spectrum, so Cranston has already proven that he can handle anything in between them. His more recent work has also confirmed what Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad already established: Cranston handled a much drier brand of humor in Asteroid City, and he was great as a more family-friendly villain in Argylle.

Competing With Breaking Bad’s Legacy Is An Impossible Task

Another big reason I don’t think Bryan Cranston should be searching for a Breaking Bad replacement is because he simply can’t replace it. Breaking Bad will go down as one of the best television shows of all time, and almost certainly as the second-best crime show ever, following only The Sopranos. It seems incredibly unlikely that anything will surpass Breaking Bad‘s legacy, and far less likely that another of Cranston’s projects could compete with it in the same genre. Instead of trying to replicate the irreplaceable series, I know Cranston’s acting talents would be put to better use in a different kind of show or movie.

Breaking Bad was already the greatest crime story Bryan Cranston will ever tell, so I think he should branch out and do something else. He’s got the acting skills to tell whatever story he wants, be it horror, sci-fi, romance, or any other genre. Cranston is also one of the few actors who I believe instantly makes a project better just by being involved – even Argylle could have been worse if he wasn’t in the cast. Anything Bryan Cranston does is nearly guaranteed to be great, so he might as well dominate other genres in addition to comedy and drama.