- Follow up on Evan's question,
which I was going to ask,

when did you know
you could actually

make a living as an actor?

- [Host] Where was the point

at which you knew,
"I can do this?"

- I didn't know, actually.

You never know.

At some point...
- [Host] You don't know now?

- In the arts, well you have
to make a leap of faith.

- [Bearded Man] Right.

- But when I did that,
I was 22 years old.

I was stuck on the Blue
Ridge Parkway of Virginia,

on a motorcycle.

It was pouring rain.

For six days I was in
this little picnic area.

Felt kind of trapped, and I
was reading a play at the time,

and I had this epiphany.

That I should attempt to try
to do something that I love,

and hopefully become good at.

As opposed to
focusing on something

I am good at, but didn't love.

So once I accepted that,

I was all in.

- [Host] Yeah.

- And if that meant living
with three other actors,

at my age now, then
that's what it means.

- [Host] Yeah.
[faint laughter]

- [Host] Good.
- I was willing to do that.

And I would encourage
that with any

young person.

Or less than young person,
(audience laughter)

Perhaps.

- Not that he's
speaking of anybody

in particular.
- [Bryan] Yes.

- Who is interested in
a career in the arts.

Is that you can't
dip your toe in,

you have to be all in.

- [Host] All in. Very good.

Sir.
- [Bryan] Thank you.

- Is it safe to say you that you

have watched Better Call Saul?

And how different is that?

Do you watch it from the
Walter White perspective,

or from just a viewer like me?

- Just like you.

I love the show.

- [Host] Right.
Odenkirk is so great.

- It's great. It's so good.

It has that familiarity

of the milieu of Breaking Bad,

and yet it's
completely different.

Except there are characters
that are the same.

So now it's been,

it's been over almost,

it's been just a
little over three years

since we stopped
shooting Breaking Bad.

And so now I'm slowly
getting a very good

objective viewpoint
of it and I'm able

to watch it and just
enjoy it that way.

- Have you read the news reports

that they're going to bring Gus
Fring back for that program?

- They are?

Oh, I didn't know.

- They're gonna Jon Snow us,

is that what they're gonna do?

(audience laughter)
- Really?

I don't know.

When I see Vince,

I say, "Don't say anything.

"Don't tell me anything.

"I don't want to hear anything.

- [Host] Somebody's
talking apparently.

- "I don't want to
hear anything, I just
want to be a fan."

- [Host] Alright. Sir.

- [Bryan] Hi.
- Hi.

In the development and growth

of your character Walter White,

did you live

or hangout amongst

the riffraff type
characters to grow that?

- Tell us about our
meth dealer friends,

(audience laughter)
that's what the question is.

- No.

(audience laughter)

Because, primarily because
that's not who Walter White was.

So, I didn't do research
on the particular cancer,

the lung cancer he had.

I didn't do a particular
research on that underworld,

that street-level drug dealing.

Because he didn't know that.

- [Host] Yep.

- And I thought over time
I would have the time

to learn it just as
Walter was learning it.

So what I did, go
back and I did a lot

of research on just
basic chemistry.

I went back to the University
of Southern California

and walked around, and
was like a shadow to them.

- [Host] Yeah.

- Just learning the
fascination of chemistry

and now it is fascinating to me.

- If we asked you about
the periodic table now.

- Well, now it's been
a few years again.

- [Host] Yeah,
it's a good answer.

Good answer, good.

Excellent. Sir.

- I really appreciate
what you said

about not sitting in
judgement of your character.

'Cause that's a lesson
I learned the hard way.

So when you play characters

who do objectively
terrible things

that affect other
people's lives,

how do you not allow
yourself to judge them?

- Well it's hard to speak

general terms for
probably a specific thing

your character you're
thinking about.

But, justification.

You find why something
was necessary to do.

Or, if you can't
find a justification,

you can at least go back
and write a backstory

to your character
that then would

justifiably

lead you up to why your
character would commit an act

that seems egregious,

- [Man] Yeah.

at that time.

- [Man] Yeah.
- So that's your job.

You go, "Okay, how can I

"beat this baby
seal with a club?

"How in the world do I...?"
- [Host] Right, right, right.

- So, okay, go back and
figure out what were

the twists and turns of
that character's life

that lead him to that.

And at least you can justify it

as far as your actions
within yourself.

- [Man] Thank you.

- That was a Tim Whatley
question, wasn't it?

- Look at this.

- From Seinfeld, I'm sure.
- [Bryan] Wow wow.

- It's hard to let go.

- [Bryan] Heisenberg Empire.

(Man laughs)
- [Host] Wow.

- [Host] What do you got?
- Do you see that?

Put that on camera.

Look at that.
- [Host] It's a great shirt.

- [Host] Yes, indeed.

- Regarding The Infiltrator
and the role of Robert Mazur,

what resonated with you
about that role specifically?

- Thank you.

He's like helping me
promote another movie.

(audience laughter)

The Infiltrator
comes out in July.

It's about an
undercover policeman.

I finally get to
play a policeman.

- After all these.
- [Bryan] Yeah yeah.

- look at that, after
all these years.

- And he was

in customs,

U.S. Customs.

And at the time he brought down

the seventh largest
bank in the world, BCCI.

Remember BCCI?
- [Host] Yeah, of course.

- Back in the 80's. Yeah?

And also had thirty-five arrests

of drug cartel members
in one fell swoop.

And it really happened.

It was a deep undercover
- [Host] Right.

- project and it was great.

So that comes out,
and I get to play

a good guy for a change.

- [Host] Fun.
- Yeah.

- [Host] Good.
- Thank you.

- Sir.

- I heard through a
questionable source

that at one point you
worked as a carny.

Did any of your skills
at that time translate

to acting or did you use any?

- The premise accurate?

Were you a carny at one point?

- Well, I want to know who
your questionable source is.

(audience laughter)

Actually it's true.

It's true, I did work in
a carnival a few times.

Back when I was twelve
or thirteen years old.

'Member when, those of
us who are of that age?

You can actually find a job

and they didn't have
this litigious society
that we do now.

So I worked in what
they call the joints,

which are the booths,
where you're throwing darts

or pitching a dime or
whatever that sort of thing.

And a thing called slaw,

which is when you
break down the rides

when they're done for
that day and they go off.

Yeah, it's an
interesting subculture.

And certainly something
that you could learn from

from an acting standpoint.

I tell actors all the time,

there's no reason in the
world you should be bored.

If you're bored, you're
not doing your work.

- [Host] Right.

- You know you should
go to restaurants,

and airports, and emergency
rooms, and all these things.

And watch human behavior,
so that you can replicate.

You file it away like
a filing cabinet.

In your mind and you're
- [Host] It's called research.

- you're able to pull it out.

Yeah.

- Good question.
Good premise too.

Good source.

(audience laughter)

- Albeit questionable.

- Albeit questionable. Sir.

- Is there any story
from working on
Seinfeld in particular

that you really remember that
you want to share with us?

Maybe an uncomfortable
moment with Larry David.

- [Host] Speaking of TV.
- An uncomfortable moment?

- Speaking of TV shows
that changed television.

- [Host] Right?
- Yeah.

- I was fortunate, I
played Tim Whatley,

the dentist on Seinfeld.

I'll give you one story that

really resonated with me.

We were doing a scene.

There was one episode
where Jerry didn't know

if I was molesting him or not.

(audience laughter)

(Man laughs)

(loud laughter)

(faint applause)

So he was abject and I
had a very attractive

dental hygienist and he
didn't like that whole thing.

And so, I asked for
the Nitrous Oxide

and he goes out,

and then when he wakes up
his shirt is un-tucked.

(audience laughter)

And then he says,

"I don't know if I was
tucked or un-tucked."

(man laughs)
(audience laughs)

- [Host] Good. Good.

- So we rehearsed
the scene, fine.

And everybody left and I
stayed in my dental office

because I wanted to get
comfortable with the tools

and the feeling of the
stool and moving things.

And, the more comfortable
you are as an actor,

the better you perform.

So, I'm sitting, I'm
doing a couple of things

and I hear this guy say,

"Hey, you know what
would be funny?"

And I look around
and on a ladder,

adjusting a light,

is an electrician.

And I went, "What?"

And he goes,

"It'd be funny if you took
a hit of the Nitrous Oxide

"before you gave it to Jerry."

(audience laughter)

And I said, "I
think you're right."

(audience laughter)

So it comes to the
dress rehearsal,

and sure enough I say,
"Nurse the Nitrogen Oxide?"

And she hands me
the mask and I go,

(hissing air)

"That's good."

(audience laughter)

And I gave it to Jerry,

and Jerry falls off the chair

he's laughing so hard.
- [Host] Oh my.

And Larry David says,

"That's in the show.

"I love it!

"I love it!

"I love it!"

And I said,

"He gave it to me."

He's not on a ladder anymore
and he was like, "Yeah."

So, again, it's like
it doesn't matter

where a good idea comes from.

It stayed in the show.

If you see that rerun,
that's in the show.

- [Host] That's hilarious.

- It wasn't written,
it wasn't my idea.

- I think we have time for
one more, is that right?

- [Voiceover] We have
about one minute.

- [Bryan] One minute.
- One minute.

- Last one, quick
one, I'm sorry.

- Alright.

Hi there.

Something I was very
surprised at watching

the documentaries
about Breaking Bad

is that there's kind of
this overall culture,

I guess, of excellence.

It wasn't just you, and
it wasn't just Vince,

but to the cameraman there
was this enormous investment.

Just how important
do you think that is

to creating really
just great artwork?

- Oh, it's vital.

- [Host] Everybody be bought in.

- Everybody, everybody has to.

If incrementally everybody
worked five percent better,

a show would improve measurably.

- [Host] Yeah.

- So it's up to those
of us who lead the cast,

and I was one of the
producers as well.

The director of
photography leads the crew.

Our writer leads.

So all the producers,

we knew that what
we wanted to create

was a culture of respect
to the crew and cast.

That we expected them
to do their work.

We can have fun doing it,
- [Host] Yeah.

- and then let's all go home.

We had six years in New
Mexico of shooting that show.

And every crew member
kept coming by,

dropping off resumes wanting
to be part of our show.

Why?

Because we had a great time.

Every year, Aaron Paul and I
would host a bowling party.

(audience chuckles)

We would book out an
entire bowling alley

and we'd have it on
a Sunday afternoon.

It was open to
every crew member,

and cast member
and their families.

"Bring the kids,
everybody come!"

So you're not spending another
day away from your family,

you're actually including them.

- [Host] Yeah.

And that kind of a thing
was not only fun to do,

and as thank you to the
crew that worked hard,

but it also started helping
us to bond really tightly.

And we still keep in touch
with a lot of those people.

- Well, that's another emblem
of your fundamental decency.

I think that's
actually a great thing.

- His?

- No, yours.
- [Bryan] Oh.

(audience laughter)
- [Host] I mean, he's

I will say, he seems nice.

- [Bryan] He looks
fundamentally decent.

- [Host] But I'm
thinking of you.

(audience laughter)

- [Host] We're out of time.

It's a great place to end.

But thank you so much

- Thank you, thank you.
- [Host] for your generosity.

(audience applause)

- Bryan Cranston!

- [Bryan] Thank you.
- Thank you all for coming.

We're gonna let him get out.
- [Bryan] Thank you.

- If you would just stay
until we get him outta here.

- [Bryan] Thank you!

(audience cheers)