If "Breaking Bad" fans think the often-violent tale of a terminally-ill-teacher-turned-meth-cooking-kingpin can't get any darker, they’re wrong. According to Bryan Cranston, the man behind anti-hero Walter White, there’s no limit to how low things can go.
“It can go darker and darker," he assured TODAY viewers during a Tuesday morning visit to the Plaza.
And that's saying something, since it's already so dark the actor's own wife won't watch the show at night for fear of nightmares. Still, he doesn’t think that potentially-endless pit of darkness is limited to the realm of TV fiction. White’s life could be anyone’s path, as far as he’s concerned.
“I think every human being … is capable of being really dangerous given the right set of circumstances,” three-time Emmy winner Cranston explained to TODAY’s Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker. “I’m serious! You’re looking at me dubiously, but I’m telling you, in doing this show, I’ve realized how dark the pendulum can swing.”
And in the case of White, that swing reached complete corruption, from desperation-fueled crime to crime for its own ends. But even in that, Cranston understands and almost sympathizes with his character, insisting he’s simply been “seduced by what’s possible in life.”
What’s possible for White from here? The upcoming fifth and final season of “Breaking Bad” will soon answer that question, but the story could go on beyond that. Should White survive the series finale, Cranston hopes to take the story to the big screen. But he admitted that, for now, “I don’t know how it’s going to end up."
The season premiere of “Breaking Bad” airs Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET on AMC.
What do you hope to see in the final season of the show -- redemption or more darkness? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
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