By now, Bryan Cranston (Los Angeles, 64) may only be concerned with making the world a little better.
That tranquility will probably be achieved by already becoming a world star, thanks to
Breaking Bad,
after a life of ups and downs at work.
Today they do not seem to eat away at the paths of his career, nor does he calibrate his next project to the extreme.
That is why in March he did not mind being placed in the public background again when he was diagnosed with coronavirus.
After Tom Hanks recounted his case, he thought there was no need for another famous person talking about the disease, so he shyly shut himself up with his wife.
Cranston was also trying to make the world a little better by embarking on
The Magnificent Ivan
, a family film released by Disney + on September 11 after ruling out its theatrical release due to the pandemic: “Precisely now that we feel restricted in our movements and freedoms , this movie should raise a question in children: why do we have zoos?
Is it the right thing to have animals in cages?
I like to ask these questions while doing pure entertainment, although we do not seek to answer them.
It is important that families consider it, ”he tells EL PAÍS by videoconference from his home in Los Angeles, which he turned into a clinic while he and his wife suffered from covid and which is now a television studio to promote it
.
Disney + bet exceeds expectations
Bryan Cranston triumphs in London
"Disney is a cultural Chernobyl": when Mickey Mouse was greeted with eggs and flour
"It's a crazy story, and we pass the fancy filter on it."
This is how Cranston describes this story directed by Thea Sharrock and written by Mike White (
School of Rock
) where animals speak and rebel, but whose origin is a real event.
Iván was a primate who lived 27 years locked in the backstage of a shabby shopping center
,
where he was one more piece of leisure for visitors, next to shops or
arcades
.
Cranston is the owner of the animals, affectionate and fatherly, but at the same time captor.
A
Tiger King
sweetened for Disney.
“I am comfortable only with flawed characters.
It is not a single thing.
I like that he rethinks everything, and that he seeks a better life ”.
Cranston hadn't been working on a Disney family movie since he was a pseudo Santa Claus in 2001 in the TV movie
Save Christmas
.
Today it is already a visible face of the promotion, despite not being the first name of the poster.
That honor goes to the animals, who in the original are voiced by Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie or Danny DeVito.
"I have been an actor for 41 years, many times in theater, and I always apply imagination and impressionistic ideas to my performances, so it was not difficult to shoot with men dressed as animals and a green background," he says before stressing the importance of not using any animal on set: “Circuses were always in my life, and it wasn't until 20 years ago that I thought it was unethical to put animals in that position.
That persists in society, and we must reflect, ”he explains.
View this post on Instagram
Hi.
About now you're probably feeling a little tied down, restricting your mobility and like me, you're tired of this !!
Well, I just want to encourage you to have a little more patience.
I was pretty strict in adhering to the protocols and still ... I contracted the virus.
Yep.
it sounds daunting now that over 150,000 Americans are dead because of it.
I was one of the lucky ones.
Mild symptoms.
I count my blessings and urge you to keep wearing the damn mask, keep washing your hands, and stay socially distant.
We can prevail - but ONLY if we follow the rules together.
Be well - Stay well.
BC
A post shared by Bryan Cranston (@bryancranston) on Jul 30, 2020 at 9:32 am PDT
But right now his speech is focused on another fight: raising awareness about the coronavirus.
“It is the most extraordinary year of our life and we have to be strong.
The important thing is respect, be sensible.
The good thing is that we are adaptable.
I can't stop recommending the same thing: put on your mask, keep social distance, wash your hands ... ”, exclaims the actor who also spent part of the confinement on television for many, due to his participation in
Contagion
by Steven Soderbergh, who anticipated part of the protocols.
The covid did not attack him very virulently.
He and his wife were tired for a week, with a dry cough and itchy bodies.
But no fever.
When he came out of the confinement, what he knew was that he had to help, so he asked Tom Hanks where he had donated plasma, so that they could investigate his antibodies.
He recorded the process and uploaded it to his networks.
One of his most active cries is to make health care in the US affordable, a social stalemate that already suffered his Walter White, from
Breaking Bad
: “I am proud of my country, but for that reason it is understood that we have to be honest about our mistakes .
In addition to our complicated racial history, we should look at countries like France or Spain and ask ourselves questions.
You have to worry about citizens and be clear that public health should be a right, not a privilege of the rich.
I hope that one day we will be able to understand that simple concept to make a transition that seems impossible.
It is the human, the obvious, but here they still don't understand it.
People come first ”.
The magnificent Ivan is
already adapting to the covid times.
The tape of the few non -
Disney franchise calendar, would have been released in theaters in August,
but has ended up
accompanying
a
Mulan
, Artemis Fowl
and
Hamilton
to Disney +
.
“Luckily the TVs at home are better than ever, and families need this entertainment.
But we can never replace a simultaneous reaction, a laugh with strangers, a scream of terror ... That joint goose bumps are not duplicated at home.
I want to go back to see blockbusters like
Star Wars
, but also more intimate films.
The public should not forget to go see small plays.
Although to return we need to know how we will fight it when it happens again, because it will happen again, and here people still do not wear a mask ", he insists, worried but hopeful:" especially in 2020 it is important that the world have happy movies like this one ".
From Heisenberg to Disney, and back
Today it may come as a surprise to see the famous Walter White in a family movie, but in reality it is only a logical step in a career whose only constant is work.
That was at least until he found his first recognizable role, already over 40, as Malcolm's father, now also owned by Disney.
Before and after, he has faced the work of an actor without complexes: he tried to be a stand-up comedian, he dubbed the Power Rangers, he repeated with three characters in A Murder Has Been Wrote, he directed a movie for his wife, he was nominated for an Oscar as Dalton. Trumbo, starred in Network on stage and now opens the possibility to play Heisenberg for the third time in Better Call Saul: “They are writing the sixth season.
If they call me, I'll be there ”, he anticipates.