Steve Zahn insists he never came close to playing Walter White.
During a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Zahn, 58, disputed Bryan Cranston’s claim in his 2016 memoir, “A Life in Parts,” that Zahn was in the running for Cranston’s iconic role in “Breaking Bad.”
“No,” Zahn simply replied when asked about the casting rumor.
When the reporter explained that Cranston himself has put it out there that Zahn was in contention for the role, he responded, “Oh, really!? Cranston is so awesome, but I find that hard to believe. I think Cranston is lying!”
“He’s in London right now doing a play, and I’m shooting in London, so I’m going to go talk to him,” Zahn added.
Along with in his memoir, Cranston claimed Zahn was in the pool of actors to play Walter White in a 2012 Rolling Stone interview.
“Sony and AMC were not convinced I was the guy, because Walter White wasn’t Hal from ‘Malcolm in the Middle,’” Cranston said, adding that he heard Zahn was up for the role instead.
According to the article, Cranston believed he only got the role in the AMC series after he was offered a part as a doctor in a Fox pilot.
“If Steve Zahn did Walter, we’d go, ‘Oh, my God. Steve Zahn is the guy! Can you imagine anybody but Steve Zahn doing it?’” Cranston said. “And you wouldn’t be able to.”
Cranston played the chemistry teacher-turned-drug lord in “Breaking Bad” for five seasons from 2008 to 2013.
His performance, considered one of the best in TV history, earned him four Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
Cranston reprised the role in “El Camino,” Netflix’s 2019 follow-up film to “Breaking Bad” starring Aaron Paul, and in the final season of the prequel series “Better Call Saul” in 2022.
Since “Breaking Bad” ended, Cranston has shared what it would take for him to play Walter White again.
“I thought when I was saying my tearful goodbyes to everybody that that was it,” Cranston told the outlet at the time. “Then ‘El Camino’ came up. ‘Oh, I guess I’m gonna be Walter White again. And then ‘Better Call Saul’ came up, ‘Oh, I guess I’m gonna be on,’ … and then Pop Corners commercial comes up. ‘You guys want to play it together?’ ‘Sure!’ It’s just fun,’” he said during a 2023 interview with Awards Radar.
“So now I’d be a fool to say, ‘Yeah, we’re done,’” he continued, adding that while “nothing’s on the horizon,” he’d return to the beloved role if creator Vince Gilligan had the right pitch.
“If you’re stunned and astonished by something, you should pay attention,” Cranston stated. “So, if that happens, I don’t assume that will — but if that ever did, I’d listen.”
The post Steve Zahn calls out Bryan Cranston over ‘Breaking Bad’ casting claim: He’s ‘lying’ appeared first on New York Post.
