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Some Of The Crazy Stuff Bryan Cranston Got Up To Before Acting

Some Of The Crazy Stuff Bryan Cranston Got Up To Before Acting

On his 61st birthday.

Josh Teal

Josh Teal

Bryan Cranston, the mic-dropping, meth-selling legend of the small screen, is 61 today.

A bit of a late-bloomer to the renown celebrity he enjoys (we assume. The guy might hate it) today, Cranston came to the public's attention playing Hal on Malcolm in the Middle from 2000 to 2006, before going worldwide with his role as the malleable chemistry teacher turned drug baron Walter White in Breaking Bad in 2008.

Similar to other late-starters Samuel L. Jackson and Ricky Gervais, Cranston only exists to us in his older self. But of course he had a life before acting, before fame. For example...

DID YOU KNOW BRYAN CRANSTON MET CHARLES MANSON?

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Cranston admitted in a 2015 interview for The Nerdist Podcast that he and a cousin ran into Charles Manson at the Spahn Ranch in California while horseback riding.

The meeting was apparently one year prior to the 'Manson Family' killing of five people at the house of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski which included Tate herself.

HE ONCE FANTASISED ABOUT KILLING HIS EX WIFE. YOU KNOW WHAT? DON'T HOLD ME TO THAT.

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The capitalised bold headline is a bit much. Makes it sound like the guy's a loose cannon still capable of blueprinting murder in his own mind. It's also doesn't scream 'Happy Birthday, Bryan!' but let's not lose track.

By all accounts, Cranston's first marriage to writer Mickey Middleton from 1977 to 1982 wasn't exactly made in heaven.

In an interview with GQ, he revealed: "What happened to Walt is something I related to, if I'm truly honest with myself. I've come to realise that I think everybody is capable of that.

"If you came into a condition where you were under tremendous stress. And if I knew what buttons to push that threatened you and yours... you could become an extremely dangerous person. I had one girlfriend I wanted to kill."

In a separate chat with Rolling Stone, Cranston also revealed that he didn't believe in soulmates, saying: "I don't believe there's just one person for you. And quite frankly, love among adults is conditional. 'We're in love, right now. Oops, you killed someone? Okay, wait a minute, that's kind of a problem for me.' It's all conditional."

BRYAN CRANSTON WAS A MURDER SUSPECT

Video: This Morning/ITV

Again, drastic I know. This shocked all of us last October when on This Morning, Cranston admitted to once being accused of killing a man.

"[My brother and I] were broke and travelling around the country on motorcycles. We got jobs as waiters in this Polynesian restaurant."

"The chef there, Peter Wong, was this horrible person, he hated everyone.

"When the waiters got together before a shift we'd all talk about how we'd kill Peter Wong.

"I'd chop him up and cook him in his wok. We were just goofing around, but someone there wasn't goofing."

After he left the restaurant, "someone actually did kill Peter Wong and dumped his body in the back of a trunk."

"So they put out [wanted posters] for the Cranston boys... They made us [sound] a little bad."

Not to worry, police eventually caught the real killers.

BRYAN CRANSTON MADE DATING VIDEOS

Video: The Graham Norton Show/BBC

It could be said that Cranston created Tinder. It could be said that inspired to better themselves in all aspects of life in order to be appealing to women. It could also be said that he murdered Peter Wong (he didn't).

On The Graham Norton Show last month, Cranston delighted fellow guests Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne with his recollection of working for a company called Great Expectations, which filmed interviews with young, eager, single men.

He revealed that he would calm down the often-uptight interviewees by telling them a joke and getting them to just generally loosen up and not come across as flight risks.

Luckily, Norton's team dug deep and found one of Great Expectation's productions which gave an idea of just how bad they were.

The three actors then performed their own profile auditions for a dating video, much to the hilarity of the audience.

A nice example of Bryan Cranston being able to balance the serious and the silly.

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Here's to you, lad.

Featured Image Credit: NerdHQ/YouTube

Topics: Bryan Cranston