Bryan Cranston On 'Breaking Bad' And Intimidation

Cranston Explains Walt's Intimidation Factor On 'Breaking Bad'
This image released by AMC shows Bryan Cranston as Walter White, left, and Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in a scene from the season 5 premiere of "Breaking Bad." The program was nominated for an Emmy award for outstanding drama series on Thursday, July 19, 2012. The 64th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Sept. 23 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and airing live on ABC. (AP Photo/AMC, Ursula Coyote)
This image released by AMC shows Bryan Cranston as Walter White, left, and Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in a scene from the season 5 premiere of "Breaking Bad." The program was nominated for an Emmy award for outstanding drama series on Thursday, July 19, 2012. The 64th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Sept. 23 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and airing live on ABC. (AP Photo/AMC, Ursula Coyote)

At this point in "Breaking Bad," you definitely wouldn't want to meet Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in a dark alley.

What exactly makes him so scary? Cranston claims it's his voice.

"You know, it's great to see how much you can intimidate just by lowering your voice," he told Rolling Stone. "And it's like, mostly people back off."

Cranston may have gotten a bit of voice inspiration years from his teenage years, as it turns out: The actor was once on the fast track to becoming a police officer.

"I joined [The Law Enforcement Explorers]. I went to the Police Academy. West Valley Division LAPD was the sponsor, and I did well," he revealed on Sundance's "The Mortified Sessions." "I graduated first in my class out of 111 cadets. And so from that experience I thought, 'Oh, so I guess I'm going to be a policeman,'"

"Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan seems to have a knack for casting the law enforcement types. Dean Norris, who plays Hank on the AMC series noted that he's always playing some kind of officer.

"Well, you know, if you stop in any doughnut shop, and you see three cops eating doughnuts, one of them is gonna look like me. I don't know why that is," Norris said on NPR's Fresh Air. "But I guess you have a certain look, it's kind of an authoritative law enforcement-type look, and that look is certainly the first thing that people cast you with before you get a chance to do some acting."

Breaking Bad airs on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on AMC.

Dean Norris as Hank Schrader

Breaking Bad Season 5 Gallery Images

Before You Go

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot