Bryan Cranston has revealed his plans to take a career break in a new interview.
The Breaking Bad star, 70, said he wants to “change the paradigm” with his wife, former actor Robin Dearden, 69.
“For the last 24 years, Robin has led her life holding onto my tail,” Cranston told British GQ.
“She’s been the plus one, she’s been the wife of a celebrity. She’s had to pivot and adjust her life based on mine. She has tremendous benefit from it, but we’re uneven. I want to level that out. She deserves it.”
In order to do so, Cranston said he plans to stop acting (for a while, at least), shut down his production company and sell his half of Dos Hombres, the mezcal company he co-founded with his Breaking Bad co-star Aaron Paul.
He expressed his desire to abscond to France for at least six months and live in a small village, cooking, gardening and spending time with his wife of 34 years.
“I want to have that experience,” Cranston said. “I want to go for day trips and have the fire in the fireplace and drink wine with new friends and not read scripts. It’s not going to be like, ‘Oh, I’ll read and see what I’m going to do.’ No, it’s a pause. It’s a stop. I won’t be thinking about [work]. I’m not going to be taking phone calls.”
He added of the planned hiatus: “It’s about taking a chance. I’m used to that feeling – of not knowing.”
Cranston’s comments come after Spider-Man star Tom Holland said he also hoped to take a break from acting after his latest role “broke” him.
In an interview with The Independent in February this year, Cranston spoke about the importance of a work-life balance.
“Acting feels tentative,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like it’s foundationally structured to last long.”
He explained that the most important thing was to “make sure your personal life is as sane and as structured as possible. If you have that, then in your creative life you can go anywhere, because there is this invisible tether back down to sanity.”
Cranston currently stars in and produces Your Honor, in which he plays Michael Desiato, a morally upright New Orleans judge whose son kills the son of a crime boss in a hit-and-run.
Your Honor season two is streaming now on Paramount Plus.
