Bryan Cranston Sings Jingle, Talks First Awkward Acting Scene and More on GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE UNSCRIPTED Podcast

By: May. 17, 2017
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Oscar-nominated actor, Golden Globe winner and Tony Award winner Bryan Cranston has now added jingle composer to his repertoire.

The hilarious star joined Geffen Playhouse Unscripted on PodcastOne, the nation's largest advertiser-supported podcast network, this week. He created a new jingle for the network, included below, but not before sharing with host John Horn, a story of female rejection during his first awkward acting scene, the career he might have had as a police officer, working to not fall for the same acting trap as his father, why he considers storytelling his true occupation, and how fear motivates him.

The episode is available now on PodcastOne.com, the PodcastOne app and iTunes.

Listen to the full episode below!


Below, read an excerpt from the interview of Cranston talking about his awkward first acting scene:

Cranston: "So the plan was, go to a junior college for two years, get good grades, then transfer to UCLA, which had an Administration of Justice Major, and then go into the LAPD. Sounds like a good plan. So, the second year of the junior college experience, I took an elective course - acting."

John Horn: "This is how it always happens."

Cranston: "Oh, great! I did this before. Let's - this should be fun. And I happened to be standing, you know, in this crowd of 18 and 19-year olds, and the teacher, on the very first day, handed out, quite by happenstance, wherever you happened to be standing, 'You two read this. You two read this. You two read this.' And I was standing next to a very pretty girl, and we got a scene together, and I looked at it, and it said, 'A couple is making out on a park bench.' And I went, 'Oh, my god.' And I looked over, and she hadn't looked at it yet, so I started to think, 'Oh, now I need to make myself look more attractive,' you know? So I started preening. You know those National Geographic shows, where the birds are like, 'Hey, look at me. I'm a good mate,' and starts wagging your tail feathers. I kind of was posturing, somewhat. And when she did finally look over to me, she didn't grimace, and I took that as a success."

Horn: "And then you got to your scene. You said, 'I think we need to do some more character research here. Let's go off-book. Let's, let's delve into this.'"

Cranston: "The first line was mine and it was, 'Beth, I think we need to talk.' So when the scene started, I'm thinking, 'I'm going to kiss this girl. I hope she's ready for it. Here it comes.' And before I could turn to her, she was on me - hands, tongue, body draping all over me - and also a curious tapping on my upstage thigh. I didn't know what it meant. So we're kissing and fondling each other, and then the tapping again. I thought, 'Maybe this is something she's into,' so I tapped back. But it wasn't.

She tapped a little harder, and then it finally dawned on me she needs for me to start the scene. I have the first line. So I stumbled to - and I - who couldn't memorize, 'Beth, I think we need to talk,' except me at that moment when I didn't remember what I was supposed to say?

So what happened is that I thought, 'I've got an easy date.' At the break, I went up to her and I said, 'I think we should - that was quite good. I thought it turned out okay.' She said, 'Ya, it was a little rough at the beginning.' I said, 'Sorry about that.' She said - I said, 'Do you want to go out for lunch?' And she said - she looked at me like I was a lost puppy, and just said [hesitantly], 'Nnnnnnooo, No.'"


PodcastOne, the nation's leading advertiser-supported podcast network, was founded by Norm Pattiz, founder of radio-giant Westwood One. The network currently hosts more than 200 of today's most popular podcasts, including Adam Carolla, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Austin, Heather and Terry Dubrow, Norman Lear, Dan Patrick, Barstool Sports, Laila Ali, Dr. Drew, Neil Strauss, Gabrielle Reece, Penn Jillette, Eddie Trunk, Ross Mathews, Rich Eisen, Chris Jericho, Jay Mohr, Laura Ingraham, the Forbes on PodcastOne Network and more. Follow Norm on LinkedIn. For more information, visit www.PodcastOne.com.



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