Bryan Cranston is more like Walter White than he wants to admit. In the August issue of GQ, the 57-year-old actor reveals how he relates to his character on Breaking Bad, and recalls a very scary time in his life when he fantasized about brutally murdering his ex-girlfriend.
“What happened to Walt is something I related to, if I’m truly honest with myself. I’ve come to realize that I think everybody is capable of that,” Cranston says. (On Breaking Bad, the Emmy winner plays Walter White, a morally compromised chemistry teacher who turns to making and selling crystal meth to provide for his family after initially being diagnosed with terminal cancer.) “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.”
That being said, the former Malcolm in the Middle star does believe in evil and says he’s experienced it himself. “I had one girlfriend I wanted to kill,” he admits.
GQ reports that the ex-girlfriend was a woman Cranston dated after his first marriage to writer Mickey Middleton ended in 1982, and before he married current wife Robin Dearden in 1989. The woman was reportedly a drug addict who stalked the actor and left him threatening messages in which she taunted, “I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna cut your b—- off. I’m gonna have your d— sawed off.”
When the woman showed up at his NYC apartment, Cranston says he nearly lost it.
“I envisioned myself killing her. It was so clear. My apartment had a brick wall on one side, and I envisioned opening the door, grabbing her by the hair, dragging her inside, and shoving her head into that brick wall until brain matter was dripping down the sides of it,” he admits. “Then I shuddered and realized how clearly I saw that happening. And I called the police because I was so afraid. I was temporarily insane — capable of doing tremendous damage to her and to myself.”
Breaking Bad‘s final season premieres on AMC Aug. 11.
