Our first guest tonight is an Oscar-nominated,
Emmy, Golden Globe, and Tony-winning actor
you know from shows like "Breaking Bad"
and "Malcolm in the Middle" and films like "Trumbo."
He now stars in "Your Honor."
The second season finale premieres March 17th
on streaming and On Demand
and airs March 19th on Showtime. Let's take a look.
-I held my son in my arms as he died.
♪♪
-And did you see who shot him?
-Yes.
-And was it the defendant, Eugene Jones?
♪♪
-Yes, it was. -Please welcome back
to the show our friend Bryan Cranston, everybody.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Welcome back! -Thank you. Good to be back.
It's been four years. -It's been four years.
I'm very, very happy to have you here.
-Well, your statute of limitations was up.
-Yeah.
-And the restraining order went away.
-And I can't thank you enough for giving me another chance.
-I -- Well, we'll give it one more chance.
-And what you are doing after the show?
-God! Here it goes again, Seth! Back off!
-Hey, I wanted to ask.
So, this is a wonderful show in its second season.
And a very intense show. You play a --
-How can you tell?
-You play a former judge in new Orleans. This I like.
This poster lets you know what you're in for.
You're a guy who's going through some stuff.
-He's going through some things, yeah.
-Obviously this is a real beard. You did not --
-That is my real beard, yeah.
-It was a little shorter in the clip we saw.
So, you trimmed your beard down over the course of the season.
Did you enjoy walking around with a big old bush like this?
[ Laughter ]
-You see, that's what brought about the restraining order,
comments like that. -It's a good word.
It's a good word for what you're showing me here.
-It is, it is. It's appropriate and suggestive.
[ Laughter ] You know, I did because --
It almost created a mask-like effect.
-Yeah, I would get that. -And it's nice to be able
to walk around and not be so noticed
and be able to observe,
which is, you know, part of the actor's tool chest.
-Which gets a little bit harder to do
once you become recognizable. -Yeah, yeah.
-Now, you've cut it down
to a very substantive mustache right now.
-It is -- Yeah, it's a little dip.
I'm doing a movie with Allison Janney.
It takes place in the '80s. -Okay.
-And I always think that someone sets their look
in the period that they were really the most formative.
So I think my character might have set his look in the '70s,
with what could be construed as a porn 'stache.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think so. -Is it? Is it?
And then so I'm not quite sure.
I want to ask your audience if they think this look
with the little, the little -- What do they call it?
-Like a soul patch. -Soul patch here.
-Do you think that looks nastier?
Or does -- Without it?
-Oh, that's an interesting thing.
Alright. I think with it, it's nastier.
-With it? -Yeah.
-It's nastier? -I would say, with it,
I don't want that guy to be, like, my pilot.
-Yeah. -You know what I mean?
-Okay. So I can do this?
Or else just have my finger here the whole time.
-Yeah. I think that's probably the best solution.
-"I see what you mean."
-Because now you're coming off as a very thoughtful guy.
-"Ahh!"
-And then you take it away, though.
You can't take it away, or it's like,
"Oh, I've been talking to a porn actor!"
[ Laughter ] "Taking advice from this guy!"
-That's it. "What am I doing?!"
What I learned on "Breaking Bad" --
Because when I started that show...
-I'm glad you brought it up.
Because we have some photos here.
-Oh. There you go. -'Cause this is great.
I mean, great mustache.
The mustache to inform the character.
-You can do an entire episode just on facial hair.
-Yeah. -I really think you could.
-I would love to. I mean, would you be my first guest?
-I will be -- Now, have you --
Have you worn any -- -I can't do it.
I really -- I've tried. I would love to grow a mustache.
It would take me from now until -- I'd be on a deathbed.
It just -- It comes in very patchy.
-Well, see, I would love to see that.
-My dad -- You can see it.
Because my dad has a mustache, and it looks exactly
-Right. -Yeah, yeah.
-Well, when I was doing "Breaking Bad,"
I wanted to have my mustache as Walter White
before his transition into Heisenberg.
I wanted it to look --
For lack of a better word, I said "impotent."
-Yeah. -I want an impotent mustache.
-It's a pretty -- It's a pretty impotent mustache.
-Yeah. -Like, it is weird.
I mean, there's a little Ned Flanders to it.
-A little Ned Flanders. "Howdiddy diddily do, neighbor?"
-Yeah.
-There is a little Ned Flanders to him, yes.
And what I realized is there's a few things.
You can't have it too dark. So I lightened it up.
Also, you can never have the hair
curl down below the crease of the lips.
-Uh-huh. -If -- Once it -- You can see.
-Yeah.
-If I had a mustache straight across...
Here I am holding my -- -Do you need a --
-Yeah. Yeah, there you go.
[ Laughter ]
There you go. See?
You -- You came up with a three-fingered cover.
-It's like -- -Never grow a mustache
that needs a three-finger cover! -Got to have it!
-And then -- But this is the transformation.
I mean, look at that. That is -- I mean --
It's shocking that it's the same actor.
I mean, it really is amazing. -Yeah.
And so we wanted to really make it look different.
And so I grew the -- This is actually not --
If I just had this, that's a goatee.
But goatee with the mustache is called a Van Dyke.
-Look at you. You're such a -- You're so informed about this.
But can I tell you --
can I tell you my favorite of your mustaches?
-Yes. -Cause this is -- this is
a photo that is beloved in my home.
-Why? -Because -- 2014 Emmys.
There was an Emmy party.
And my wife, my sister-in-law, my brother's girlfriend,
my cousin, they took a photo with you.
And I forgot your mustache then.
And this was a night where you brought home a lot of Emmy gold.
Look at that one.
I mean, that's a real fun mustache.
-It's kind of an Errol Flynn. -Did you -- Was that for a role?
Or was that just for --
-I was seeing -- I was about to do "Trumbo."
-There you go. That's what I thought.
-I was about to do... and "Trumbo" movie.
And so I wanted to see if that mustache --
We ended up not using it.
I think I put a fake mustache on.
I can't remember. -Yeah.
-It's too long ago. -You've had so many mustaches.
-Lots of mustaches. I do have fun with facial hair.
-You do. -I do.
-And it's fun to watch. -Yeah.
-I have no complaints about any of the choices you made.
We had your wonderful co-star. Rosie Perez was here.
And she told about -- She wasn't in season one.
She was in season two of "Your Honor."
And you basically -- you called her on a Friday
for her to come to work on Monday.
And I would imagine, you know, with any actor.
you have to be pretty convincing to ask them to get on a plane
with, you know, not a lot of time to prepare.
-We needed someone formidable,
someone who can -- is known to have guts and strong.
Right? And her name came up.
I went, "Oh, my God. That's it. Rosie Perez.
We've got to get Rosie Perez."
And they said, "We'll never get her."
She lives in New York.
We're shooting it out in New Orleans and Los Angeles.
And she has this weekend to approve,
show up, do a wardrobe test, and then show up on Monday.
And she had scenes with me.
My character is going through some devastating experiences.
And so he's more reticent on speaking.
So it was all her.
She had blocks and blocks of dialogue.
And I say things like... "I don't know."
[ Laughter ]
And then blocks and blocks of dialogue.
So I couldn't help her at all, you know?
And she was just magnificent. -Yeah.
-She just came in and just crushed it.
-Well, I'm glad you were that convincing.
I'm glad you got her on board to do it.
-I kind of had to promise, you know, certain things.
I'd wash her car. -Yeah, that's nice.
You're that kind of actor. -Take the trash out.
Do whatever. -You're that kind of guy.
Here's what I'm concerned and curious --
is to how you got convinced to do something.
I have done the wonderful show "Hot Ones,"
which I love to watch. -Oh, yes.
-You also did "Hot Ones." -Yeah.
-And then you did "Hot Ones" a second time.
Now, I've known a lot of people that do it.
I like talking to people who've done it.
You're the first person I've heard of who went back in.
Because "Hot Ones" -- This is --
Well, I don't know if you haven't seen it,
but you eat chicken wings with progressively hotter sauces.
It's the most uncomfortable dining experience
I've had in my life.
-It's -- Well -- The answer to your question, Seth,
is I have no idea why I did it a second time.
-Yeah. -I actually thought --
Well, the first time I did it,
I was promoting a movie called "Why Him?"
And I didn't know what it was.
As soon as I was done,
I thought, "Well, that'll never last.
That's a silly premise." -Yeah.
But it was -- There's something intriguing about that show.
And so when they asked me to come back, I said, "Oh, okay."
And then I thought, "What am I doing?
Oh, my God. I'm doing that hot-sauce show!"
And there was one hot sauce. It was in a little jar.
It didn't have as much of an effect in my mouth
as it did in the chemistry of my body.
-Yeah. -I felt -- You ever have
one of those moments where all of a sudden --
"I'm overheating." I went -- Whoof!
And my whole head was starting to sweat.
And I was, like, wip-- It was unbelievable.
I couldn't -- -It is a fascinating --
I don't -- I mean, you know. You do it.
And you can't -- you stop thinking about
what's the right or wrong thing to say.
It's a really novel way to do an interview
because at some point I just kept talking
because I thought if I stopped talking I would die.
-Yes. Yeah. -And so it's -- I've never seen
an interview with myself where I have no memory of it.
-And -- -But that's it.
-Yeah. -Do you remember what you said?
-Almost nothing. -What secrets did you reveal?
-I think it's too almost too haunting to watch.
People are like, "You should do ayahuasca."
I'm like, "I think I did it." -I think --
-I think there was maybe a little
in some of the hot sauces. -In some of the hot sauce.
"I'm good." -Yeah.
Well, I'm very impressed you did it twice.
Thank you so much for being here. It's been too long.
Come back soon. Bryan Cranston. -Thanks again.
-Second season finale of "Your Honor" premieres March 17th
on streaming and on demand
and airs March 19th on Showtime.
We'll be right back with Nicole Byer, everybody!