Bryan Cranston

“I learned long ago to focus on things you can control and don't even pay attention to things you don't.”

“Hollywood has known this for quite a while: Cable is the place to go because they truly have a supportive network and they want to do things that cannot be seen on broadcast. That stimulates the writer-producer. Cable is king.”

“Something's happened in our society which I don't think is beneficial, and that's that you see the public being fed box-office news. Newscasts now, every local station - I've been traveling around the country a lot, and you see the local news, and they give box-office reports.”

“I think if you believe in past lives, I must have been an extremely deprived being. I must have been mistreated, beaten, and forced into indentured servitude because this life has just been phenomenal.”

“If you like vanilla, you're not going to like 'Breaking Bad' - you need to like a specific flavor that is unusual, that is different, that takes risks.”

“I enjoy doing comedy for the fact that you go to work and you laugh. That's a good combination.”

“My passion is becoming involved in good work, whether that means as an actor or writer or director or producer or all - that is not as important to me.”

“This self-congratulatory notion Americans have that their country is Number One is borne of ignorance and bad manners.”

“We've been trained since kindergarten: Be nice, be kind, share, put on a smile. So we're conditioned to squash our natural selfish instincts, and that's the right thing for society.”

“I have talked to stunt drivers all my life, 32 years of talking to stunt drivers. There's a craziness to them.”

“I think naturally, if you're an actor, there's a high level of assertiveness that you need to have to survive this business. There's boldness in being assertive, and there's strength and confidence.”

“I think, and I mean this sincerely, I was raised humbly. We were a lower middle income family and a household that was scrimping by at times. We were watching the dollar, stretching the dollar, and coupons. It was all those things.”

“I've done more crap than I care to remember. I really have. 'Airwolf.' 'Murder, She Wrote.' 'Amazon Women on the Moon.' But you learn from all these bad shows. What you don't want to do and what you don't want to be involved with.”

“When actors first come up, you're auditioning for everything - you're trying to sniff it out like a pig with a truffle and you would do anything!”

“Console the failure, but nurture the hunger.”

“When you're directing an ongoing series, the tone has already been set. So a director will come in and fulfill that tone - reinforce the characters and their behavior. The challenge is to find unique ways that you can visually tell the story while keeping the established tone and the pace and the characters.”

“There's so many things that can go wrong in the execution of a project like a television show or a movie, so many little elements, any number of things, all the way to marketing - like they could market it poorly and nobody finds it and down it goes.”

“Love is not as important as good health. You cannot be in love if you're not healthy. You can't appreciate it.”

“You need to tell the truth to the audience, or they will throw a brick through the TV. They'll turn you off.”

“Part of an actor's job is to draw up a back story.”