What Bryan Cranston Has Said It Would Take for Him to Return to the Breaking Bad Universe as Walter White

Bryan Cranston would play Walter White again under one condition. 

The actor, 69, once revealed the one major thing that would influence him to step back into the iconic Breaking Bad character’s shoes during a 2023 interview with Awards Radar, resurfaced by TV Line on Jan. 1.

“I thought when I was saying my tearful goodbyes to everybody that that was it,” Cranston told the outlet at the time. “Then El Camino came up. ‘Oh, I guess I’m gonna be Walter White again. And then Better Call Saul came up, ‘Oh, I guess I’m gonna be on,’ … and then Pop Corners commercial comes up. ‘You guys want to play it together?’ ‘Sure!’ It’s just fun.”

He emphasized, “So now I’d be a fool to say, ‘Yeah, we’re done.’ ”

The Malcom in the Middle actor added that “nothing’s on the horizon” and neither him nor creator Vince Gilligan “need a paycheck,” before revealing the one condition for his return to the Breaking Bad universe. 

“If there was something that he that he woke up from a dream, and went, ‘Oh my God,’ and he pitched me on it, and I too, had the ‘Oh my God’ reaction then I’d look at it,” Cranston told Awards Radar.

He continued, “It’s not often that you get an ‘Oh my God’ reaction when you read or hear a pitch. If you’re stunned and astonished by something, you should pay attention. So, if that happens, I don’t assume that will — but if that ever did, I’d listen.”

Cranston returned as White in the 2019 Netflix follow-up movie El Camino, which starred Aaron Paul immediately after the show’s series finale. In Better Call Saul, several Breaking Bad characters made appearances in the Bob Odenkirk-fronted series, including Dean Norris’ Hank.

In 2020, Cranston expressed that he would play Walt again “in a second,” telling Collider he talked to Peter Gould and Better Call Saul co-creator Gilligan to say he’s interested in appearing in the prequel series.

Cranston and Paul reprised their roles in the final season in 2022.

All five seasons for Breaking Bad are available to stream on Netflix.