the best TV shows of all time, which makes sense.

Hopkins won an Oscar for Best Actor for the 2020 film The Father, making him the oldest winner in that category. He also has numerous Academy Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards for Hollywood pictures. Additionally, Hopkins' TV accolades have included Emmy nominations for Westworld and Mythic Quest, and wins for his roles in The Bunker and The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case. Clearly, Hopkins is in a great position to point out that the world's best acting occurred in Breaking Bad. And he's right: Bryan Cranston's acting was world-class throughout every season of Breaking Bad.

Anthony Hopkins Described Bryan Cranston In Breaking Bad As "The Best Acting" He Has Seen

Anthony Hopkins Is A Huge Breaking Bad Fan

Bryan Cranston's work in Breaking Bad was more than just one of the best TV performances Hopkins had ever seen; Hopkins said that it was "the best acting I have seen — ever." This fascinating glimpse into the mind of one of Hollywood's finest was revealed through a letter that Hopkins wrote to Cranston through his agent.

From a weak and pathetic teacher in the autumn of his life, Walter White went to a kingpin.

It was originally published on the Facebook page of Steven Michael Quezada, a co-star of Cranston on Breaking Bad. Quezada played Drug Enforcement istration (DEA) agent Steven Gomez in Breaking Bad and had clearly communicated with either Hopkins or his agent about the letter. The letter contains high praise for the show. Alongside the 2025 reveal that Breaking Bad is one of Ben Affleck's favorite TV shows, Hopkins' words confirm the influence of Vince Gilligan's five-season 2008 show.

Anthony Hopkins Is Right – Bryan Cranston's Breaking Bad Performance Is A Masterclass

Bryan Cranston Is Phenomenal In Breaking Bad

Anthony Hopkins' assessment of Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad is not too far off the mark: it is definitely one of the best performances ever seen on screens. From a weak and pathetic teacher in the autumn of his life, Walter White went to a kingpin. It was one of the most impressively portrayed transformations of any story ever told on page or screen, and it didn't neglect a single astounding corner of it. Over 10 years after Breaking Bad ended, the jury is still out on whether White was more detestable in episode one or episode 62.

Bryan Cranston And Breaking Bad Changed What We Expect From Television

Breaking Bad Changed The Game

Although White had lost every remnant of moral judgment by the end of Breaking Bad, somehow, he had grown, and the unbelievable nuance and profound implications of this set a new standard for TV. The standard of television has been very high over the last 10 years, and Breaking Bad has a lot to do with that. For a TV show to carry out such a penetrating character study was Breaking Bad's first triumph. But another was for this character study to raise such vital questions about humanity and the nature of success, respect, and the American dream.

It took the prospect of losing everything for White to reject what meager happiness the conformity to America's status quo had given him. Breaking Bad laid bare the limitations and deceptions of this status quo, as it showed how all the slavish adherence to cookie-cutter life in the world couldn't buy happiness. In this sense, White was breaking free, not bad. The emancipation and empowerment seeping back into his every step as he turned to crime was undeniable and addictive, for White and viewers both.

And it was, ultimately, confusing. Walter White was never worth rooting for, and making him seem so was the dazzling double bluff at the heart of Breaking Bad. White touched the bottom of the barrel of the average respectable life and the bottom of the barrel of a life of disrepute, leaving viewers to see that they were both rotten to the core. Breaking Bad embraced character-driven narratives to tell this story, setting TV on the right path. And at the same time, it advanced a crime thriller with a razor-edge focus, leaving TV no choice but to improve in its wake.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter