Bryan Cranston is probably best known for his iconic role in The X-Files helped make the entire show possible. While the two shows don’t seem to have much in common at first glance, the two shows share an element of creative direction, with Breaking Bad’s showrunner having spent his early days as a writer on The X-Files. Breaking Bad would go on to become a critically acclaimed TV show, but without Vince Gilligan’s experience with Bryan Cranston on The X-Files, the show’s protagonist might not have been as compelling.
Breaking Bad chronicles the plight of Cranston’s Walter White, a high school teacher who turns to cooking meth as a way to provide for his family after a cancer diagnosis. While he starts off with good intentions, he eventually trades his morals for power as he transforms into the drug kingpin, Heisenberg. Walt continues to make detestable decisions throughout the show, but maintains a sense of humanity that keeps the audience rooting for him despite his role as a villain.
X-Files Season 6 Helped Cast Walter White
Bryan Cranston wasn’t the immediate choice when it came to casting Walter White, but his performance in The X-Files made an impact on Vince Gilligan. While working on the episode, Gilligan was struck by the idea of having a protagonist with many characteristics typically seen in villains. When he saw Cranston in a promo for Malcolm in the Middle over a year later, he ed Cranston’s X-Files character and decided he would be the perfect choice to play Breaking Bad’s complicated protagonist, Walter White.
In The X-Files season 6, episode 2, “Drive,” Cranston’s Patrick Crump is incredibly irritable and unpleasant, spewing insults even as Agent Mulder risks his job to help save Crump’s life. In the end, Crump’s dire situation garners enough sympathy that when he ultimately perishes as a result of his condition, Mulder and the audience feel a haunting sense of sadness. Cranston’s performance convinced Gilligan that he would be the best at portraying his idea for a humanized villain that audiences would be able to sympathize with.
How Breaking Bad's Walter White Mirrors Bryan Cranston's X-Files Role
The thematic elements of “Drive” are found time and time again in Breaking Bad: Is “right” and “wrong” subjective? Will a person driven by self-preservation make ethical choices? At the beginning of “Drive,” Cranston’s character is perceived as the bad guy through a series of misinterpretations and failure to communicate. Even after the situation is explained to Agent Mulder and he agrees to help Crump, he still maintains a cranky and aggressive demeanor. Similarly, Walter White is a character who constantly makes choices that put others at risk, breaking laws, endangering his loved ones, and disregarding collateral damage.
However, both men could be sympathized with considering their situations. Crump is portrayed as antagonistic and rude but was given solid motivations: his crimes (carjacking, presumably kidnapping, running from the law) are understandable, if not justifiable, because of the government’s role in his condition. Likewise, Breaking Bad maintains the audience’s interest in Walter’s story even as he continues to add to his web of dangerous secrets and crimes. Even when Walter White doesn’t deserve sympathy, his connection to the viewers keeps them invested.
With Bryan Cranston’s help, The X-Files inspired the idea that a protagonist can be unlikeable and even villainous like Walter White, but given the right amount of sympathy and humanizing qualities, they could also drive forward a successful story. Luckily for Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan ed this idea and knew just the right actor to bring it to life.