Did John Cusack really turn down Walter White? The rumour has finally been settled
At long last, John Cusack has called time on that Walter White whisper-campaign — consider one lingering Breaking Bad rumour firmly laid to rest.
Right, if you’ve ever found yourself in a late-night internet rabbit hole about Breaking Bad and come across the rumour that John Cusack nearly played Walter White, well, here’s some news you’ll want to hear. Cusack himself has finally put that old bit of fan lore to bed, and honestly, the real story’s less dramatic than what the internet’s been peddling for years.
Cusack vs. the Rumour Mill
This all came up on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, where John Cusack admitted he’d seen people online insisting he’d turned down Walter White long before Bryan Cranston got anywhere near an RV. The thing is, Cusack has absolutely no recollection of this — not just no memory, but enough doubt he even rang up Vince Gilligan (as you would) for confirmation. Here’s how Cusack remembered it:
‘I never ever remembered that, and I was like, did that happen, and I blacked it out? Did I lose time?’
So, naturally, he did what most of us probably wouldn’t: tracked down the show’s creator for an answer. According to Cusack, he asked Gilligan point blank if he’d ever been offered the part. Gilligan’s response?
‘He was like, “No.” I was like, “Thank you, Vince!”’
So there you go. Cusack wasn’t up for the role, and your mate who’s been repeating that at the pub all these years is talking rubbish.
Read more: Missing Breaking Bad? Netflix made its own, and all four seasons are there to binge
Bryan Cranston Really Was ‘Meant to Be’
In the same breath, Cusack was quick to point out that there’s no way he’d ever regret not playing Walter White anyway, given Bryan Cranston’s now-legendary performance in the series. He even called Cranston’s casting fate, saying it was always Cranston’s role for the taking. Seriously, imagine anyone else saying, ‘Yeah science!’ — doesn’t quite land, does it?
Breaking Bad’s Big Numbers
If you somehow missed the cultural juggernaut that was Breaking Bad, here’s the gist: Walter White’s a high school chemistry teacher who, after getting slapped with a lung cancer diagnosis, decides cooking meth is his best shot at securing his family’s future. Along for the ride: former student and general disaster, Jesse Pinkman (played by Aaron Paul). The rest is five seasons of pure, nail-biting tension.
Thanks largely to Cranston fully leaning into the role, Breaking Bad took home stacks of awards — Cranston himself nabbed four Emmys for Best Lead Actor. All told, the show won 16 Emmys from 58 nominations.
Breaking Bad clocked up 16 Emmy wins after five seasons on the air.
The show’s now regularly listed as one of the greatest TV dramas ever — The New York Times even named it the best series of the 21st century. It’s not just critics, either: its Rotten Tomatoes scores are sky-high, sitting at 96% on the Tomatometer and 97% on the Popcornmeter, which is about as close to universal acclaim as TV gets.
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