2022 SHOWTIME NETWORKS INC. All rights reserved. Credit: Andrew Cooper/SHOWTIME“I like to have as normal of a life as possible,” Bryan Cranston tells us. “Borderline boring.”
Hard to imagine from a man who has mesmerized TV, movie and Broadway audiences for decades now with his award-winning performances. And, hardly reality when he’s been whirlwinding the world in Spain filming Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, London filming Argylle, as well as producing and writing and running his Dos Hombres mezcal business with Breaking Bad pal Aaron Paul.
When we caught up with Cranston, he was back in Los Angeles returning to his role as Judge Michael Desiato in Showtime’s tense drama Your Honor, returning to Showtime Friday, Jan. 13 (streaming) and Sunday, Jan. 15, at 9pm ET/PT on the linear network. The multi-Emmy and Tony winner originally wrapped the limited series believing Michael’s story ended in “a lovely, tragic way” that was “very appropriate.” When he was approached with a second season premise, he was intrigued.
“You realize if the first season was about a man who compromises his principles, then the second season is about redemption,” Cranston tells. “Can a person who lost everything find a way back to some kind of life? And that’s what got me excited about it.”
Here Cranston helps answer some of our burning questions on the new season.
Michael has lied and betrayed so many of his friends, yet we still want him to come out of this OK. Why is that?
Bryan Cranston: I think because the original sin was understandable. I think it’s more apparent to a parent. When I ask the question, “What would you do to save your child’s life?,” I have not met a parent, not yet, who doesn’t say “I would do anything.” And that’s the feeling you have. You would do anything if you truly felt your child’s life was being threatened. That’s your job. And that’s where your heart is. And so when that initial question was proposed, the audience got a dose of that, in saying he was just trying to protect his son. That’s all he was doing, and I get it.
But, that being said, there is a penalty, the repercussions of those decisions, and that is the spiral effect that happened in our storytelling. … He had to make that immediate decision and it changed his life forever, and his son’s life. The ripple effect of that, we’ll see more in the second season. We’ll see how deeply it goes. When there’s a loss, it doesn’t just stay within the first realm of people connected to that person directly. There’s an indirect ripple effect that happens, and that’s what we’re going to show. But I wanted to really explore redemption and the power of forgiveness and the authenticity of grief, allowing ourselves to be in it.
When we pick up in Season 2, Michael is almost unrecognizable. First, is that beard real? Can you talk about this transformation?
It’s a real beard, real hair, real thinness. It was a transition that I wanted to make and to look different because it is different. His whole point of view, as you’ll see, is different. He is not the same man. And I wanted to allow the audience to see how despair and grief changes a person, and your priorities change, your outlook on life changes.
How does he even begin to start making amends with some of the people he loved and betrayed, like Lee (Carmen Ejogo)?
Each person that he comes in contact with, there is a trepidation from both sides about how this is handled. How do we go on from here? How is that possible? With Lee, it was an unfortunate and disturbing kind of ending with so many lies and so much misdirection, and the manipulation pushed her into a place where she just couldn’t take it anymore. She, too, has got to deal with the ramifications of that. He was not only a mentor to her, but now a lover, and it’s like she was starting to devote her personal life toward him, and it devastated her. So we’ll see how she handles that in Season 2. I wanted to explore these darker tones, but we’re going to do it in a way that doesn’t allow the audience to just sit in the macabre.
Both Michael and Jimmy Baxter (Michael Stuhlbarg) now share similar grief over the loss of a son. How would you describe their level of interactions this season? Can both of these men really remain in the same city still?
They’re odd and strange bedfellows now. And we will find out that they have even more in common than the loss of a child. They have a direct interaction throughout the season, and not necessarily in a good way. But it kind of fluctuates. There’s an odd understanding that the two characters have.
Rosie Perez is joining the cast this season. Is she a friend or a foe to you?
She is coming in and she is a thorn in my side, I can tell you that. She is a dynamo and a very powerful person, both in personality and the character, and in position. Her position professionally is very dynamic and has a direct impact on Michael’s life. They are at odds most of the time, almost all. But Rosie is just such a great performer and a contender. For her physical release, Rosie loves boxing and she actually boxes. So I feel like our scenes together are in the ring together, and we’re just trading punches.
