- Bryan Cranston received a letter from Anthony Hopkins, praising his portrayal as Walter White in Breaking Bad
- The Silence of the Lambs Oscar winner likened his performance to that of a ‘Shakespearean tragedy’
- Cranston later went for lunch with Hopkins, and recalls being ‘starstruck’ by his hero
He’s one of the greatest actors of our time.
So it’s truly baffling to hear that even Byan Cranston gets starstruck over his heroes!
But that’s exactly what happened when the Breaking Bad actor, 68, received a letter from none other than Sir Anthony Hopkins about his role in the crime drama.
After a marathon viewing binge of the full five seasons – the latter being split into two blocks of eight and premiering a year apart – in 2013, Hopkins, 86, wrote an email to Cranston through their mutual agent, UTA.
“I have never watched anything like it. Brilliant! Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen – ever,” the two-time Oscar winner told Cranston. “I know there is so much smoke blowing and sickening bulls**t in this business, and I’ve sort of lost belief in anything really. But this work of yours is spectacular – absolutely stunning.
“What is extraordinary, is the sheer power of everyone in the entire production. What was it? Five or six years in the making? How the producers (yourself being one of them), the writers, directors, cinematographers… every department – casting etc… managed to keep the discipline and control from beginning to the end is awesome.”
Likening the 16-time Emmy Award winning show to “a great Jacobean, Shakespearian or Greek Tragedy”, the Silence of the Lambs star asked the actor to pass on his “admiration” to the rest of the cast, including Aaron Paul and Bob Odenkirk.
He continued, “Thank you. That kind of work/artistry is rare, and when, once in a while, it occurs, as in this epic work, it restores confidence. You and all the cast are the best actors I’ve ever seen. That may sound like a good lung full of smoke blowing. But it is not. It’s almost midnight out here in Malibu, and I felt compelled to write this email.
Signing off as “Tony Hopkins”, the Welsh star added, “Congratulations and my deepest respect. You are truly a great, great actor.”
‘I was so touched by his letter’
It’s not everyday that an email from one of your heroes lands in your inbox – and it’s not something that Cranston is likely to ever forget.
“He just loved Breaking Bad and thought it was phenomenal, and I was so touched by it,” Cranston told PEOPLE ten years after he received the message.
The two actors eventually made plans to meet up for lunch in LA, and Cranston brought along the show’s creator Vince Gilligan.
“I’m sitting there talking to one of the greatest actors ever and just in awe,” he added.
“You try not to be starstruck and you also don’t want to be a fanboy and say, ‘And then what about this movie? And then what about that movie?’ You want to be able to have a decent conversation. So it’s kind of nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time.”
