Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston Thinks A Pivotal Moment Was Walter Shaving His Head
The entire story of "Breaking Bad" is meticulously crafted, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. As pretty much any television fan on the planet likely knows by now, it was also a highly acclaimed series that consistently pulled in award recognition. "Breaking Bad" was nominated for a total of 58 Emmy Awards and took home 16 during its five-season run, which is an incredible feat. The crime drama centered on Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a chemistry teacher diagnosed with lung cancer who decides to cook and distribute meth to pay for treatment and leave his family with money after he dies.
Walter goes through many transitions as the show goes on, becoming more and more ruthless as he dives deeper into the criminal underbelly. Given the title of the show and the series' commitment to complex character arcs, this approach to character development makes sense. However, according to Cranston himself, one of Walter's most pivotal character moments came pretty early on in the "Breaking Bad" life cycle, and it's when he decides to keep shaving his head.
Cranston thinks Walt shaving his head symbolized him accepting his new life
In 2013, months before "Breaking Bad" would air its final batch of episodes, Bryan Cranston participated in a Reddit AMA. Among the numerous questions answered, one Redditor asked Cranston what he believed to be his favorite underrated scene that gave him a clear look into the mindset of Walter White. Cranston gave a somewhat surprising answer by claiming that Walter's decision to keep shaving his head after his cancer had gone into remission was a big moment as it showed the character accepting his situation.
"There was a moment nobody ever really wrote about in the first or second season," Cranston said, "when he was in remission from his cancer and he decided even though his hair was growing back, he decided to shave his head some more. And that was big thing for me because it made a statement that he was truly accepting this new life of his."
The bald look Walter opts to keep sticks with him throughout nearly the entire show, at least until the final episode. Cranston's reasoning here makes a lot of sense. Cancer has changed him, and while he initially struggles with embracing a life of crime, he eventually comes to terms with it. Plus, the bald look associates him with his Heisenberg persona, so viewers could interpret that he's also accepting that side of himself.
Either way, Cranston put a lot of consideration into the character, his journey, and what each moment meant along the way.