We’ve seen Bryan Cranston teeter on the edge of insanity in Breaking Bad, but the first slew of set photos for Wakefield showcase the Emmy award-winning actor like we’ve never seen him before.
Hunched over on a park bench clutching some food, Cranston’s groggy appearance reflects the nature of his character in the drama. You see, he’s set to play a successful and married lawyer living in New York. With seemingly everything in place for a happy life, his life is suddenly sent into a tail-spin when his wife discovers he’s been having an affair with a young woman, triggering a nervous breakdown that condemns him to live in his attic for several long and gruelling months.
After being shunned from his family home, Cranston’s lead decides to live in secrecy in the attic, emerging only at night in order to rummage for food. Sending the concept of a mid-life crisis into overdrive, he soon discovers that his family adjust to life without him much faster than he first expects.
Directing from her own screenplay is Robin Swicord, taking cues from E.L. Doctorow’s short story of the same name. As a matter of fact, Doctorow’s yarn is actually a modern spin on the original Wakefield, penned by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1837.
Acting as Swicord’s second directorial effort following The Jane Austen Book Club, the writer-director is no stranger to writing her own scripts, with credits on both The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Memoirs Of A Geisha.
Currently filming in Pasadena, California, Wakefield is expected to have a quick production turnaround, meaning we could be seeing Bryan Cranston’s turn as the crazed lawyer in the early stages of 2016. Meanwhile, the actor can next be seen in Oscar-tipped drama Trumbo.
