There are few actors who’ve shown the versatility and class of Bryan Cranston. From his complex and terrifying performance as Walter White in Breaking Bad to his portrayal of the goofy, sweet-natured Hal in Malcolm in the Middle, his range is unparalleled, and off the screen, he’s shown himself to be a good ally and generally nice guy. After all, you don’t receive an Oscar nomination, an Olivier Award, and multiple Emmys without being an incredibly talented actor.
Considering his career has spanned decades, picking his best performances is a hard task, but one that we’re more than willing to do if it gives us the chance to enjoy his acting highlights once more. If you love his performances or just want to know where else to catch the man who played New Mexico’s biggest and most feared meth producer, then read ahead for our guide to the 10 best Bryan Cranston movies and TV shows!
10. All the Way
Playing any president carries a lot of weight, but when it’s one as influential as LBJ, the actor has to put in a powerhouse performance to earn plaudits. Thankfully, Cranston showed he had the chops to do this and more with his impressive turn in this 2016 film about the aftermath of the JFK assassination, adapted from the 2012 play of the same name in which the actor played the same part. The role required plenty of gravitas and range, and Cranston delivers from minute one, helped by an excellent cast that also includes Emmy winner Melissa Leo as the First Lady Birdy Johnson.
The HBO production garnered plenty of critical praise and earned one of many Emmy nominations for Cranston, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.
9. Curb Your Enthusiasm
Although Cranston only appeared in a single episode of Larry David’s hilarious show, his performance was incredibly memorable and even earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (you might be sensing a theme here). In the episode, titled “Running with the Bulls,” Cranston plays the role of Larry David’s therapist Dr. Templeton, who accuses the curmudgeonly star of overstepping boundaries. It’s the sort of great turn that will have you falling out of your seat with laughter, which is of no surprise to anybody who knows just how funny Cranston can be.
8. Power Rangers (2017)
Stepping into a huge franchise with plenty of devoted fans can always be tricky for an actor, especially if the role isn’t something that’s usually in their wheelhouse. And, while Cranston is incredibly adaptable on screen, he hasn’t had much experience in the superhero world. However, if you watch his performance as Zordon in Power Rangers, you’d think he’d been playing in action blockbusters his entire life.
Cranston’s character is the former Red Ranger and the Breaking Bad actor brings some real heart to the role, while also being incredibly engaging during the action scenes, showing that any Power Rangers fans who might have been worrying about him were misplacing their fears.
7. Your Honor
Cranston starred in this crime drama, which ran for two engaging seasons between 2020 and 2023. While the show itself wasn’t the best-regarded thing on this list, the lead actor’s performance was praised as a real highlight. In Your Honor, Cranston portrays a judge named Michael Desiato whose son is involved in a hit-and-run. At first, Michael urges his child to turn himself in, until it’s revealed the victim was the son of a murderous crime kingpin. What follows is a dangerous and tense game of cat and mouse, culminating in a compelling season finale in which Cranston shows off all his acting chops and more.
The second season saw Cranston develop the character further, allowing him to once again show off the range that made him such a Hollywood darling. Your Honor was ultimately canceled, but Cranston’s turn makes it well worth a watch.
6. Robot Chicken
A late-night cult favorite, Robot Chicken episodes don’t always land, but when they do, it’s one of the funniest animated shows on television. After all, there’s a reason it’s become Adult Swim’s longest-running series. Cranston has had various different roles throughout the show’s lifetime, but each one has been an unbridled success, bringing enough laughter to make viewers cry.
The decorated actor has appeared in four different episodes and voiced multiple characters in the Seth Green-led series, including Gandalf and the Grim Reaper. No matter what his role in the show, you can guarantee that an episode with him in it will be a memorable one.
5. Isle of Dogs
This charming, funny Wes Anderson stop-motion flick is a firm favorite of fans of the famous director, and while part of that is because of his unique, strong style, the performances also elevate it into a real gem of a film, especially Cranston’s. In the animated film, the Malcolm in the Middle star plays Chief, the leader of a pack of dogs on the eponymous island on which most of the movie’s action takes place. As with Robot Chicken, his voice work is impeccable, delivering humor and heart through just the medium of sound (and the funky animations, of course). Cranston ended up winning two awards for his work on the film: an Annie award for Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production, and a Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Performance.
4. Seinfeld
While Cranston might have only played the dentist Tim Whatley in five episodes of the groundbreaking sitcom Seinfeld, his performances were among the most memorable from guest stars in a show that was packed to the rafters with excellent cameos. Although each episode he appears in is absolutely hilarious, his penultimate appearance in season eight’s “The Yada Yada Yada” is astonishingly funny, stealing the show from a stellar main cast that includes legends Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
3. Trumbo
This biographical drama about the perils of McCarthyism (and conservative America’s propensity to lose their mind when anything vaguely left-wing is mentioned) earned Cranston his first and so-far only Academy Award nomination, and rightly so. His performance is magnetic and heart-wrenching, even if the film does ultimately end on a more positive note.
In the movie, Cranston plays iconic screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, one of many Hollywood stars blacklisted during the height of the Red Scare. Cowboy actor and all-around terrible human being John Wayne is an early antagonist in the film, but the biggest villain is American paranoia, and Cranston shows the toll everything took on the talented Trumbo, who had to eschew Academy Awards and other accolades as he wasn’t allowed to reveal he’d ghostwritten many iconic films. Cranston brings his usual nuance and gravitas to a hard role, and compared to his powerhouse performance, the rest of the film falls a bit flat.
2. Breaking Bad
Putting the highly decorated Breaking Bad at number two on this list might be a bit controversial considering just how fantastic Cranston and all his co-stars are in this intense crime series, but we’re going to do it anyway. The show won 16 Emmys, including four for Cranston, as well as earning universal critical acclaim and countless fans around the world.
The show follows a high school chemistry teacher named Walter White, who is diagnosed with stage-three lung cancer and turns to crime to pay for his treatment and secure his family’s future. He teams up with a former student named Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) and uses his skills to become one of the largest dealers of methamphetamine in the state. What makes Cranston’s performance so incredible is the transformation of White, who goes from mild-mannered and a bit of a pushover to a hardened criminal, willing to kill to achieve his aims. A powerful performance in every sense of the term.
1. Malcolm in the Middle
Look, we know some people think Breaking Bad, and Cranston’s performance in it, is one of the best things ever committed to the small screen, but Malcolm in the Middle is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, and his turn as Hal is simply perfect.
Sure, the goofy dad of the working-class family might not be murdering drug dealers and engaging in shoot-outs with cops, but in this role, Cranston manages to blend some of the funniest moments on television (the power walking episode, anyone?) with relatability and surprisingly profound emotion. Although the series, and Cranston and his co-stars, were nominated for countless awards during the show’s run, it remains somewhat underrated and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as iconic hits like The Simpsons, Cheers, and Seinfeld — in no small part thanks to Cranston’s performance as Hal.
