Bryan Cranston is one of the hands down best American actors working today. The man is always evolving as a performer and he has brought some of the most memorable characters to the screen that we have seen especially in the last decade. His role as Walter White in Breaking Bad alone has made him a must follow celebrity for hundreds of thousands of fans across the globe.
Coming in May of 2016, Bryan Cranston, along with a fantastic supporting cast of veteran actors, will be portraying one of the United States’ most controversial figures that affected an entire generation; President Lyndon B. Johnson.
All the Way will be airing on HBO towards the end of May this year. From the looks of the trailer, this narrative looks to be cut mainly from the days of LBJ’s early presidency when his primary focus was on civil rights and reducing poverty. What the film doesn’t really look to be addressing are the years when Johnson was labeled as a war monger and a vast majority of the country’s youth rose up to rally against him for sending wave after wave of troops into Vietnam.
The character Bryan Cranston appears to be playing here is a troubled do-gooder who feels remorse for the death of JFK and only wants to benefit the country that he winds up being forced to lead. We see him square off against Senator Richard Russell played by the always brilliant Frank Langella, who opposed LBJ on civil rights, but wound up supporting and aiding him throughout the Vietnam War. We also see him egging on his VP Hubert Humphrey portrayed by genre great Bradley Whitford, while driving drunk and dressed like a rancher.
Lyndon B. Johnson was despised and reviled by an entire generation throughout the 1960s. The post-Kennedy President was viewed by many as a “southern racist in liberal clothing” during his time in office, yet many supporters and historians actively fight against that negative perspective. All the Way, directed by Jay Roach and produced by Steven Spielberg, looks to shine a more positive light on LBJ and who better to bring personality and warmth to the character than Bryan Cranston.
