The “perfect” 1989 role John Cusack will always regret never playing: “It’s his”
John Cusack says he never turned down the role of Walter White in Breaking Bad: he asked creator Vince Gilligan, who told him no offer had been made. Cusack also praised Bryan Cranston’s performance, saying the role belonged to him.
The article also considers Cusack as a possible fit for Drugstore Cowboy, the 1989 film starring Matt Dillon, whose performance helped establish director Gus Van Sant’s career. Cusack and Dillon were both prominent actors at the time, but Cusack was known for comedies and starred in Say Anything that same year. The piece contrasts Cusack’s later career with the acclaim Breaking Bad brought Cranston.
In short
- Cusack says he was never offered Walter White.
- Bryan Cranston’s performance was “meant to be his”.
- Matt Dillon starred in the 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy.
Explained simply
Breaking Bad is a television drama created by Vince Gilligan. It follows Walter White, a chemistry teacher who turns to making illegal drugs after a serious illness, and became closely associated with Bryan Cranston, who played him.
John Cusack and Matt Dillon were both prominent American actors in 1989, when Dillon starred in Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy. Cusack was known largely for comedy roles and appeared that year in Say Anything, a romantic comedy that became one of his best-known films.