The One Reason Bryan Cranston Wants To Retire From Acting

Bryan Cranston is one of Hollywood's biggest chameleons. The actor has played a wide variety of roles over the course of his career, such as the hapless dad Hal in "Malcolm in the Middle" and the devious drug dealer Walter White in "Breaking Bad." On how he has become such a successful actor, he once advised, "I had this cognition that I realized I was going into auditions, trying to get a job. And that simply wasn't what I was supposed to be doing. An actor is supposed to create a compelling, interesting character, that serves the text. You present it in the environment where your audition happens. And then you walk away," via Acting Magazine.

At 67 years old, Cranston is still going strong and is currently the star and producer of the hit Showtime series, "Your Honor." Like his other roles, Cranston delves deep into his character, Michael Desiato. "If the first season was more 'King Lear,' then this season is more 'Hamlet,' where he truly doesn't want to live, in the beginning. By the end of the season, hopefully without being too on the nose, we wanted to give the audience the sense that Michael doesn't want to die anymore," he told the Los Angeles Times. It's hard to imagine Cranston stepping away from a career that he has such passion for but the actor revealed his near-future plans to leave the cinematic world.

Bryan Cranston's love of acting is clear, but his love for his wife, Robin Dearden, is taking priority these days. "I love my wife, and we want to go the distance, but I want to do it in a healthy way. I don't want to just be with her. I don't want to just have the two of us go into a restaurant and no one says a word," he shared with GQ. 

Cranston revealed that he plans to step away from acting when he's 70  to make his life with Dearden his focus. "For the last 24 years, Robin has led her life holding onto my tail. She's been the plus one, she's been the wife of a celebrity. She's had to pivot and adjust her life based on mine. She has tremendous benefit from it, but we're uneven. I want to level that out. She deserves it," he declared.

Cranston once recalled spending a leisurely holiday season with Dearden. "We have an apartment in New York, and we had people over on Thanksgiving morning and watched the parade from my balcony. We had bagels, coffee, and champagne. It kick-starts you into the holiday spirit," he revealed to People. While Cranston isn't sure how he'd like to spend his free time once he retires, following his announcement, he assured fans that his absence would only be temporary.

Amid fans' reactions about him quitting Hollywood, Bryan Cranston cleared the air on Instagram. "Hey everyone, I hope this little message finds you well. Some news came out that wasn't entirely clear ... even to me. So I wanted to set the record straight. I am not retiring. What I am going to do is hit the pause button for a year after I reach my 70th birthday in 2026," he shared. Cranston stated that his brief pause will allow him to spend time with his wife Robin Dearden while also giving his career a "reset." The actor explained, "I will unplug from social media, step off the hamster wheel of business, and dive into the classic novels that I've always promised myself I would read but haven't."

Cranston again gave props to Dearden for standing by his side throughout his wildly successful career. "She's been incredibly supportive and wonderful but for the last 25 years she's been holding onto my tail as we go from one place to another and from one set to another ... and I want to have a new, kind of, interesting, like, let's dig in and find out where we are now after all these years," he shared on Today. Cranston's time off is very well-deserved after working on so many projects over the years but fans will miss seeing him on-screen.