EXCLUSIVE: Bryan Cranston Talks Narrating Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City’
Asteroid City is set to be released to theaters today, June 23. We got the chance to hear from the narrator of the new film, Bryan Cranston.
During the chat, Cranston talked seeing the final film, if he had any questions after reading the script, and so much more. Check out what he had to say below.
On seeing the finished product: “Well, it’s a nice surprise. I remember writing to Wes [Anderson’ a little earlier after we had finished the film, and I said, ‘How are you feeling about it?’ And quite honestly, Wes said, ‘I think it might be a really nice poem. I don’t know about a film just yet.’ Because he was still in the throws of post and editing. He was still trying to figure out where it was going. But, I think it’s the animatic that really allows us to see where it’s going and the types of characters that he is imagining in his head. We can only take a glimpse into the head of Wes Anderson. We can’t live there. That’s his domain. So we can only visit.”
On having questions after reading the script: “What does it mean? It’s so specific and so dense with detail that I had to read it a couple times to really get a sense of what we were doing. This is a movie about a television show that’s doing an expose on a theater piece. That in itself is kind of a Russian doll sort of thing. Then there’s the actors who are also playing. So when you read that in script form, it can be a little daunting. It was illuminating to see the cartoon, and extremely helpful.”
On the unique responsibility of playing the narrator in the film: “Whether you’re playing a lead part or a supporting role, you look for your slice. What is my kind of contribution to the story. And in this expositional dialogue, to set up the structure of what the audience is about to see. Mention all the names. Lot of interesting names that I had to get straight in my head. But I also thought, I should be the one without any emotion. I should just be a blank slate so that people just listen and then follow along. Open up, introduce, and hand off. I thought that was probably the best thing I could do. Ted Koppel’s voice kept coming, popping into my head. And I think you hear it when you watch the movie for some reason. Some kind of established journalistic presence is what I was going for.”
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Photo credit: Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features