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54
JULY 2012
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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
D. HURST/ALAMY (PEANUT BUTTER)
FANS OF AMC’S TENSE, DARK
and o en corrosively funny drama “Breaking Bad”
are used to curveballs. So it likely came as no surprise that the series’ fi h and
supposedly final season would instead be split into two mini seasons, with eight
episodes airing starting this month, followed by eight more next year.
The good news: Bryan Cranston, who stars as high-school-teacher-turned-
meth-mastermind Walter White, will definitely be gracing our TV screens into 2013.
The bad news: The end is nonetheless in sight. And in truth, it always has been.
“My character has terminal lung cancer—that’s something we told the audience
right up front, and it’s still true,” Cranston says. “We’re not going to all of a sudden
discover it’s all been a dream, or have a doctor telling Walt, ‘I’m sorry, sir, I had the
wrong chart. You’re fine!’”
The chance to play a man with nowhere to go but down—and fast—is what first
drew in Cranston, whose biggest previous role was that of hapless-but-lovable-dad
Hal on “Malcolm in the Middle.” When
“Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan
told himhow the showwould take
Walter “fromMr. Chips to Scarface,” the
actor says, “my jaw dropped.” The show
debuted to raves from critics and began
racking up Emmy nods (Cranston has
won three times for his performance),
and even in its fourth season it’s
continued to build its audience.
As for what the last 16 episodes
might hold, Cranston may sound as
if he’s playing it close to the vest (“the
story comes out of the gate and takes a
le turn … there’s a strong intellectual
component, not as violent but just as
intense …”), but even he isn’t privy yet
to how it will all play out. And that
suits him fine.
“Walter White is on this roller
coaster, twisting and turning, and he
doesn’t knowwhat’s going to happen
in the next hour, let alone the next
week,” Cranston says. “So I just have
to strap myself in and hold on just like
the audience does.”
july 15
Breaking Away
Julymarks the beginning of the end for an AMC hit
and its Emmy-magnet star
MOVIES
The Watch
, starring Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill and Vince Vaughn as suburban dads who defend Earth against an
alien invasion
BOOKS
True Believers
, Kurt Andersen’s novel about an attorney who withdraws her name from Supreme
Court consideration because of events in her past
TV
Showtime’s “Weeds,” debuting its eighth (and reportedly final)
season
MUSIC
Gossamer
, the much-anticipated follow-up to Passion Pit’s infectious 2009 electro-pop breakthrough,
Manners
//
Skelethon
, the first full-length album from indie rapper Aesop Rock since 2007
//
The latest from the Zac
Brown Band,
Uncaged
, which Brown describes as a “country-Southern-rock-bluegrass-reggae-jam” record
Addictive Stuff
Unlike his “Breaking Bad”
alter ego, Bryan Cranston
will give
his
signature recipe
to anyone who asks nicely.
Bonus: You don’t need a
superlab to make it.
Peanut Butter Power Balls
3 parts all-natural creamy peanut butter
4 parts nonfat drymilk
1 part pure honey (or agave nectar)
1.
Sprinkle dry milk into peanut butter and mix
thoroughly. Add honey.
2.
Shape into bite-size balls on dinner
plate; place in freezer for at
least 15 minutes.
3.
Pop them into
your mouth.
Feel the power
of healthy
energy. You’re
welcome.
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SOMONEY
Bryan Cranston
as the morally
challenged
Walter White in
“Breaking Bad”
culture
THEMONTHAHEAD