Bryan Cranston Reprises 'Breaking Bad' Character for Super Bowl Ad
The Super Bowl LVII commercials are on pace to continue the recent trend of bringing in celebrities to reprise beloved roles. Bryan Cranston will be featured in a spot this year, playing his Breaking Bad character Walter White for PopCorners, a Frito-Lay chips brand. PopCorners teased Cranston's involvement in their commercial in late December.
The first teaser showed Cranston as White holding a bag of white cheddar PopCorners, but his face was obscured by a shadow. On Wednesday, Cranston and PopCorners shared the full image, showing Cranston wearing the familiar meth-dealing science teacher's hat and costume. "Breaking soon," Cranston wrote, adding the date of Super Bowl LVII, Feb. 12.
Although this is the first time the Breaking Bad character will be used for a Super Bowl spot, Variety notes this is not Cranston's first time working in the food industry. In 2019, he joined his Breaking Bad co-star Aaron Paul for Dos Hombres, a mezcal brand. Cranston and Paul spent most of 2022 touring the country to promote the brand.
Breaking Bad finished up its five-season run in September 2013. Cranston later made a cameo in the 2019 sequel movie El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie featuring Paul's Jesse Pinkeman. Paul and Cranston also played their characters in two episodes of Better Call Saul's final season last year. Cranston won four Emmys for his performance and a fifth Emmy as an executive producer in 2013.
Cranston can now be seen in Showtime's drama Your Honor, which is in the middle of its second and final season. Last year, he starred in the Paramount+ movie Jerry & Marge Go Large with Annette Bening. He also stars in Matthew Vaughn's upcoming thriller Argylle and Wes Anderson's comedy Asteroid City.
Super Bowl commercials have been leaning into nostalgia for years. During the 2022 game, Chevrolet recreated the famous opening for HBO's The Sopranos, with Jamie Lynn Sigler replacing the late James Gandolfini. Robert Iler, who also starred in The Sopranos, was featured in the ad. The Sopranos creator David Chase and director of photography Phil Abraham were involved in the spot's creation.
Super Bowl LVII is scheduled for Feb. 12. The game will be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the site of Super Bowl XLIX in 2015. Rihanna will perform the halftime show and Fox will broadcast the game.