Bryan Cranston Announces His Bittersweet Plan To Step Away From Acting

Acclaimed actor Bryan Cranston will stop gracing our screens in a few years, but it's for the nicest possible reason.

In an interview with British GQ promoting his latest film, "Asteroid City," Cranston revealed that he's going to take a step back from acting in 2026 so that he can devote more time to his wife of 34 years, Robin Dearden. Apparently, he has a specific plan in mind — he's going to shutter Dos Hombres (his production company) and move to a foreign country for as long as he can with Dearden (as the article notes, it'll probably end up being France). The actor will also turn 70 that year.

"I want to change the paradigm once again," he told GQ. "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."

"I want to have that experience," Cranston continued, fantasizing about his future. "I want to go for day trips and have the fire in the fireplace and drink wine with new friends and not read scripts. It's not going to be like, 'Oh, I'll read and see what I'm going to do.' No, it's a pause. It's a stop. I won't be thinking about [work]. I'm not going to be taking phone calls.... It's about taking a chance." Honestly? That sounds pretty great!

It's not entirely unexpected that Cranston wants to take a break from acting; though he's definitely successful and has built an incredible career for himself, he's also been working for decades. After making the leap from sitcoms — playing the dad on "Malcolm in the Middle," specifically — to prestige dramas with "Breaking Bad," Cranston's name entered the "who's the best actor?" conversation in a big way, and along the way, he's racked up Emmy wins and Oscar nominations. 

Now, he's working with celebrated director Wes Anderson alongside the rest of the star-studded cast on "Asteroid City," and an anecdote shared by his co-stars Hope Davis and Jason Schwartzman illustrated what Cranston is like behind the scenes. Apparently, when filming wrapped, Cranston threw a huge party for everyone and personally ensured that it would be a huge success. "It wasn't his movie, right? It's a huge ensemble movie, and yet he threw this beautiful party for everyone at the end because he's a gentleman, and he likes to make a good time," Davis said. Schwartzman pointed out that, in addition to hosting, Cranston made margaritas for everybody all night: "He made every single drink for everyone that night," Schwartzman says. "He wasn't at the party, he worked the party."

Sounds like Dearden will have a pretty great life with Cranston abroad — and as for his fans, we still have a few years left to enjoy his performances.

Speaking of fans, Cranston's announcement has quite understandably made waves among the fandom, with many admirers of his work taking to social media in order to voice their opinions about the news. "Idk why I thought he was still in his 50s but damn it will be sad to see him step away from the big screen," u/ThatRandomIdiot expressed their shock on Cranston's age and impending retirement on Reddit. Elsewhere, user u/frizzbee30 dealt with the loss by bringing in the jokes. "Ok, he needs to be certified as a 'national monument' so he is available at least annually. But oh well, good on him, but what a loss to acting," they wrote.

While it's understandable that some fans are disappointed to see an acting titan of Cranston's caliber step away, people also expressed support for the actor's plans. "If Bryan Cranston wants to retire and move to France in a few years, he's earned it," writer Jon Winkler tweeted in no uncertain terms. Meanwhile, u/MajorKoopa suspected that Cranston's absence will be much briefer than reports indicate. "He'll be back to acting in 2027," they opined.

All in all, the fans seem to understand Cranston's desire to step away in a controlled fashion, but they're nevertheless sad to see him go. "It's a loss for us because he's great. But it's well deserved and he should take time to enjoy like with the person he loves," u/bsanchey summarized the sentiment.