Bryan Cranston

The Emmy-winning Breaking Bad TV star, 62, heads to the big screen for The Upside (Jan. 11). The feelgood drama is based on the true-life friendship of Phillip Lacasse (Cranston), a billionaire paralyzed after a paragliding accident, and Dell

(Kevin Hart), the newly paroled excon that he hires as his live-in caregiver.

Phillip and Dell couldn’t be more different. What makes their friendship work?

They didn’t expect anything from each other. Dell represented a different attitude that Phillip found refreshing and honest.

What challenges did the film present for you?

Not being able to use your body except for your neck and head, and the emotional challenge. I talked to several quadriplegics and discussed their lives, their emotional state and what it felt like for them to lose that mobility and how day-to-day is a struggle.

You’re currently on Broadway with Network, which originally came out as a film in 1976. How does it feel doing it now?

Astonishingly well. My character, Howard Beale, rails at the audience for not reading and for being addicted to their televisions. It turns out the addiction has not diminished at all. It’s actually grown.

What can you tell us about the upcoming Breaking Bad movie?

I really can’t say much, only because I’ve heard the rumors, like anybody else. I haven’t read a script. I’m thinking, Am I in it? If I’m in it, I’m dead, so is it all in flashbacks? Or is it years before?