Cranston in faceoff over LBJ
USUALLY OPEN ‘BREAKING BAD’ star Bryan Cranston has vetoed any question about the makeup he applies to play Lyndon B. Johnson in the Broadway drama “All the Way.” Cranston’s zipped lips came in the wake of a report in The New York Times that the Emmy-winning star gets in character with “help” from a “prosthetic nose, earlobes and chin.”
But a rep for the play says Cranston probably won’t be wearing any prosthetics for the show, which starts preview performances on Monday.
The actor, famous for his portrayal of crystal-meth-dealing chemistry teacher Walter White, played the polarizing 36th POTUS last fall in a pre-Broadway run in Cambridge, Mass. Prosthetics may have been used there and then deleted for New York. The rep told The News’ theater critic,
Joe Dziemianowicz, that the show and Cranston “are not discussing anything” about makeup.
What’s the big deal? Nicole Kidman wore a fake nose as Virginia Woolf in “The Hours” and rode that phony beak all the way to a Best Actress Oscar.
Last month, Cranston did talk to us, amiably explaining how he nails the White House top dog’s Texas accent.
“You drop your g’s, so we’re thinkin’ and feelin’ but not thinking and feeling,” he said.
Beyond hickory-smoked accents, the show did share that Cranston’s presidential wardrobe includes custom-tailored suits created at Eric Winterling Inc., a New York costume shop.
“The design of the suits was inspired by the cut and design of selected LBJ suits in the historical archive at the LBJ Library in Austin, Tex.,” says costume designer Deborah Dryden. Vintage ties and eyeglasses complete the look. Cranston believes the play by Robert
Schenkkan S is eye-opening about White House politics 50 years ago and today’s government gridlock.
“Back then, those men knew that it was a horse trade, that in order to get something done you had to give up something,” he told The News. “In a way, it holds up a mirror ...”
Cranston has been gearing up for the show by getting to know the neighborhood. After breaking from rehearsals last week, he indulged in some Cuban comfort food, and he’s hit Victor’s Cafe, next door to the Neil Simon Theater. The cafe is an old favorite of Cranston, who was a fan when it was at the original Victor’s site on W. 71st St., we’re told. “Real Housewives of Miami” star Joanna Krupa is sexy and elegant in halter-neck full-length dress and white clutch at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood.