Cranston is to play the anchorman at the end of his tether, Howard Beale, in a stage adaptation of 'Network' helmed by Ivo van Hove.
Award-winning actor Bryan Cranston is set to make his debut on the British stage later this year, playing the role of the quixotic TV anchor Howard Beale in a new production of the 1976 movie Network.
The 60 year old actor, famed for his performances as science teacher-turned-drug dealer Walter White in ‘Breaking Bad’, will star in a production helmed by the acclaimed director Ivo van Hove. This adaptation of Network is just one of a number of new projects announced on Friday (January 27th) by the National Theatre’s artistic director Rufus Norris.
“It is great to broaden our pool of actors but the main thing is, can they do the job? And he clearly can. It is a wonderful part and a part which requires something compelling and special,” Norris said.
Bryan Cranston is to make his British stage debut in 2017
Other projects include Pinocchio directed by John Tiffany, and a version of Macbeth to feature Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff.
More: Bryan Cranston reflects on working with James Franco on ‘Why Him?’
But it is undoubtedly Cranston, who’ll be playing the unhinged anchor who is told he’s losing his job because of falling ratings and utters the line “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this any more!”, who will be the eye-catching signing for the National Theatre.
“It is a kind of a new phenomenon that a theatre director would get that kind of international kudos,” Norris said about Ivo van Hove, who has scored a number of successes directing big names such as Jude Law and Ruth Wilson on the stage.
“Ivo has been working for years and years and it has taken New York and then London a long time to cotton on to what most mainstream theatregoers in Europe have been aware of for a long time, which is his particular and singular style.”
More: From ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to ‘Baywatch’ – the movie reboots we’re most looking forward to in 2017
Tommu Wiseau is an ever secretive and Louisiana-born filmmaker who directed, wrote and starred in...
Imagine a world without dogs. It hardly bears thinking about, but in this dystopian look...
After hearing about the tragic death of his Marine son during his service in the...
Zack Taylor (Ludi Lin), Kimberly Hart (Naomi Scott), Billy Cranston (RJ Cyler), Trini (Becky G)...
Kimberly Hart, Trini, Jason Lee Scott, Zack Taylor and Billy Cranston are a group of...
Writer-director John Hamburg continues to recycle the formula that made his first hit Meet the...
Stephanie has always been a very intelligent girl and both her parents were joyous when...
Go Go Power Rangers! Billy Cranston, Jason Lee Scott, Kimberly Hart, Trini Kwan and Zack...
Robert 'Bob' Mazur is a federal agent who has been assigned the task of going...
Will and Jillian are in love and both have recently graduated collage. Jillian managed to...
This animated trilogy concludes on a very high note with this smart, involving and often...
An entertaining film about sobering true events, this is the story of notorious screenwriter Dalton...