Bryan Cranston could soon be back on the boards.
The two-time Tony winner told me (shortly before telling his friend, “Careful what you say. He works for The Post!”) at the opening night party for “Celebrity Autobiography” Monday that he expects the London revival of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons,” which he starred in alongside Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Paapa Essiedu, to head to Broadway next spring.
I saw the play, which is directed by Ivo van Hove, back in December. And as is typical of the Belgian auteur responsible for Broadway’s brilliant, blood-soaked “A View From The Bridge,” it’s seismic, starkly stylish and superb.
Cranston and Jean-Baptiste are ferocious. And Essiedu, who played Chris, won the Olivier Award in April. Essiedu’s schedule could be tough, though. He’s the new Professor Snape on the upcoming “Harry Potter” HBO TV series. But, hey, Hogwarts let John Lithgow take some PTO this season for “Giant.”
The “Breaking Bad” star was at Redeye Grill Monday night after the funny Broadway show “Celebrity Autobiography,” in which performers skewer bold-facers such as Celine Dion and David Hasselhoff by reading their ridiculous memoirs aloud.
Cranston, whose theatrical career hasn’t exactly been filled with yuks, said he wants in on the action.
“I’d be honored if something that was found in my autobiography was read onstage,” the actor said. “I’d be, like, ‘Oh my God, I remember writing that!’”
Cranston was upstairs at the West 56th Street restaurant with Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos celebrating Hanks’ wife Rita Wilson, who is one of many rotating readers in the show, along with Gayle King, Vardalos, Kenan Thompson, Jackie Hoffman and many more.
The actor said that as he sat down at the Shubert Theatre Monday night he readied himself in case Wilson set her target on him.
“I wrote one 10 years ago, and so I was wondering — because Rita’s a friend of mine — I thought, ‘Did she find an excerpt from mine?’.”
Luckily Cranston was spared, because these crowds are definitely laughing at the celebs — not with ‘em.
When I pointed out to the 70-year-old actor that his last decade could easily warrant a Volume 2, he agreed.
“I have enough material for another book,” Cranston said. “And then I’m in a group of character actors, friends, and we’re writing a book for charity of other stories. So I have three stories in there.”
The actor loves the stage and is currently two for two at the Tony Awards, for his performances as President Lyndon B. Johnson in “All The Way” and Howard Beale in “Network.” A three-peat could be in the cards. Joe Keller is a towering, emotionally demanding role.
But, he said, theater is a tough gig. And for many Hollywood stars, it’s completely off the table.
“There’s no money in it,” Cranston said. “You actually are losing money by doing theater. That’s how difficult it is for actors who are here in New York just doing theater. They have to constantly be working.”
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