Bryan Cranston is channeling Dalton Trumbo, the blacklisted screenwriter he plays with gusto in the biographical film directed by Jay Roach (“Game Change,” “Recount”).
Trumbo famously helped end the Hollywood blacklist by following his conscience. Cranston, an outspoken liberal, is continuing the fight off-camera, talking about protecting the First Amendment while doing publicity for “Trumbo.”
“History repeats without the diligence of citizens,” Cranston warned.
The film, which opened Friday, is an often amusing tour of a shameful period of American history, when Trumbo was the face of a group of screenwriters and directors who declined to tell a congressional committee whether he was, or had ever been, a member of the Communist party and refused to name names of those who were. He stuck to his convictions, was indicted for contempt of Congress, tried and convicted. In 1950, the Colorado-born and bred Trumbo was sentenced to and served a year in prison.
“He was not a communist. He was a member of the American Communist Party. He was a socialist, and, yes, he loved being rich. He was also very compassionate about the working class,” Cranston said.
These days, when a proud socialist from Vermont is running for president, the fear inspired by may be difficult to fathom.
It’s important to Cranston that younger generations of filmgoers learn about the Hollywood 10 and the ruinous results of that 1947 witch hunt.
“(It was) a dogged determination by a select group of people that created a maelstrom of damage, ruined lives, careers, families. The ripple effect was tragic,” he said. “I hope it’s a cautionary tale that is also entertaining.”
“The right to be wrong”
The message of “Trumbo,” he said, is the importance of allowing opposing views to be heard and of granting each other “the right to be wrong.”
Case in point: right-wing provocateur sight unseen. “Ann Coulter came after me,” Cranston said. “It would have taken a modicum of research to find that there was no perjury, that (Trumbo) didn’t commit a crime. They found him guilty of contempt of Congress.”
Of course, Cranston believes that Coulter, too, has the right to be wrong.
The film builds to a climax as Trumbo is revealed as the pseudonymous creator of award-winning films, effectively breaking the blacklist. In fact, Trumbo won both his Oscars while blacklisted: for “Roman Holiday” (1953) and “The Brave One” (1956).
Hedda Hopper and John Wayne line up on the side of misguided patriots. Otto Preminger, Kirk Douglas, Lucille Ball and President John F. Kennedy are depicted speaking out against the witch hunt.
Cranston sees modern parallels. “The polemic nature of debate that is pervasive in our society and politics today is incredibly damaging. I look at, say, Fox News, and disagree with most of what is being said, but I honestly don’t feel they are doing that to be contrarians. They feel this is in the best interest of the country. I hope they would share that feeling. That’s what the message of ‘Trumbo’ is: Not to fear each other but to embrace that we both have the right to be wrong.”
The Hollywood blacklist was “a witch hunt to find what they thought were enemies of the state. It was a dangerous, dark period. It resonates because, I think, look at the ,” Cranston said. Partisans on the special select House committee have come out and said, “By doing this, we’ve really driven down (Hillary Clinton’s) numbers.”
Colorado connections
Cranston spent time with the Trumbo family in formulating his character, and studied audio and video to capture the man and his theatrical, larger-than-life manner, down to the mustache, cigarette holder and horn-rimmed glasses.
“It was so helpful to talk to the daughters, who gave copious notes on the script,” he said. “I was very grateful to have that authentic point of view. They saw an essence of their father in my work.”
The family’s Colorado connections are well known. , born in Montrose and raised in Grand Junction, attended the University of Colorado. (His daughter Nikola, played by Elle Fanning in the film, graduated from the University of Colorado in 1962.) A in his favorite writing position, seated at the typewriter in the bathtub, cigarette in hand, stands in downtown Grand Junction.
“I’d like to see it someday,” Cranston said.
Whispers about an Oscar nomination for Cranston accompany the film’s opening, but, he demurs, “It doesn’t enter my mind.”
Still, wouldn’t it be amazing to hold a statuette and make a speech about Trumbo’s being denied his statuette, and what it all means?
“That would be a wonderful opportunity,” he said.
Next, Cranston will be play Lyndon B. Johnson in the film adaptation of the stage production of “All the Way,” airing on HBO in early May. He’s involved in a couple of small film projects and producing for television. “Sneaky Pete,” the crime drama he’s executive producing, bows next year on Amazon. His voice carries the animated series on Crackle.
Some devoted fans will forever see him as Walter White, “the one who knocks” on HBO’s “Breaking Bad” (2008-13), the role for which he won three Emmy Awards. Since then, he has also been in “Argo” and “Godzilla,” and on Broadway as LBJ.
He allows that “Breaking Bad” gave him
Will he always consider “Breaking Bad” a high point in his career?
“The high point for me was at 25 years old. I said, ‘I’m now an actor,’ moved to New York and was on a soap for two years (‘Loving,’ 1983-84).”
That was 17 years before he shot to prime-time comedy stardom in “Malcolm in the Middle” (2000-06).
When he landed that soap opera part, “it was more than just a job — there was a transition within me. I really felt I earned it. I was there and ready.”
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or @ostrowdp
