Steve Zahn Doesn’t Buy Those Rumors That He Was Almost Walter White

Is there an actor who makes you smile whenever they show up? Like, you could be watching something that you aren’t even enjoying that much, but then they pop up, and suddenly, you’re like, “This is pretty good, actually.” You may not see them that often, but then, you realize that they’ve been working hard this whole time, just maybe not in the stuff that you watched. So you may think they don’t get cast enough, but you also need to widen your net and watch more things? You know what I mean? Is that actor also Steve Zahn for you?

Zahn is one of those people whom I have been watching for my entire life. I first saw him in That Thing You Do! and he has continued to delight me ever since. Both because I don’t see him much, and because I think he’s delightful, I’m always giddy when he arrives. His role in The Righteous Gemstones was incredible, and he made me cry big, salty tears in 8-Bit Christmas (which rules, by the way). I love Steve Zahn, and yet I’m just now learning that people think he was almost Walter White.

Bryan Cranston played Walter White, and it drastically changed his career. He went from a funny sitcom dad to a menacing leading man and Hollywood superstar. However, that almost didn’t happen because the studio didn’t want the Malcom in the Middle star to lead their prestige drama. Creator Vince Gilligan fought hard and eventually got his way. However, according to Cranston, Steve Zahn was a contender for the role, which would have made it quite different (the character would have been younger, for instance). But Zahn doesn’t think it was close.

The Treme actor is currently doing press for the upcoming “requel” of Anaconda. The Hollywood Reporter asked him if there was any truth to Cranston’s assertion that Zahn was up for Breaking Bad. Not only does Zahn pretty much deny the rumor, but he also seems to be hearing it for the first time. “Cranston is so awesome, but I find that hard to believe. I think Cranston is lying!” Zahn said while laughing. “He’s in London right now doing a play, and I’m shooting in London, so I’m going to go talk to him.”

Presumably, Zahn would have had some idea that he was close to being White if that was the case. Dismissing the idea as a fabrication makes it seem like that isn’t the case. Could it be that Cranston was given bad information? Was he told that someone else was in the running so that he wouldn’t feel as crushed when the studio rejected him? Things worked out how they worked out, so we may never know. What I do know is that Zahn probably would have been fantastic in that part, like he is in everything.