Bryan Cranston's blue paint scene from Malcolm in the Middle caused his body to 'shut down'

Publish date: 2024-07-04

Bryan Cranston, who appeared in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle got candid about a ‘dangerous’ scene which involved blue paint.

The TV star played the dad of the family Hal in the show, which ran for six years between 2000 and 2006. He was asked about the ordeal in a recent interview with Graham Norton, in which his character maniacally douses himself in blue paint. Everyone, including Bryan himself, was shocked he’d done it. It goes without saying the paint you put on walls isn’t safe for humans as it can really irritate the skin. Considering he was covered head-to-toe in it, it could have ended very badly.

Bryan Cranston and the blue paint scene

During a season two episode of Malcolm in the Middle, Byran Cranston covers himself head-to-toe in blue paint. His character does so after trying to become a painter following his quitting his job. Bryan described Hal as being “in a depression” and it was the reason for the paint incident.

Graham said: “Bryan, it seems like the writers of Malcolm in the Middle were trying to prove a point that you would do anything, were they trying to get you to go, ‘Actually, I won’t do that’?”

“Yeah, they did” Bryan responded, “they started to think, ‘What can we do that he won’t do?'” He then listed several things the crew made him do for the show, including having 60,000 bees on him and being strapped to a moving bus.

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“I did a thing where my character was in a depression and he started painting and I was completely covered in blue paint.”

“That’s not safe,” Hollywood actress Bryce Dallas Howard said. “It’s not safe because your body can’t regulate the heat if you’re covering up all your pores,” the Breaking Bad star agreed.

“But you’re alive?!” said Graham in shock. “He was lucky, he was lucky!” said Bryce.

Shooting the scene and its aftermath

Bryan Cranston was asked by fellow guest, Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya, about how long the blue paint scene in Malcolm in the Middle took. Bryan, 67, said it was “weird.”

He explained: “We were shooting and I was covered in blue paint. And then as you shoot you’re moving around, and then there was a part of me at one point [where] I was like…” he swayed slightly. “And starting to shut down the circuits, and they went ‘boom,’ grabbed me and threw me in the shower.”

“It was weird,” the celebrity continued.

“They could have murdered somebody, right?” asked Bryce incredulously. “To paint them to death,” quipped Daniel.

“It’s a very slow way to murder someone,” Graham joked. “Nearly finished!” he said, pretending to paint the air.

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Bryan Cranston's blue paint scene from Malcolm in the Middle caused his body to 'shut down'

Bryan Cranston and the blue paint scene

Shooting the scene and its aftermath