Brow Beat

Bryan Cranston Brings His Tony-Winning Lyndon B. Johnson to HBO in the Trailer for All the Way

Bryan Cranston as LBJ in All the Way.
Bryan Cranston as LBJ in All the Way.

HBO

Fresh off his career-defining role as Walter White on Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston stepped into the shoes of a comparatively noble figure on Broadway, playing Lyndon B. Johnson in All the Way. His performance in the play—which begins in the immediate aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and continues through to Johnson’s re-election the following year—earned Cranston rave reviews during the show’s 2014 run, plus the Tony for Best Actor.

Now, for those of us not fortunate enough to have seen Cranston embody the beleaguered president on stage, here’s the next best thing: the actor is starring in HBO Films’ upcoming feature-length adaptation.

Here he re-teams with director Jay Roach, with whom he recently worked on another mid-20th century historical drama, Trumbo—though frankly, All the Way looks like it’ll be a much more fascinating use of Cranston’s talents than that glossy, by-the-numbers biopic. The cast is impressive, too, with Melissa Leo as Lady Bird Johnson, Frank Langella as Sen. Richard Russell, and Anthony Mackie as Martin Luther King, Jr. All the Way premieres on HBO on May 21.