Dodge College hosts surprise guest Bryan Cranston

“Breaking Bad’s” Bryan Cranston joined students and faculty at Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts over Zoom for a Feb. 3 master class. WikiCommons

On its own, simply hearing they’d have the chance to speak in real time with Bryan Cranston, a six-time Emmy Award-winning actor and producer, would’ve been a thrill for students at Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Yet the evening of Feb. 3, there was an added layer of intrigue — only minutes before the weekly Master Class event, attendees were completely unaware that Cranston’s face would pop up on their computer screens.

After releasing an impressive lineup of industry guests to their Master Class series in the upcoming months, Dodge College played a wild card. It announced that the Feb. 3 session would feature a surprise guest kept secret until the start of the event, only divulging that the individual was “one of the most admired talents working in Hollywood today.” 

“With all the mystery surrounding it, I just had to be there,” said Amanda Doolittle, a Chapman screenwriting alumna.  

Doolittle was far from the only one allured by the surprise. Over 875 participants joined the Zoom call — a mix of professors and students alike — and after Cranston was revealed as the guest in a conversation moderated by professor Leah Aldridge, the Zoom chat feature hardly saw a moment of rest for the remainder of the 75-minute discussion.

Cranston told The Panther that accepting the invitation to speak from Stephen Galloway, the dean of Dodge College, was an easy decision to make. 

“I wished that more actors or performers would do that sort of thing when I was younger,” Cranston said. “To be able to listen to professionals in the entertainment industry that I wanted to get into and pick up on advice on how to navigate my way through it — I just feel compelled to do it. I want to help.”

Many students left feeling inspired by Cranston’s willingness to share the lessons he’d learned over the course of his illustrious career. Sophie Kelly, a sophomore television writing and production major, said she felt the group experienced an emotional connection within the event, even in a virtual format. 

“His vulnerability made us feel vulnerable,” Kelly said. “By the time we all got out of the Zoom it was this strange, profound, cathartic experience that we had shared. I feel like few speakers can be that captivating.”

Cranston touched on emotional topics throughout the night, emphasizing the importance of passion and stating that the way to achieve a career in the film industry is through genuine devotion to one’s craft.

“The only thing that’s going to sustain you is love. It has to be love within you that drives you to do this,” Cranston said during the master class. “If you want to be a professional, fall in love and don’t just fall in love, but be true and dedicated to that relationship.”

Cranston doubled down upon that message in speaking with The Panther, highlighting it as the most important piece of advice he hoped students would take with them. 

“Anything that’s of value — a loving relationship, caring for people, creating something, creating art, having it appreciated — it all takes a lot of work and a lot of energy and commitment,” Cranston said. “This is very personal. This is our hearts and our souls.”

The words touched many at the event, including associate professor Joseph Rosenberg, who appreciated the well-rounded approach Cranston took to offering career advice.

“In addition to teaching specifically about the subject matter, there has to be a component in our teaching that deals with each student in a holistic way, in a complete 360-degree way,” Rosenberg said. “Life is a mental game, and what Bryan Cranston talked about was having positivity and looking at life in a glass-half-full way.”

Cranston told The Panther that the impact of Dodge College’s focus on teaching artistic vulnerability was palpable in the emotion put into students’ questions.

“It’s important for universities to put their arms around the arts and say, ‘This is just as important as any science that we teach,’” Cranston said. “I feel that from Chapman.”