Bryan Cranston wins Tony for best actor in a play
Former "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston has nabbed a Tony Award for his Broadway debut.
In a role far from TV's chemistry teacher-turned-meth kingpin Walter White, Cranston won the best lead actor in a play Tony on Sunday for playing former President Lyndon B. Johnson in Robert Schenkkan's "All the Way," which was also crowned best play during Broadway's biggest night.
"My first Broadway play was in 1977," Cranston recounted while accepting the award. "I snuck into the second act of 'Hair.' To this day, I still haven't seen the first act, but they tell me the second act was better because there was more nudity, so I fell blessed."
Cranston, 58, plays Johnson during his first year in office following the assassination of John F. Kennedy and explores both his fight for re-election and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
He beat out Samuel Barnett from "Twelfth Night," Chris O'Dowd from "Of Mice and Men," Mark Rylance of "Richard III" and Tony Shalhoub with "Act One."
Cranston, a three-time Emmy Award-winner, has also done goofy comedy in "Malcolm in the Middle" and most recently starred in the "Godzilla" remake.