Bryan Cranston to Play President LBJ in ‘All the Way’

The "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston will tackle the tumultuous Johnson presidency in new Robert Schenkkan play

Bryan Cranston is breaking presidential for his next role.

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Cranston, who plays meth baron Walter White in the AMC drama "Breaking Bad," will play President Lyndon Baines Johnson in the new Robert Schenkkan play "All the Way," which will begin performances Sept. 13 at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University.

"All the Way" tracks the first year of Johnson's presidency, after John F. Kennedy's assassination thrust Johnson into the highest office of the land. Depicting Johnson as "alternately bullying and beguiling," the play follows Johnson's push for Civil Rights legislation as the Vietnam conflict escalates.

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Cranston will be joined onstage by a cast that includes "This Is Spinal Tap" star Michael McKean, who'll play FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, and Brandon J. Dirden (the Broadway production "Enron"), who'll play civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

"All the Way" will be directed by Bill Rauch, the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which commissioned the play.

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Cranston's previous theater credits include Sam Shepard's "The God of Hell," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Barefoot in the Park."

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