Bryan Cranston is setting the record straight after reports circulated last week that the “Breaking Bad” Emmy winner would retire from acting when he turned 70 in 2026.
“Some news came out that wasn’t entirely clear…even to me,” Cranston wrote in a recent Instagram post. “So I wanted to set the record straight. I am not retiring.”
While many understood Cranston’s comments in a British GQ interview published Thursday as a plan to retire from the industry while he pursues a quieter life abroad his wife Robin Dearden, he clarified his intent to take a step back from acting as a “pause.”
“What I am going to do is hit the pause button for a year after I reach my 70th birthday in 2026,” Cranston wrote, adding “Holy crap – 70!” “I’m not even sure what ‘pausing’ means entirely, but at this moment, I think it means that by taking a year off it will provide several things.”
Cranston’s reasoning for a “pause” is two-fold: spending more time with his wife and providing a “reset” in his career.
Expanding on his comments in British GQ, in which Cranston elaborated on his dream to move to a foreign village, likely one in France, with his wife, he noted that the break would enable him to spend time with his other half “in a way that I haven’t been able to in the last 25 years … not as a wife of a celebrity, but as a loving married couple entering into — well, let’s be honest, our latter years, with new hopes and goals and experiences.”
While Cranston also expressed gratitude for his well-rounded acting career that he calls “an unbelievable ride for over two decades – with playing characters on TV, films, and on stage that [he] could only have dreamt about,” he admitted he would benefit from a step back from the big screen in order to enter into the industry with a refreshed spirit when he returns.
“I feel as though I’m beginning to run out of fresh ideas in how to play characters that I’m being offered,” he wrote. “So exploring a more expanded life experience will give me the chance to replenish my soul and prepare for whatever roles I may be afforded in a more authentic way.”
During the break, Cranston noted his plans to “unplug from social media, step off the hamster wheel of business, and dive into the classic novels that I’ve always promised myself I would read but haven’t.”
Before taking this pause, he also shared that he was “circling [his] attention on returning to Broadway … in a new light.”
“For now, let me just express my deep gratitude to all of you who have been so incredibly kind and generous with your time in reading my posts and following my career,” Cranston concluded. “I never take my good fortune for granted. I am blessed, and man, do I know it. I wish all of you well…and I’ll see you down the road.”
See Cranston’s full statement on Instagram below.
