Happily Caught in the Middle

Bryan Cranston sits in a Studio City cafe, a man possessed.

He didn’t walk in that way. Cranston, who plays the alternately befuddled, overwhelmed and boyish father on Fox’s hit comedy “Malcolm in the Middle,” was grabbing a quick bite after the annual table read of the script for the third-season opener. His thoughts were primarily on his impending move to a new house with his family.

But in the middle of his meal, Cranston suddenly turned into Hal, (last name?), his “Malcolm” alter ego. He cocked his head, and his off-kilter grin dominated the blank-faced demeanor that the show’s creator Linwood Boomer describes as a man “building a rocket ship in his head.”

“I’ve got a whole mantel just waiting for those awards to come, a whole big mantel,” Cranston said with cautious glee, stretching his arms as he pictured the image of statuettes filling his living room. “There’s just so much available space. I’ve got the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, all ready to shine on them. I dust it off every day.”

The transformation was linked to a moment earlier in the day when Boomer had congratulated the cast and crew for the show’s eight Emmy nominations, including one for outstanding comedy, one for outstanding actor for Frankie Muniz and the second consecutive outstanding actress nomination for Jane Kaczmarek. Boomer also noted soberly that some on the show had been unfortunately overlooked by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences voters. Eyes wandered slyly in Cranston’s direction.

Back at the restaurant, the Hal moment passed as quickly as it arrived, and Cranston became himself again--an actor who makes a laughing matter out of his status as the non-star star of Fox’s quirky family comedy.

While Kaczmarek, who portrays Lois,plays the loud, no-nonsense mother, Muniz, who plays the teenage title character, and Boomer have gotten the lion’s share of attention and accolades, Cranston, 45, has largely been overshadowed. He is not in the same popularity league as such sitcom fathers as Robert Young of “Father Knows Best,” Robert Reed of “The Brady Bunch” or Homer Simpson of “The Simpsons.” Muniz and particularly Kaczmarek have become breakout stars, the subjects of numerous magazine and newspaper profiles, but Cranston is getting short shrift.

“I am truly baffled by why Bryan doesn’t get a lot more attention,” Boomer said. “It’s true that Frankie and Jane have showier parts. But it just kills everyone here, the fact that Bryan is overlooked.”

Kaczmarek, who calls Cranston “the heart and soul” of “Malcolm,” said the imbalance is “terribly uncomfortable.”

Added Gail Berman, Fox Entertainment president, who helped develop “Malcolm” when she was president of an executive at Regency Television, which produces the series: “Jane is so formidable. But if anyone just looked a little to the left, they would see? something real special going on. Bryan is so skilled and in tune with Jane. It is a real yin and yang.”

Similar imbalances among cast members have been known to cause tension on sets (“Family Matters” and “Cheers” being cases in point).

But the situation is just the opposite at the “Malcolm” production, Boomer said. Members of the cast, which includes Christopher Kennedy Masterson (Francis), Justin Berfield (Reese) and Erik Per Sullivan (Dewey), act as if they were a family.

“Bryan is the least upset of anyone about all this,” he said. “He was the first one to call Jane when she got her nomination. And everyone else was talking about how he got passed over.”

When asked how he feels about his relative lack of recognition, Cranston looked down momentarily at the cafe table, then broke into a huge smile.

“When I see Jane and I know what this has done for her, all I feel is happiness,” he said. “I’m thrilled to death for Frankie.”

And he looks back to recent acting experiences, including less-than-pleasant stints on two network dramas. It put everything into perspective. Most important to him, he says, is being a dedicated working actor who finds more fulfillment in the work than the applause.

“I feel so rewarded,” he said. “To get upset about this is just nonsense. People who get into this for the glory don’t stay long. I’m a spoke in the wheel, a piece of the pie. It would be like being fed cake all the time and then complaining, ‘Where’s the icing?”’

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The opening episode of the third season of “Malcolm”--which revolves around a mischievous young genius, his slightly frenzied family, (which Boomer says has no last name to keep them nondescript) and his friends--involves putting Cranston in a typically outrageous predicament.

In preparation for a vacation on a houseboat, Hal, Lois and Malcolm go shopping for clothes. Upset by Lois’ efforts to buy him baggy swim trunks because of his tendency to “pop out,” Hal tries on a tiny Speedo in the dressing room and emerges to model for Lois. But he mistakenly approaches another woman from behind and playfully grabs her rear. The embarrassing moment becomes worse when he does indeed “pop out” (off camera, of course).

Cranston has had more than his share of over-the-top moments during the last two seasons. In one episode, he had a near-meltdown as he tried to paint a mural in his garage of the artistic vision he had in his head. In another, he repeatedly unzipped his pants and rubbed his leg as part of a pre-bowling game ritual. He has done battle with clowns. And with the help of the makeup department, he has the hairiest back on television, which has to be shaved occasionally.

While he often maintains some control over himself and the boys, Hal regularly explodes into spasms of comic exasperation.

“Just the fact that Bryan can do and, most importantly, will do anything is worth recognition,” Boomer said. “It gives the writers total free rein. We once tried to think of what he would refuse, and we came up with the idea of putting 10,000 live bees on him. He said, ‘Hey, that sounds great,’ and we built an episode around that.”

“That was truly amazing,” Kaczmarek added. “I get wet with a garden hose, and I’m screaming for a stunt woman. Bryan gets covered with 25 pounds of bees and he’s perfectly happy, saying, ‘Well, I only got stung three times.”’

Boomer is even more impressed with Cranston’s handling of the role because Hal was little more than a blip in the first script.

Cranston’s audition took place just before shooting of the pilot started. The producers had had a relatively easy time casting the roles of Malcolm, Lois and Malcolm’s brothers. But the casting of Hal was more of a problematic.

Said Berman: “We were not satisfied with anyone we were seeing. And there wasn’t much for the husband to do in the pilot. I had this image that he was going to be slovenly. It was very vague just what Hal was going to be like.”

“It could not have been under worse conditions,” recalled Boomer. “There was construction going on, and we just had Bryan sitting in a little folding chair. We only had five or six lines for him to do. But Bryan had this strange look on his face, like there was so much going on behind his eyes. I just fell out of my chair and said, ‘He’s the guy.”’

Cranston recalled being a little perplexed as he approached Hal’s character in the beginning.

“Lois was a real force in the script, and I thought at first, ‘This guy she’s married to doesn’t really know who he is.’ So I just began thinking of what would be the perfect complement for her. She needs peace. She needs sensitivity. Hal is at peace, so when he gets riled up, it becomes that much funnier.”

Hal is based on a lot of different television fathers, Cranston said. “I think of Hal as a combination of TV fathers that have come before me. Andy Griffith was the strongest. Fred MacMurray always seemed a little removed from everything. I always admired how loose Dick Van Dyke was.”

Like Danny Kaye in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Cranston plays an ordinary man who often loses himself in his imagination.

Explained Cranston: “I knew that when Hal gets lost in his own thoughts, there had to be a reason for that to happen. It’s not that he’s distant or detached. He’s just taking a little vacation in his mind.”

Kaczmarek said audiences may respond more to Lois’ character because of her volume and the difference in her portrayal from other sitcom moms.

“People always talk about the loudest person, and I believe audiences are surprised to see a mother who isn’t just a silent balm,” she said. “But what I love about Bryan’s character is that he’s really not slacking off. He’s helping in very odd ways. Hal and Lois accept each other for what they are. They are not harping on their shortcomings. And even more importantly, they are very hot for each other.”

In the very first scene Cranston and Kaczmarek filmed together, Cranston was almost naked. To convey Hal’s hairiness, he was covered with yak hair.

“There was this little thing [(a small piece of strategically concealing clothing]) stuck to his privates, and he had such a sunny disposition. He made an embarrassing situation such a riot.

“And,” she added with a chuckle, “he’s got a really nice butt.”

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Cranston, who lives with his wife, actress Robin Dearden, and their 8-year-old daughter in the San Fernando Valley, where he grew up, appeared in his first commercial when he was 8.

But it was a cross-country trip with his brother following his graduation from Valley Ccollege that led him to pursue acting as a career. He started participating in several community theater productions.

“I decided then that what I really wanted to be was a good working actor,” he said. “I was willing to live any lifestyle acting afforded me. I was never hung up on money.”

His roles have included appearances on several series such as “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “3rd Rock From the Sun,” “The X-Files” and “Chicago Hope.” Dramatic roles have included astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the HBO miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon.” He also earned positive notices as Jerry’s dentist, Dr. Tim Whatley, on “Seinfeld.”

Although Cranston jokes easily about life on the “Malcolm” set, he grows serious when discussing two of his more recent roles on dramas produced by Steven Bochco: “Total Security” and “Brooklyn South.”

A guest shot on “Total Security” proved frustrating, he said, because he had no input into his character--a married man having an affair. And a recurring role as an internal affairs investigator on “Brooklyn South” was so exasperating that he ultimately asked to be released. He said scripts for the police drama were rewritten so often that he could not get a handle on the part.

Bochco declined to comment.

“I’m in a situation now where the writers obviously care about the character, and I can use my ideas too,” he said. “It’s the perfect job.”

And if the awards ever start coming in, he’s got the cleanest mantel in town.

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“Malcolm in the Middle” airs at 8:30 p.m. Sundays on Fox.