Bryan Cranston recalls 'Malcolm in the Middle' stunt that made his body 'shut down'

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Cranston reflects on acting career: I’ll act ‘as long as people will have me’

Bryan Cranston discusses his father’s influence on his acting career and his most pivotal roles, including "Seinfeld," "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Breaking Bad."

A number of brave actors decide to take a risk and perform their own stunts, which can put themselves in scary situations.

That has happened to a few A-listers, including Bryan Cranston, who took a trip down memory lane to a moment when he was filming "Malcolm in the Middle" more than a decade ago.

The "Breaking Bad" star was a guest on "The Graham Norton Show" where he revealed a terrifying incident while filming "Malcolm in the Middle."

Bryan Cranston was a guest on "The Graham Norton Show" where he revealed a terrifying incident while filming "Malcolm in the Middle." (Getty Images)

"One time, I did a thing where my character was in a depression, and he started painting, and I was completely covered in blue paint," Cranston told Norton on Friday, according to the New York Post.

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He added, "Completely, head to toe, in blue paint." Bryan was referring to a scene from the 2001 episode "Hal Quits."

"As you shoot, you’re moving around, and then there was a part of me, at one point, I was like starting to shut down the circuits," Cranston said. "And they went, ‘Boom,’ and they grabbed me, and they threw me in the shower and they just – it was weird."

Bryce Dallas Howard joined Cranston on the talk show to promote their new film, "Argyle."

"Malcolm in the Middle" cast members Christopher Masterson, Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek are shown in 2001. (Kevin Winter)

"I was going to say, that’s not safe, Bryan," Howard said. Cranston couldn't agree more.

"It’s not safe because your body can’t regulate the heat if you’re covering up all your pores," he added.

Despite the dangerous encounter, Bryan revealed in 2023 that he would be excited for a "Malcolm in the Middle" reunion.

Bryan Cranston was involved in a scary stunt while shooting an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle." (Getty Images)

"There was some talk about the possibility of doing like a reunion movie of ‘Malcolm in the Middle,'" Cranston told E! News last June. "We had such a great family on that, and I certainly would be open to that if there was a good idea that came up like, ‘Oh, that would be fantastic to explore what happened to this family 20 years later.’ I can’t believe it’s already that, but that would be fun to do."

Here is a look at a few other stars who have injured themselves on-set or have thought their lives were in jeopardy while filming a movie or television show.

Carey Mulligan

Mulligan co-starred in "Maestro" with Bradley Cooper. During their appearance on "The Graham Norton Show," Bradley revealed that one of the first times he met the actress, she was injured so badly that he took her to the emergency room.

"Carey was in a one-woman show, and I went backstage to meet her and realized something was not right, and I insisted on taking her to the emergency room," Cooper recounted as he and Mulligan appeared on the talk show.

Mulligan jumped in to explain that a piece of the set had hit her on the head, saying, "I carried on, but when it was over, I started crying and thought I was a goner."

She added, "I was sobbing on the floor when Bradley turned up and, realizing I wasn’t OK, he took me to hospital. You can imagine how delighted the nurse was."

Bradley Cooper revealed that one of the first times he met Carey Mulligan he rushed her to the emergency room. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)

Cooper and Mulligan have been nominated for Academy Awards for best actor in a leading role and best actress in a leading role for their work in "Maestro." Cooper, who also directed and co-wrote the film, plays composer Leonard Bernstein while Mulligan plays his wife, Felicia Montealegre.

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise has pushed his body to the limits for his work in the "Mission: Impossible" series, riding on the wings of planes, diving underwater for minutes at a time, and driving and running through cities non-stop.

However, even the seemingly indestructible Cruise can suffer an on-set injury.

While filming "Mission: Impossible - Fallout," Cruise performed a stunt jumping between buildings, breaking his ankle in the process.

Tom Cruise is not a rookie when it comes to testing his limits for the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. (Don Arnold/WireImage)

In 2018, Cruise appeared on "The Graham Norton Show" with co-stars Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill and Simon Pegg while they were still in the middle of filming, which had previously paused production while Cruise healed.

"It’s still broken, but I’m doing well," Cruise said of his injury at the time. "It’s not fully healed, but we’re shooting."

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Cruise added, "We have a release date, so we’ve got to keep going."

He also brought along footage of the accident from multiple angles, explaining he was always meant to crash into the side of the building as part of the stunt and then pull himself up. It was the crash that went wrong, and in the footage, you can see Cruise’s foot hit the building incorrectly and break.

"I knew instantly it was broken," he said, admitting that he did not want to do the stunt again, so he opted to keep going and finish the scene.

"We got the shot, it’s in the movie. That profile shot, both those shots are in the movie," he revealed.

Buddy Ebsen

Buddy Ebsen was originally cast as Tin Woodman (Tin Man) in 1939's "Wizard of Oz."

He did not see the role through because he was poisoned by his costume, which was largely made of aluminum dust, Time magazine reported.

Buddy Ebsen was originally cast as the Tin Man in "Wizard of Oz." (John Springer Collection/CORBIS)

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Nine days into filming, Ebsen was hospitalized and required an oxygen tent, but he later recovered. Once the producers realized Buddy was not healing fast enough, they replaced him and ultimately cast Jack Haley to appear as the Tin Man in the legendary film.

With Haley, the crew learned from their mistakes and mixed the aluminum powder into a paste before applying it on the actor. The outlet reported that Haley got an eye infection from the paste, but his injury was treatable.

Jack Haley was cast as Tin Woodman in "The Wizard of Oz." (John Springer Collection/CORBIS)

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford has had his share of on-set injuries throughout his career, something he does not quite wear as a badge of honor.

In an interview with Esquire in June, Ford acknowledged his accident-prone career.

"Yeah, well, I’m also known for shutting movies down because I get hurt, which is not something you want to be known for. But hey, s--- happens," he said.

Harrison Ford said he's known for "shutting movies down" throughout his accident-prone career. (Hannes P Albert/picture alliance)

While filming "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," Ford pulled the subscapularis muscle off his right shoulder during a fight scene. Production had to shut down for two weeks, and Ford needed to sit out an additional six weeks on top of that.

Among the other injuries the star has suffered throughout his career are a broken ankle while filming "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," a torn ACL during "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark," and a leg injury that gave him a limp for "The Fugitive."

Still, Ford refuses to slow down his stunt work.

Harrison Ford portrayed the title role in "Indiana Jones." (CBS)

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The 81-year-old star said that after filming a scene where he rides a horse on a subway platform in New York, he finished the scene and felt the stunt team’s hands on him.

"I look down and there’s three stunt guys there making sure I didn’t fall off the stirrup," he explained. "They said, ‘Oh, we were just afraid because we thought, you know, and bah bah bah bah.’ And I said, ‘Leave me the f--- alone, I’m an old man. Leave me alone, I’m an old man getting off a horse and I want it to look like that.'"

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone put his body through a lot for the "Rocky" franchise, having to train and step into the ring to play the iconic boxer.

Stallone was so committed that for "Rocky IV" he told co-star Dolph Lundgren, who played the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago, to allow a few punches to connect for real.

Sylvester Stallone punches Dolph Lundgren in a scene from "Rocky IV." (Getty Images)

That proved to be incredibly dangerous.

"Dolph Lundgren put me in the hospital for nine days," Stallone said in a 2020 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I knew I was in trouble when I showed up and nuns met you at the ICU."

The Oscar-winner said he encouraged Lundgren to "Just go out there and try to clock me. For the first minute of the fight, it is going to be a free-for-all."

However, the punch landed him in the hospital. Doctors told Stallone that the hit, an uppercut to the chest, "caught the ribs and hit the heart against the rib cage" and that it was an injury more typically seen in head-on collisions.

Sylvester Stallone revealed that Dolph Lundgren put him in the hospital for nine days after filming a scene in "Rocky IV." (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Stallone said he joked, "‘Close. I did hit a bus, of sorts.'"

Lundgren also spoke with the outlet about the accident.

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"All I did was obey orders," Lundgren joked. "He was the boss. I did what he told me. We came back to L.A. and the producer was like, ‘Hey, Dolph, you’ve got two weeks off. Sly’s in the hospital.'"

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Stanton contributed to this report.