8 Little Known Tics In Bryan Cranston's Performance That Made Walter White Awesome

7. He Insisted On The Tighty-Whities

One of the most enduring and iconic images from the entirety of Breaking Bad actually comes from the very first episode. It's of Walter White, standing in the desert with a gun in his hand, moments after climbing out of the RV he had been so recklessly driving. This is our first introduction to the character and to the show, and it couldn't be more fitting. The bit that really stands out, though, isn't the gun, or the RV-cum-meth-lab, or the presence of Malcolm's dad; it's the underwear. Those tighy-whities are a part of the show's iconography, and as much a part of the character as hazmat suits. They may have been Vince Gilligan's idea, but the reason they appear in the finished product is thanks to Cranston. Working out in the freezing cold New Mexico desert, Gilligan was concerned about the comfort of his star, and asked if he wouldn't prefer to wear something like a pair of sweatpants. Cranston admitted that he'd be more comfortable, but because tighty-whities were the most pathetic thing he could possibly be wearing, changing wasn't even up for discussion. Had the actor been different, that image above may instead be a pair of sweats, which would surely leave less of a lasting impression.