Bryan Cranston Explains His Character’s Questionable Judgement In Dark Drama ‘Your Honor’

It’s a parent’s worst nightmare – your child does something horrific that irrevocably alters their life, and the lives of others.

Natural instinct for any parent is to try to fix whatever has gone awry, in such a way that his or her child isn’t in any kind of pain.

But just how far should a parent go to try to ‘fix the situation?’

This is the question at the heart of the new series Your Honor, in which Emmy winner Bryan Cranston stars as a New Orleans judge who is forced assess his convictions when his son is involved in a hit and run that embroils an organized crime family.

Creator Peter Moffat hopes that the narrative has viewers saying things like, “No, no, no, no, don’t do that.” But, he hopes that then viewers are also saying, “But if that were me, I would probably do the same.”

Cranston revealed that one of the reasons the role appealed to him was because, “I have never been a worrier before in my life, until I became a father. And then you start thinking about safety [in everything]. There’s a saying that once you become a parent, you wear your heart on the outside, it does feel that vulnerable. So, I think that the premise of Your Honor, is going to capture that level of anxiety that every parent feels [asking], ‘how do I keep my child safe?’”

But, in this story, it’s the parent asking the child to make questionable claims, says Moffat. “Adam, (Cranston’s son on the series) is 17 years old. I suppose you could describe him as being on the cusp between childhood and adulthood, and it’s hard for him to do what his father is asking him to do, which is to lie, to keep a secret, arguably, to commit criminal acts right, in order to protect himself.”

A unique physical feature helps Cranston portray his angst on screen, he says. “I was blessed with a face that’s like a roadmap. With all the lines on my face, at any particular time, I convey a level of worry and concern just by showing up.”

The fact that his character is a judge adds an additional layer to the already complicated situation, say Cranston. “The man who is on the bench determining right from wrong is now retrofitting his life so that he can create those alibis and those false statements that he’s heard for the past 20 years on the bench. It’s a painful way of dissecting what he needs to do. But he does have to reverse engineer everything he’s experienced in his law career, and use it now to save the life of his own son.”

After playing another bad guy that viewers rooted for when he starred as meth dealer Walter White in Breaking Bad, Cranston explains why playing antagonistic characters appeals to him, saying, “I think just generally I’m really attracted to characters that are complex and flawed, and to the dilemma that the decision-making you [do] now is going to have a ripple effect.”

Ideals and morals play a huge role in the narrative, explains Cranston. “Most of us feel very confident in our moral standards, wherever that may be. But our morals and ethics really only come into play when [you] face a challenge.”

Moffat agrees, but says that he’s had to do some additional evaluation in light of working on the show.  “I, like Brian, like to think that I knew what my moral standards were. But, actually, the process of writing this show over the last couple of years has made me think, much harder and become less sure about what my moral standards are.”

To confuse matters more, Moffat says that, “More than one thing can be true of one character at the same time. And sometimes those two things can be in opposition. And I think, as a writer, you have to be brave and, incorporate those differing elements inside single human beings so that it just makes the drama more interesting.”

Cranston points about that the series also makes statements about the societal issues, saying that, “Justice is not blind, it sees where it wants to go. And certainly, if a rich person is involved in the same crime as a poor person, you’re going to have a different result more often than not.” He says this same principle applies to race a well, and his hope is that, “people will start to wake up to these realities. And perhaps there could be some social change on the horizon.”

While he’s the star of the series, Cranston is also a producer and directs the last episode, he insists that the resolution of the story shocked even him. “I will tell you that the finale surprised me. As I’m starting to read it. I went, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe that it went to that place!’”

To this end, he pledges that viewers who stick with the 10-episode series will be pleased at its conclusion. “Be patient,’ pleads Cranston. “You’ll get a shocking reward. [What happens] absolutely surprised me, I swear it did.”

‘Your Honor’ airs debuts on Sunday, December 6^th at 10e/p on Showtime.