Bryan Cranston almost turned down 'Godzilla' role

NEW YORK - Bryan Cranston says he's excited to be part of "Godzilla 2014" but almost turned down the role because he was still working on "Breaking Bad" and thought he had to follow with "something serious."

In a recent interview about the film, which opened Friday, Cranston said he was worried that people might compare the two roles and say, "Oh, that's not anywhere near as good as 'Breaking Bad.'" "I didn't want to have that conversation," the actor added.

Cranston, who's currently playing President Lyndon B. Johnson in the Broadway play "All the Way," says he read the "Godzilla" script at his agent's urging and that's what changed his mind. "I was surprised by what I read. I didn't anticipate that," he said.

In chatting with "Godzilla" director Gareth Edwards, Cranston said he realized that the plan was to make a "character-based monster movie, and I thought that's pretty cool." He went on to conclude the TV series and film were so different, they couldn't be compared. "It's different camps altogether," he said.

Cranston, 58, said he loved watching the Japanese Godzilla films growing up and really bought into the idea "they are actually destroying a city, and I didn't realize that it was a man in a suit or anything."

In "Godzilla 2014," Cranston plays a nuclear scientist who becomes obsessed with what caused the destruction of a nuclear power plant in 1999.

The Emmy-winning and Tony-nominated actor ended his role as Walter White on "Breaking Bad" with last year's series finale after a 5-year run. On his wish list now is to do an "extremely long" film series where he could play the same character through different story lines.

Asked if he's looking to become intimate with another character the way he was able to be with Walter White, Cranston responded, "Oh, yeah. That's the whole goal."