Would you jump off the side of a building to getting an acting job in Hollywood? That was the question that confronted Bryan Cranston before becoming an iconic actor known for his portrayal of Walter White in Breaking Bad. And it is what you will need to do too (metaphorically) if you want to get ahead in life.
Early Career
Early in his career, Bryan Cranston was a struggling actor in Los Angles looking for any work. One day his agent called him about a Mars Bar commercial that would feature a young man rappelling off a huge rock. Snappy music plays in the background while a smiling alpinist sticks a perfect landing and then celebrates with a Mars candy bar. It sounded like the kind of role Bryan could do with only one minor problem, he had never been rappelling before in his life.
As Bryan told Conan O’Brien on Conan’s late-night show(watch here), “I’ve never even wanted to do it.” But he did want a job, so he said yes to the audition.
Bryan was asked at the audition, “Tell us about your mountain climbing and rappelling experience.”
“Wow, where do I start?” replied Bryan. He proceeded to weave a tale about going camping at Mount Shasta with his family. Embellishing the story by telling them he liked to attempt more difficult climbs in the park’s remote areas. It was a good story; the only problem was that none of it was true. Bryan had never been rock climbing or rappelling in his life. As he writes in his book A Life in Parts, “Mountain climbing was, in fact, one of a few recreational activities that I had no desire to do.”
Nonetheless, Bryan wove an excellent tale, and the casting team was taken in. They liked what they heard, and there were plenty of smiles and nods all around. Bryan felt confident a call back was in his future, and he was on the cusp of landing a paying role in a TV commercial.
That was when the casting director said to all the prospects, “The clients would need to see you actually rappel off the three-story office building next door. How would you feel about that?” Terrified would have been the correct answer for Cranston. But when he saw the tentative looks on the faces of the other actors, Bryan said, “Cool, let’s do it now.” That was a bit of bravado he felt safe with because he knew that the crew was not prepared to do the rappelling at that time.
Learning the Ropes
Feeling confident that he would get a callback. Bryan went home and called an outdoor outfitter that catered to seasoned mountaineers. Chad answered and agreed to spend one day teaching Bryan basic climbing and repelling for $100. They met at Chatsworth Rock later that week. Chad was not quite what Bryan had been hoping for in an instructor. He had a strong California accent and a laid back style. Cranston asked himself if he wanted to put his life in the hand of someone who was probably stoned. No, he did not, but he did want that role, so he went along.
Chad demonstrated all of the gear, techniques, and terms that Bryan would need to know interspersed with generous use of words like “tubular” and “gnarly.” Then Chad demonstrated how to descended the vertical face with a grace that belied Bryan’s earlier concern about Chad being chemically impaired.
Then it was Bryan’s turn. Rather than leaning back and descending perpendicular to the rock with one hand on the rope in front of him and one behind his back to control the descent rate, Bryan panicked. He clung to the rope with both hands in front of him and hung parallel to the rock. Chad seemed unperturbed by this failure in technique and shouted encouragement to Bryan, who remained frozen in place.
Eventually, Bryan was able to get himself into the proper position. With his feet planted on the rock and one hand behind his back, he began to walk down the rock. A little at a time, until he made it to the bottom. Cranston had done it.
Bryan repelled down several more times that day. Going from a man hanging onto a rope for dear life the first time. To “shrieking with joy like a child in a bounce house,” by his third attempt. By the end of the day, he could leap off the rock, turn around 360 degrees in the air, and land back on the rock like he had been doing it his whole life. Which incidentally is what he had told the casting crew at his audition.
Show Time
Bryan got the callback two days after his single rappelling lesson. True to the casting director’s word, the second audition was held outside the three story building. Lots were drawn, and Bryan would be the third of four people to demonstrate their aerobatic skills.
The first prospect made it down the building but in a halting and uninspired performance. The unimpressed casting director turned to the next man and said: give it some energy, have fun. The second man tried to outdo the first by yodeling on his way down. Still, the musical accompaniment could not distract from his lackluster performance on the rope.
The casting crew was now looking at each other. If they could not find someone who could pull off the rappelling, the project was done. That was when Cranston got inspired and said to them, “I see that the guys are rappelling using a double gold line through their figure-eight descenders. Is it all right if I hook up with a single? It’s kind of like packing your own parachute.”
The director had no idea what Bryan had said, so he agreed. Bryan took the elevator to the top of the building. Out of sight of the casting crew below, he asked the stuntman at the top of the building to help Bryan get his gear arranged correctly. Then he stepped to the edge of the building, waved to the crew below, and pushed off. Whereas the others had walked down the building, Bryan leaped backward into the air on his first bound. On the second, he executed a complete 360 in the air. And on his third bound, he landed on the ground next to the director. Bryan had the part.
Two weeks later, he got the directions to the location for the commercial shoot. It was Chatsworth Rock. The same place that Chad had taught him to rappel not two weeks earlier. The rock on which Bryan had first panicked but later learned to master the 360 that had secured him this role. In a fit of good humor, Bryan told the producer, “You’re not going to believe this, but Chatsworth Rocks is where I first learned how to rappel.”
The Lesson
Cranston had agreed to do something he was utterly unprepared to do, namely repel off a three-story building. Then he took the next step and went to learn what he needed to know. Bryan literally jumped before he was ready. Cranston believed that if he put in the effort, he could be prepared when he needed to be, and he was. That made all the difference. It got him the role in the commercial, but it did more than that. That experience convinced him that he could do more than he currently knew how to do. He learned to trust himself. To trust that if he took the chance, he would find a way to make it work.
We can all learn a lesson from this. Sometimes the only way to get ready is to agree before you are prepared. You can never be ready for something you have never done before. All you can do is do it.
My Experience
When I auditioned for a TEDx talk, I had never done an event like that before. I simply was not ready. I had an idea of what I wanted to speak about, but it was only an idea. So I got to work. I learned as I went. Fortunately, I had the help of coaches and the encouragement of the other speakers. I did not know how to deliver a TED speech when I agreed to do it, but I did know what to do when the event arrived. I jumped (metaphorically) before I was ready. I learned that you figure it out by doing. I could never have learned to be a TED speaker from a book or by practicing alone at home. If I had waited until I was ready and confident, I would have never been done it.
Look around at the things you wish you could do. The experiences you don’t feel you are ready for. Then take a step forward. Agree to something you are not yet prepared for. Then get busy doing that thing. The only real way to get ready is to start.
1 https://teamcoco.com/video/bryan-cranston-learned-how-to-rappel-for-a-commercial
2 https://amzn.to/3m8oJkj
