Bryan Cranston ‘Almost Successfully Killed Off The Cast Of The Office’ In First And Only Directing Job On Show

Bryan Cranston might have been responsible for a few deaths through his character in Breaking Bad, but The Office star Rainn Wilson has described how he also almost caused some real-life fatalities on the set of the hit comedy.

Wilson and Cranston recently reunited for the film Jerry and Marge Go Large, based on the unbelievable true story of a couple who managed to 'crack' the lottery and win repeatedly, but Wilson opened up about his other hard-to-believe tale while talking about the film with UNILAD.

The pair previously worked together when Cranston directed an episode of The Office titled Work Bus, in which Wilson's character Dwight moves the staff members on to a bus while the office building undergoes maintenance work.

You can watch Wilson recall Cranston's Office directorial debut below:

Cranston took the reins for the Office episode when he was, as Wilson put it, 'flexing his directing muscles'.

He had previously directed a few episodes of Malcom in the Middle and a couple of other projects, but Work Bus marked his first time on The Office, which by that time had racked up a number of prestigious awards.

Wilson described the episode as a chance for Cranston to get 'some experience', but said it also 'happened to be an Office episode where he almost successfully killed off the cast'.

Assuring his tale was 'absolutely true', Wilson said it was a 'blazing hot day', so an air conditioning unit was set up behind the bus to blow air in and help keep the cast cool.

What Cranston and the crew failed to realise, however, was that the exhaust of the bus was pumping right into the air conditioning unit, which was then blowing the fumes back into the bus and consequently into the lungs of the cast members.

Alamy

"We were all filled with carbon monoxide, half the people were vomiting, the other half passed out," Wilson said.

Thankfully the cast soon realised what was happening and the situation was resolved, with Wilson joking Cranston 'did not succeed' in wiping out the entire cast of the hit show.

Wilson agreed it was definitely a memorable directorial debut for Cranston, though interestingly the director did not return to the show after that. Still, he went on to direct episodes of Breaking Bad and Modern Family, among other things, so his reputation of nearly killing off casts didn't seem to haunt him too much.

The experience obviously didn't put Wilson off working with Cranston altogether, either, as they've been reunited on screen for Jerry and Marge Go Large, in which Wilson plays a shopkeeper who sells countless lottery tickets to Cranston's character, Jerry, and in turn helps him rack up his lottery wins.

Jerry and Marge Go Large is available to stream on Paramount+ now.

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