‘The Studio’ Star Bryan Cranston Calls David Zaslav Too ‘Boring’ To Base His Character On, Reveals Real Inspiration

Bryan Cranston has quelled speculation that his performance as the boss on Apple TV+’s “The Studio” was based on Warner Brothers CEO, David Zaslav. “I did a deep dive on (Zaslav) and I thought, ‘Well, he’s so boring,’” Cranston told the audience on Saturday at the Television Academy’s Televerse festival. “There’s nothing funny about David. I’m sure he’s a great CEO.”

Cranston, who plays eccentric studio head character Griffin Mills, took the stage alongside Seth Rogen, James Weaver, Kathryn Hahn, Chase Sui Wonders and Dave Franco to discuss their Emmy-nominated work on “The Studio.”

Cranston was also quick to brush off the theory that Mills is based off Tim Robbins’ producer character of the same name from the 1992 film “The Player.” Instead, he credited the writers for creating the character and said that he found inspiration for his performance from the audiobook “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” written and narrated by producer Robert Evans. The actor then humored the crowd with an impression of the old Hollywood mogul recounting his pursuits of a beautiful woman in the Paramount commissary.

After listening to the memoir, Cranston said that his reaction was, “Oh my God. That’s inappropriate at every level. This is the guy I’d like to play.” He then celebrated the fun of playing Mills, who serves as an antagonist throughout “The Studio,” prioritizing profit over creativity and indulging in every outdated, politically incorrect habit of Hollywood’s old guard.

“In shooting this show, we were free to do every single inappropriate thing we ever thought of,” he reflected. “That’s the fun. We get to let you know dark sides of our character, or their inappropriate sides. It was a blast.” The entire panel concurred with Cranston that the show was a rush to work on. Their work has seemingly paid off, as “The Studio” is currently nominated for 23 Emmys, including best comedy series.