YOU'VE DESCRIBED YOUR CHARACTER, LYNDON B JOHNSON, AS KING LEAR-LIKE. CAN YOU EXPAND ON THAT?
He has Shakespearean qualities to him. He's a warrior in his own right. He's got tremendous insecurities and greatness, ambition, shortcomings. He's a good storyteller, a leader of men, so you know he's got that bigness to him and the fragility that goes along with it. He was an amazing person. You cannot give one adjective to accurately say, 'Oh, that's who he is'. It's just impossible.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS BEHIND HIS DECISION TO PUSH THROUGH THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT?
He had an experience when he was shortly out of college, broke. He got a job teaching - in a place called Cotulla, Texas – immigrant kids, children of migrant farm workers, dirt poor kids and he noticed how the white enclave in the town treated them like second-class citizens. He knew them differently, as these bright-eyed willing, obedient, attentive, sweet children who are going to [suffer] prejudice throughout their lives because of the colour of their skin. That impact at 23 years old was deep and resonant in him, and he realised if anything was going to change, he'd have to do it.
DO YOU THINK THINGS HAVE IMPROVED?
Well, it's funny because we were shooting the scene in the movie where I'm signing the Civil Rights Act and there's Bradley Whitford [Hubert Humphrey] and Anthony Mackie [Martin Luther King Jr.] and as a joke Bradley says, 'And with that signature is the end of racism'. As if with a signature there will be no racism. Creating laws that prohibit segregation or prejudicial treatment towards any other human being is what's needed, but does that erase racism? Of course not. Is it prevalent? Does it find its way through jealousy, ignorance, anger, lack of education, lack of nurturing? I mean, are we ever going to see the end of it? Of course not.
IF YOU WERE PRESIDENT, WHAT'S THE ONE LAW YOU WOULD MAKE SURE WAS SIGNED?
It would be about climate change, it would be about making sure that we're not going to kill ourselves. I think anybody who doesn't think it's real is the fool, when you have 96-97 per cent of scientists saying, 'This is happening'. The people denying climate change are the ones who are in the radical camp, to deny it exists is radical. Not the other way round.
YOU'VE MET PRESIDENT OBAMA WHO'S A HUGE BREAKING BAD FAN. WHO WAS MORE EXCITED TO MEET WHO?
I was more excited to meet him. He was the most popular guy in the room, not me!
WHAT IMPACT HAS THE SUCCESS OF BREAKING BAD HAD ON YOU?
I appreciate the success because it's created opportunity, but I don't crave attention in that sense. I'm a very blue-collar kind of guy; my parents were children during the Depression, and [they instilled in me]: get a job, hold a job, work hard. And that's the way I choose to live. I just keep my head down. As far as nominations and things like that? Lovely, but that's not at all why I do it. I don't do it for money and I don't do it for awards. The fact that that has come I think is largely contributed to the fact that I don't pay attention to it. It's not what I'm looking for.
IS IT TRUE YOU'VE WRITTEN A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE?
I do have a book coming out, Life In Parts. It's autobiographical short stories about my life and I really enjoyed writing it. The solitude of it was very interesting, as my life now, as you can imagine, is very public and I meet a lot of different people on a daily basis and it's very social. I really enjoyed being alone. I just revealed things about my past, true stories about hardships and overcoming obstacles, things that made me feel insecure, things that I was afraid of in myself, funny things that happened that were true. It was a great experience.
:: All The Way premieres on Sky Atlantic on Wednesday June 29, with a second showing on Tuesday July 5, and will then be available on Catch Up, Sky Go and NOW TV
