{
  "id": 10541321,
  "title": "John Cusack debunks rumor he was almost Walter White",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/john-cusack-debunks-rumor-he-was-almost-walter-white",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-28T17:44:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The A.V. Club",
    "slug": "the-a-v-club",
    "url": "https://www.avclub.com/john-cusack-debunks-walter-white-rumor"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "During a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, actor John Cusack, playing Utopia, finally debunked the rumor that he was almost cast as Walter White in the hit TV series Breaking Bad. The actor had to directly confirm this with the show's creator, Vince Gilligan. The rumor, which had circulated for a long time, stemmed from a conversation Cusack had with host Josh Horowitz of the podcast. Horowitz had asked Cusack about another rumor of him turning down a role in Zack Snyder's Watchmen, which Cusack denied. However, when discussing the Walter White rumor, Cusack was taken aback. He had forgotten about the story and was unsure whether it had ever occurred. He met Gilligan, the show's creator, in New York after the series premiered and confirmed that Gilligan had not offered him the role. Cusack expressed gratitude to Gilligan, stating, \"Thank you, Vince!\" Cusack emphasized that no one else could have played Walter White as Bryan Cranston did, as it was meant to be his role. Regarding another rumored Walter White, Matthew Broderick, Cusack claimed he once got mistaken for Broderick in public, but there was no confirmation from Broderick regarding his involvement in the role.",
  "summary": "The High Fidelity star went right to the source to unravel the long-held Breaking Bad casting story.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}