The New Blue Power Ranger Loves That His Character Is an Homage to Bryan Cranston

Will Lerner
·Producer, Yahoo Entertainment

For Bryan Cranston to play Zordon in Power Rangers is certainly a moment of coming full circle for the award-winning actor. In the ’90s, well before he was Walter White, Lyndon B. Johnson, or Dalton Trumbo, Cranston did voice-over work for the television series as various villains. Clearly, Cranston made an impression, because they decided to name one of the characters after him, with a slight tweak. The Blue Ranger, played by David Yost, had the real-life alias of Billy Cranston.

Bryan Cranston as Zordon in “Power Rangers.” (Photo: Lionsgate)
Bryan Cranston as Zordon in “Power Rangers.” (Photo: Lionsgate)

When Yahoo Movies had the cast of the newly updated franchise in our Los Angeles studios, we asked the new Billy Cranston, R.J. Cyler, about what it was like to assume the mantle of a character named after a popular actor.

“They named Billy Cranston after Bryan Cranston, which is, like, no pressure, almost,” Cyler joked. “It’s really cool to have that connection. I used to watch him on Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad. So I’m like, OK. This is the reason you name Billy after Bryan, because Bryan’s so awesome.”

Watch: Bryan Cranston Morphs Into the Red Power Ranger on ‘The Late Show’:

Read more from Yahoo Movies:

Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below.