Bryan Cranston has snagged his first post-Breaking Bad role. The actor will play screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted in Hollywood after he refused to testify for the House Un-American Activities Committee.
According to Deadline, the film will be directed by Game Change’s Jay Roach and will be simply titled Trumbo. John McNamara penned the script, based on the book by Bruce Cook.
Trumbo was among the highest-paid screenwriters when he was blacklisted and continued to work throughout the 1950s under pseudonyms. During this period, he won Oscars for Roman Holiday and The Brave One. The award name on the award for The Brave One was not officially changed until months before Trumbo’s death in 1976 and the name on Roman Holiday’s Oscar wasn’t changed until 1993.
A start date for the project wasn’t set. Cranston is currently in Massachusetts for a stage play titled All In The Way. He was linked to Man of Steel 2 as Lex Luthor, but he said earlier this month that he hadn’t hear anything about it himself.
Breaking Bad ends on Sept. 29.
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