Bryan Cranston talks ‘Last Flag Flying’ and the joy of working with director Richard Linklater

From the small to the silver screen, Bryan Cranston proves himself time and again as master of both drama and comedy. The star blends the two in his latest film “Last Flag Flying,” which hits movie theaters Friday.

In the film directed by Richard Linklater, adapted from Darryl Ponicsan’s 2005 novel, Cranston stars alongside Laurence Fishburne and Steve Carell. It’s considered a semi-sequel to Hal Ashby’s 1973 film, “The Last Detail” (also a novel by Ponicsan).

Set 30 years after Ashby’s film, as the story begins the three military men haven’t seen each other in decades. They’re brought together for a road trip to bury Carell’s son, who was killed in the Iraq War.

For Cranston, who plays the smartass alcoholic Sal Nealon, it’s a role that allows him to add levity to an otherwise dramatic film.

“Sal is the kind of guy, if he is sitting quietly at a table, his knee is bouncing. He’s constantly smoking or eating or drinking,” he says of his over-the-top character.

“He’s ADHD and PTSD for sure, and how he has managed to cope with that is not in the most mature way — he self-medicates.”

A degree of humor is imperative, the 61-year-old says, when it comes to sustaining a serious film.

“All good dramas have a significant amount of humor to buoy [them], so that you don’t drive your audience down into a level of exhaustion from taking on so much heavy emotion,” he says. “Conversely, all good comedies should have some pathos or meaning to allow us to invest. Human beings want an investigative dive into those characters so that we can feel for them.”

Working under the direction of Linklater was a freeing experience, Cranston says.

“What I really enjoy about Rick is he’s so easy to be with,” he says. “He doesn’t demand or expect a lot of pomp and circumstance around him, but he is a man who knows what he wants, and that’s always good to be decisive.”

Cranston says the “Boyhood” director cultivated an environment ripe for creativity, too.

“What Rick does mostly as far as his directing style, is he allows us to play,” he says. “He hires the actors, we talk about what Sal is thinking at any given time, then he allows us to explore the characters.”

He adds, “I also respect the fact that if asked a question, he won’t [lie to] you if he doesn’t know the answer, and that allows the actor to trust the director.”

Although everyone involved with “Last Flag Flying” tries to play down any connections to Ashby’s film, Ponicsan was involved with both films, co-writing the script with Linklater for this one.

“I remember seeing the movie, but it had been many decades,” Cranston says about following in the footsteps of Jack Nicholson’s character in “The Last Detail.”

“I didn’t want to go back and look at Jack Nicholson, and I would be a fool to try and do an impersonation of him.”