Walter White (Heisenberg)

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Walter Hartwell White (also known by his clandestine alias Heisenberg) is the main protagonist of Breaking Bad, portrayed by Bryan Cranston. A graduate of the California Institute of Technology, Walt was once a promising chemist who was one of the founders of the multi-billion dollar company Gray Matter Technologies. He abruptly left the company, selling his shares for $5,000, and subsequently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where he became a high school chemistry teacher. After being diagnosed with Stage IIIA lung cancer, he resorts to manufacturing methamphetamine and drug dealing to ensure his family's financial security after his death. Series creator Vince Gilligan has described his goal with Walter White as "turning Mr. Chips into Scarface", and deliberately made the character less sympathetic over the course of the series. Walt's evolution from mild-mannered school teacher and family man to ruthless criminal mastermind and murderer is the show's central focus.

Although AMC officials hesitated to cast Cranston due to his previous comedic role on Malcolm in the Middle, Gilligan cast him based on the actor's past performance in the X-Files episode "Drive", which Gilligan wrote. Cranston contributed greatly to the creation of his character, including Walt's back story, physical appearance, and personality traits. Both the Walter White character and Bryan Cranston's performance have received critical acclaim. Cranston won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, three of them being consecutive, becoming the second actor to do so since Bill Cosby for I Spy in the 1960s.[1][2] Following his fourth win, Cranston tied Dennis Franz for the most wins in the category's history.

In the Spanish-language remake Metástasis, his character is renamed Walter Blanco and is portrayed by Diego Trujillo.