Bryan Cranston Is Unrecognisable As US President Lyndon B. Johnson

From Heisenberg to Lyndon B. Johnson, you have to doff your cap to the range of Bryan Cranston.

For though it may not look like it, this is he playing the ‘accidental’ US president for an HBO adaptation of the stage play 'All The Way’.

- Real Names of Hollywood Stars
- New Dad’s Army Movie Still
- Is Daniel Craig Nearly Done With Bond?

Cranston played the role on stage too, but this make up really is pretty remarkable.

Here’s he is next to the actual LBJ…

Jay Roach, who has just finished directing Cranston in 'Trumbo’, the biopic of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, and who is also directing 'All The Way’ for HBO told People magazine: “Physically and emotionally Bryan completely channels LBJ.

“We just filmed him and Lady Bird in the Oval Office, after JFK’s assassination. LBJ has arrived as the ‘accidental President.’ He’s almost overwhelmed.

“In spiritual support, [Johnson’s wife] Lady Bird touches his cheek. We melted, like we went back in time and witnessed a private, heart-wrenching moment between these two great people.”

The synopsis described the plot thusly:

“1964: A pivotal year in American history - a landmark civil rights bill was passed, America began its involvement in Vietnam…and one man sat at the center of it all, determined to lift the country out of the ashes and rebuild it into The Great Society - by any means necessary. Hero. Bully. President. He played whatever part it took to win the day. It’s not personal, it’s just politics.”

The story begins as Johnson is sworn in, following the assassination of JFK, and follows the escalation of the Vietnam war and his landmark civil rights bill.

The HBO special will also star Melissa Leo as Lady Bird Johnson, Anthony Mackie as Martin Luther King, Stephen Root as J. Edgar Hoover, and Fran Langella as Senator Richard Russell.

There’s no air date as yet.

Check out the trailer for the excellent-looking ‘Trumbo’ below…

Image credits: HBO/Getty