ABC/Fred Lee(NEW YORK) — Bryan Cranston stars as the title role in the biopic Trumbo, which tells the story of the late, blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.
“He was very active, very prolific, beautiful wordsmith and at the top of his game at 1947,” Cranston said of Trumbo on Thursday’s Good Morning America. “He was the highest-paid screenwriter in the world.”
“And then the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenaed him along with nine others and asked them that infamous question, ‘Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?’ And Dalton Trumbo was trusting that the question itself would be found to be unconstitutional,” said Cranston.
Instead, Trumbo lost his job, his home and almost his family after refusing to testify. He and the nine other screenwriters went to federal prison and became known as the “Hollywood Ten.”
Cranston said there’s a message to be learned from what happened back during the Cold War. “What I’m saying and what I think the message of the movie is: Never discount the value of those civil liberties and have that paramount in the discussion when you’re talking about government policy,” he explained.
The Emmy Award-winning actor stars opposite Helen Mirren, who portrays gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, who infamously named names of suspected Communists. And while the two may be at odds onscreen, off-screen they have a lot of love for each other.
“She is one sexy woman and a deep, deep talent,” Cranston said of his co-star. “She’s the queen, but she doesn’t act at all like it. She’s not the queen. She’s a very accessible human being. She’s wonderful and I’m grateful that she wanted to be in this with me.”
Trumbo, also starring Diane Lane and Louis C.K., is out Friday.
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