‘Breaking Bad’ Star To Talk With Locals

“Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston will have a sort of homecoming Friday night at the Cinemas Palm d’Or when he participates in a question and answer session for “Larry Crowne,” which stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

The film features Cranston – one of five owners of the Palm Desert theater -- and Ian Gomez of ABC’s “Courgartown,” who will both appear at the Q&A following a special 6:30 p.m. Friday screening.

Cranston plays an important role in the Cinemas Palm d’Or, according to another of the theater’s co-owners, Steve Mason.

“He and I have been friends for years, and it has been gratifying to see his acting career take off,” Mason said.

Cranston is most celebrated for his breakout role in the gritty AMC series “Breaking Bad,” for which he earned three back-to-back Best Actor in a Dramatic Series Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series.

Cranston’s other upcoming films include ‘Drive,’ co-starring Ryan Gosling, Steven Soderberg’s ‘Contagion,’ Pixar’s ‘John Carter, Rock of Ages’ and the remake of “Total Recall.”

Mason, who will moderate Friday’s Q&A session, praised the “Larry Crowne.”

“‘Larry Crowne’ is the kind of summer movie ‘grown-ups’ have been waiting for,” he said. “No special effects … nothing blows up … no giant 3D robots – just the story of regular people in a down economy who are trying to retrain and find new careers, with one of them – Larry Crowne played by Tom Hanks – finding love along the way,” he said.

Advance tickets for this limited-seating event are available on a first-come-first-served basis at the theater box office or by phone (with no service charge) at (760) 779-0430.

Cinemas Palme d’Or is located at the Westfield Palm Desert mall at 72840 Highway 111 in Palm Desert.