Best TV Actor

Fans of Vince Gilligan’s career-defining series have long-since known that his goal when he began was to “take Mr. Chips and turn him into Scarface.” Walter White’s metamorphosis captured the imagination of audiences all over the globe and Bryan Cranston’s intricately crafted performance left viewers, critics, and his peers breathless. At once desperate, embittered, egomaniacal, and -- though it became poisonous -- loving and loyal to his family, Walter White is one of the most complex and mercurial characters that has ever graced the small screen. Cranston was not only able to deftly manage White’s series-long transmutation, but continuously delivered instantaneous and dramatic emotional shifts episode-to-episode, scene-to-scene, and moment-to-moment. It felt to us that White himself was never quite sure of what he may do next, which as a viewer was both exciting and a pure delight to behold. When we asked ourselves if Bryan Cranston was the correct pick for our best TV actor of the year, the answer was simple: “You’re Goddamn right.”