Bryan Cranston is today well-known for portraying characters such as Breaking Bad's Walter White, but he also had a small role in Stephen Spielberg's classic war movie Saving Private Ryan. The 1997 movie starred Tom Hanks and also featured a number of supporting players who would go on to become major Hollywood actors, indicating Spielberg's eye for talent. Cranston plays a military officer who has a pivotal role in getting Saving Private Ryan's main plot moving.
Cranston was a fairly unknown character actor at the time Saving Private Ryan was filmed. His early filmography mostly consisted of voice roles on cartoons and series like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, as well as small comedic parts, such as a recurring role as a doctor on Seinfeld. After the movie, Bryan Cranston would be cast as earnest but bizarre father Hal in Malcolm in the Middle, still awaiting a reunion, establishing his comedic reputation. Cranston would later go on to brilliantly subvert this sitcom dad reputation by playing the increasingly vicious and deluded Walter White in Breaking Bad.
In Saving Private Ryan, Bryan Cranston plays Col. L. W. Bryce, who is working in the War Department. He appears about 30 minutes into the movie, shortly after Saving Private Ryan's famous D-Day scene when news of the battle's dead is sent back to the home front. One of the secretaries notices that among the dead is the third of four Ryan brothers involved in the war, with only one Ryan left alive. Bryce then takes this message up the chain, meeting with General George Marshall and Captain Fred Hammill, the latter played by Ted Danson in another Saving Private Ryan cameo. This meeting leads to Tom Hanks' Captain Miller's mission to save the remaining Ryan which gives the film its title and main plot.
Col. Bryce seems to be a highly decorated officer and is missing his right arm, suggesting he has served in battle and been injured. It's a fairly minor character, but Bryan Cranston imbues him with a recognizable warmth and gravitas. He also plays a pivotal role in the plot. If not for Bryce recognizing the importance of saving the last remaining Ryan, and taking the idea to his superiors, the remainder of Saving Private Ryan wouldn't have happened – which likely would have meant the loss of the crucial bridge around which the movie's action climax is set.
Bryan Cranston's Saving Private Ryan cameo is another example of Spielberg's talent for spotting actors. Saving Private Ryan's cast in particular was a showcase for many actors who would go on to have prominent careers. Most notable is Matt Damon, who plays the titular Private Jim Ryan, but was chiefly known for appearing in independent films when the movie was shot. A young Vin Diesel also appears as Private Adrian Caparzo, the first member of Miller's crew to die. Other now-famous actors who have Saving Private Ryan cameos and minor roles include Paul Giamatti, Nathan Fillion, and Giovanni Ribisi.
Despite focusing on a small slice of World War II, Saving Private Ryan is a sprawling movie with a large cast, all of whom have their own part to play. Bryan Cranston's cameo as a war department colonel is an example of just how deep Saving Private Ryan's cast is. It's also one in a long line of examples of how today's bit players can be tomorrow's stars.