Cranston grew up watching his actor father at work on film and television soundstages. “I knew when I was a kid there was something very special about walking onto a studio lot,” he says, “and to this day I still get a tingly feeling. There’s just something magical there. I guess I was destined to do this.”
Ty Burrell
Modern Family's well-intentioned but hilariously ineffectual dad, Phil Dunphy, struck a chord with viewers out of the gate, recognizable as a familiar part of almost everyone’s clan. “I get a tremendous amount of goodwill from strangers,” says Ty Burrell. “When I walk down the street, I get a big smile.”
The character has made Burrell smile a lot, too, and not just for the raves he’s garnered in the role. “I’m actually finding it therapeutic,” he says. “He’s so simpleminded and positive that it’s a break from my own neurotic brain! It’s a lot easier to get excited about going to work when you’re playing somebody who’s trying to do their best—even though he’s constantly knocking things over in his path.”
Though often cast in dramatic roles, Burrell had getting laughs in mind early on—he and his brother entertained themselves making up comedy bits while growing up in small-town Oregon. “I knew that’s what I loved the most,” he says. “It’s what I basically did my whole childhood. When people started seeing me as being able to do things outside of dramatic work, I felt, Oh, maybe I can do this! It’s what brings me the greatest amount of pleasure.”
Christina Hendricks
Before Christina Hendricks’ stint as Mad Men’s Joan Harris, casting agents overlooked the brassy backbone bolstering the curves. “People used to say, ‘I don’t see her being tough enough to play this kind of character,’” she remembers. “Now it’s the opposite. ‘We need a bitch—call Christina.’ I’m like, ‘Wait a minute—I’m nice, I promise!’” Indeed Hendricks excels at unveiling surprising sides of the saucy secretary whose dreams hit ceilings— glass and otherwise. “It was hard to watch Joan take one hit after another,” she says. “She really did pay for this cocky, confident behavior but still somehow kept her head high, had a sense of levity and shook it off.”
Reconciling her character’s inner dimensions is easier than embracing the signature ’60s-office-siren styles she wins raves for—her own look is more feminine flair than sleek shift dresses. “Joan is so poised and pulled together, but I’m sort of a goofball,” says Hendricks. “I want to do comedy—and fantasy—and action! I’d love to get a job where I have to train in kung fu for three months.”
Lea Michele
“I never thought I would get to do comedy—ever,” admits Glee star Lea Michele, reveling in the role of wildly talented, overambitious high schooler Rachel Berry, who alternately dazzles with showstoppers and takes slushies to the face. “Now all I want to do is do funny stuff!”
She’s relished the wackier turn after serious stage roles like Spring Awakening’s tragic Wendla, her breakout. “Every day on Broadway you tell a story, and it lives and dies within a night,” says Michele. “Literally, I lived and died every night!” Now she loves evolving her character episodically. “I understand Rachel’s sense of determination. She strives for perfection but sometimes needs to learn to give herself a little bit of a break.”
