E! Online has excerpts from Bryan Cranston’s new memoir, A Life in Parts, and I have to wonder when he even had the time to write it, or to get help writing it. He’s just so prolific an actor and I keep picturing him in the bathtub writing on a typewriter and smoking like his character in Trumbo. Reviewers on Amazon rave about the book and say that it’s not a tell-all so much as a series of revealing vignettes. Judging by the details on E!, they do get revealing. Cranston muses about murdering an ex whom he calls a stalker, he admits he lost his virginity to a prostitute (he’s said this before but I would presume he gets into more detail) and he says that he has an agreement with his wife that they will go to therapy whenever one of them sees the need. He’s been married to his second wife, Robin Dearden, since 1989 so it must be working. I’ll just include a few of these here, and you can read more on E! or in his book!

Dreaming of Death and Murder: Before meeting and falling in love with his wife Robin Dearden, Bryan dated an ex-girlfriend named “Ava” who he alleges was a stalker. In the book, the actor recounted a gruesome daydream where he imagined taking out his anger on Ava by slamming “her head against the wall with a metronomic consistency. Clumps of hair and bits of skin and brain matter stuck to the brick.”

“I remained calm. I was released from fear and anger. I wasn’t glad or relieved or filled with satisfaction. I felt nothing. I let go of her and the body slid to the floor,” Bryan continued. (page 120)

The Power of Therapy: While he may have played the tough and macho Walter White on Breaking Bad, Bryan has no hesitations about going to therapy. After his dad was gone, his sister Amy suggested all the siblings go to a professional. “I see a therapist from time to time when I’m feeling edgy or anxious, and Robin and I have been to a couples’ therapist periodically,” he admitted. “We have an agreement. If either of us feels like going, the other can’t object. I suggested this system to her before we were even married, and it’s worked for us over the years.” (page 255)

Saying Goodbye to Bryan’s Virginity: During his first trip abroad, Bryan and his buddies found themselves determined to lose their virginity. While two of his friends had no hesitation about paying for sex, Bryan was a bit more hesitant. It also didn’t help that he barely had any money on him. But once a woman was standing over him, all bets were off. “In the room, she indicated I should take off my clothes. This was happening,” he wrote. “There’d been no fireworks. No tenderness. No talking. We never exchanged names. I’d had no idea what I was doing. It was just this stranger and me at the particular moment in time. As uncomplicated as it should be.” (page 47)

[A Life in Parts via E! Online]

Have you dreamed of murdering an ex? I have but I’ve never admitted it before. It just seems so dark, but Cranston isn’t afraid to go there. Is it horribly misogynistic for a man to describe murdering an ex girlfriend in graphic detail or is it ok because it’s just a fantasy? I’m thinking of Eminem’s lyrics and I’m honestly asking because part of me is aghast and the other part realizes I’ve had those thoughts too. Also, it sounds rather practical to have an agreement with your partner to go to therapy whenever one of you feels like you need it. Relationships are work and getting outside help to reconnect can only be a positive thing, especially if you’re imagining scenarios where your partner ends up dead.