What You Didn't Know About Bryan Cranston's Daughter Taylor Dearden
Actor Bryan Cranston became a household name thanks to his star-making role on AMC's Emmy-winning series Breaking Bad. After he played teacher-turned-meth maker Walter White from 2008-13, Cranston has starred in many other movies and TV shows, including Trumbo, Godzilla, The Upside, Your Honor, All the Way, and more. But you might be surprised to read that Cranston isn't the only successful actor in his family.
He is married to fellow actor Robin Dearden and together they have a daughter, actress Taylor Deardon. She graduated from USC's School of Dramatic Arts in 2015 and has followed in her parents' footsteps. In 2016, Taylor starred in MTV's short-lived series Sweet/Vicious about two college girls seeking revenge against sexual assaulters on their college campus. Aside from that role, there's still plenty more to know about the actress, including a small, but notable cameo she made in her dad's own famous TV show.
Taylor Dearden made her acting debut on Breaking Bad
Back in 2010, Bryan Cranston's daughter Taylor Dearden appeared in a Breaking Bad as her acting debut. In the season 3 premiere, titled "No Más," Dearden played a high school student who speaks out at an event about the emotional toll of the Albuquerque mid-air plane collision that occurred at the end of season 2. Cranston's character, Walter White, is at the high school during her speech. Unbeknownst to everyone, Walter's actions inadvertently led to the crash and he seems to feel some guilt about it — but most of all, doesn't want to get caught.
This isn't the only time Dearden has shared the screen with her real-life dad. In 2012, the Cranston-Dearden family, consisting of Cranston, Dearden, and Dearden's mom Robin, appeared in a Human Rights Campaign "Americans For Marriage Equality" PSA. Dearden also inspired part of Cranston's performance as Walter White. In the season 2 finale, he watches as Jesse Pinkman's girlfriend chokes in front of him and he doesn't help her, causing her to die. During that scene, Cranston admitted in a 2018 PeopleTV interview that he pictured Dearden. "I saw my own daughter's face come to light and die in front of me," Cranston said. "It was so upsetting and you couldn't shake it ... To this day, that makes my heart feel heavy."
Aside from Breaking Bad, Dearden's other work includes a Netflix cult hit.
Taylor Dearden starred in the Netflix series American Vandal
In 2018, Bryan Cranston's daughter Taylor Dearden starred in Netflix's American Vandal season 2. The mockumentary series hilariously parodied true-crime documentaries and focused on investigating gross teenage crimes. The second season examined "The Turd Burglar," who tainted lemonade with laxatives at a high school — and threatened to strike again. In the series, Dearden plays Chloe Lyman, a student at the school who contacts the two teen documentary filmmakers to investigate the incident and find the culprit. The filmmakers stay at her family's home and, of course, hilarity ensues on the journey to find the Turd Burglar.
While the series was a cult hit and loved by many fans, unfortunately, Netflix canceled American Vandal in October 2018. Sadly, that means none of the characters — including Dearden's Chloe — will ever come back to the streaming platform and investigate another hilarious case of high school mischief.
Taylor Dearden also filmed a bunch of pilots
Bryan Cranston's daughter Taylor Dearden has amassed quite an acting resume with credits like her guest appearance on Breaking Bad, her starring role in the short-lived TV series Sweet/Vicious, and Netflix's American Vandal. She has also starred in a bunch of TV pilots, some of which unfortunately didn't get picked up to full series.
For instance in 2018, Dearden and actor Aubrey Peeples starred in the Hulu comedy pilot for Search and Destroy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series was inspired by Carrie Brownstein's memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. Sadly, the show didn't move forward. A year later in 2019, Dearden was cast in the CBS pilot To Whom it May Concern with Raymond Ablack and Michael Cassidy, per Deadline. Unfortunately, that series also didn't seem to get picked up. But, it seems very likely that Dearden will be making her way to TV screens again soon — it's just unclear when.