“Everybody wants power, but they think it outta be given out free of charge, like Mardi Gras beads. Nothing comes free.”
That’s Bryan Cranston in the new teaser for HBO‘s film All The Way, a look at the struggles faced by President Lyndon Johnson to pass the Civil Rights Bill following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The movie is an adaptation of the Tony-winning play of the same name by Robert Schenkkan, who also wrote the movie script. Cranston also took home the Tony in 2014 for his performance as the 37th president, where just like here he helped complete his transformation via makeup and prosthetics.
In this trailer we see the political opposition LBJ faced from fellow Democrats in the South, as well as continued pressure from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, played by Anthony Mackie.
“Politics is war; you’re not running for office, you’re running for you life.”
Steven Spielberg served as executive producer on the film, which saw Cranston team back up with Trumbo director Jay Roach.
This is not the first time HBO has examined the turbulent and controversial presidency of Lyndon Johnson. In 2002 Michael Gambon took on the role of LBJ in the excellent Path to War, which also starred Alec Baldwin as infamous Secretary of Defense Robert McNamra. That film examined the president’s deeper investment into the Vietnam War and the political and personal toll it took on him. It only briefly touched upon the Civil Rights movement and the pressure exerted by Dr. King, so All The Way will have a very different focus.
The film premieres on Saturday, May 21, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it ended with Cranston taking home another Emmy.
What did you think of the trailer? Tell us in the comments below.
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Image: HBO
