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For the Best Results, Start Before You are Prepared.

Charles Black M.D.
7 min readOct 22, 2020

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Photo curtesy of Chuck Black

Would you jump off the side of a building to getting an acting job in Hollywood? That was the question that confronted Bryan Cranston before becoming an iconic actor known for his portrayal of Walter White in Breaking Bad. And it is what you will need to do too (metaphorically) if you want to get ahead in life.

Early Career

Early in his career, Bryan Cranston was a struggling actor in Los Angles looking for any work. One day his agent called him about a Mars Bar commercial that would feature a young man rappelling off a huge rock. Snappy music plays in the background while a smiling alpinist sticks a perfect landing and then celebrates with a Mars candy bar. It sounded like the kind of role Bryan could do with only one minor problem, he had never been rappelling before in his life.

As Bryan told Conan O’Brien on Conan’s late-night show( watch here), ⁠”I’ve never even wanted to do it.” But he did want a job, so he said yes to the audition.

Bryan was asked at the audition, “Tell us about your mountain climbing and rappelling experience.”

“Wow, where do I start?” replied Bryan. He proceeded to weave a tale about going camping at Mount Shasta with his family. Embellishing the story by telling them he liked to attempt more difficult climbs in the…

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Charles Black M.D.
Charles Black M.D.

Written by Charles Black M.D.

Dr. Charles Black is a general surgeon, author, photographer, outdoorsman, world traveler and fireside philosopher. Website:https://chuckbphilosophy.com

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