AceShowbiz - Adrien Brody was influenced to move into television by Bryan Cranston. The "Asteroid City" actor has featured in a number of shows, including "Peaky Blinders", "Succession", and "Poker Face" in recent years, and he explained it was seeing the 67-year-old star's award-winning turn as Walter White in "Breaking Bad" that made him see how "incredible" the small screen could be.

"I think Bryan Cranston's character in 'Breaking Bad' set the bar really high. Until then, I didn't really see many opportunities in episodic work that I would rush to as an actor. That was something just incredible - an incredible journey," he told Radio Times magazine when asked why he moved into more TV work.

The 50-year-old star is very excited about the upcoming second season of "Winning Time" because the show has been such a "slow burn." He said, "The second season of 'Winning Time' comes out this summer and it's really exciting because I play [basketball coach] Pat Riley."

"It's been a slow burn for him to get into a position where I can portray the man that people know and recognise. It's so different to the early years, as he transitioned from being a ball player."

When he has time off, Adrien likes to paint and admitted he's relieved he kept art as a hobby rather than pursuing it as a career. He said, "I painted as a child, before acting, I had ideas of being an artist."

"I applied to performing arts for both the fine art and drama departments and I was rejected for my art portfolio and accepted for acting. I always say, 'Thank goodness, or I'd be a starving artist!' Now I have an acting career and I can still paint."

"The Pianist" star was also an aspiring magician as a child. He said, "I used to break a pencil with a dollar bill. There was always pencils and somebody always had a dollar. I was doing magic at four or five, then at 12, I focused on acting and gave up magic. Magic is very much like acting - creating an illusion and making it believable."