Bryan Cranston plans to stop acting in 2026 to ‘level out’ his marriage: ‘It’s a stop’

Bryan Cranston is planning to step away from acting in 2026.

The “Breaking Bad” star, 70, said he wants to “level out” his marriage with wife Robin Dearden, 69, to whom he’s been married since 1989.

“For the last 24 years, Robin has led her life holding onto my tail,” Cranston told British GQ.

“She’s been the plus one, she’s been the wife of a celebrity. She’s had to pivot and adjust her life based on mine. She has tremendous benefit from it, but we’re uneven. I want to level that out. She deserves it.”

Cranston wants to “change the paradigm” of their union, and in a desperate bid to do so, he will be shutting down his production company and sell his half of Dos Hombres, the mezcal company he co-founded with co-star Aaron Paul.

Cranston revealed life in retirement will look very different for him and his wife in three years’ time, as he hopes the pair will live in a quaint French village and soak up the local culture, language, and food.

“I want to have that experience,” Cranston told the publication. “I want to go for day trips and have the fire in the fireplace and drink wine with new friends and not read scripts.”

“It’s not going to be like, ‘Oh, I’ll read and see what I’m going to do.’ No, it’s a pause. It’s a stop. I won’t be thinking about [work]. I’m not going to be taking phone calls,” he said, adding, “It’s about taking a chance. I’m used to that feeling — of not knowing.”

Before he goes off the grid, Cranston hopes to revive “Malcolm in the Middle” in the form of a reunion.

“I’m curious about that family 20 years later,” Cranston told the outlet. “What happened to them? Where are they? What are the kids doing? They’re grown men now.”

Speaking in January, Cranston said he would love to reprise his iconic character Hal Wilkerson.

“There was some talk about the possibility of doing like a reunion movie of ‘Malcolm in the Middle’,” Cranston, 66, told E! News.

“We had such a great family on that and I certainly would be open to that if there was a good idea that came up like, ‘Oh, that would be fantastic to explore what happened to this family 20 years later.’ I can’t believe it’s already that, but that would be fun to do.”

The Fox sitcom ran from 2000 to 2006 with a total of 151 episodes and seven seasons and starred Cranston, Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek and several others.