Bryan Cranston nearly wiped out the cast of US TV show 'The Office' when he directed an episode by accidentally exposing them to carbon monoxide.
Bryan Cranston nearly wiped out the cast of 'The Office' when he took over as director
The 'Breaking Bad' star helmed an episode of the show called 'Work Bus' which the actors renamed 'Death Bus' after an air-conditioning unit was found to have been pumping in exhaust fumes onto the vehicle where the cast were working.
During an appearance on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert', Bryan explained: "('The Office' star) Jenna Fischer actually saved everyone’s life. She said, ‘I smell exhaust, it’s coming inside the bus. And I’m saying, 'Jenna, I mean come on, that's not (possible) ... How is that possible, it’s not possible, we have air conditioning.' And she goes, 'No, it's coming in!'”"
The actor explained he stood on a chair to take a sniff from the air-conditioning unit and realised it was actually pumping in fumes from the bus' exhaust pipe.
He added: "I got nice and dizzy, then realised, 'Oh my God, we could have all been dead'. It would have been one hell of an episode."
The story had previously been revealed by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey who recalled the tale of the 'Death Bus' in their book 'The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There'.
In the time, Angela joked it was ironic that they nearly died at the hands of the man who played science teacher-turned-drugs baron Walter White in 'Breaking Bad'.
She wrote: "We want you to know that we see the irony that Bryan Cranston, aka Walter White Sr. or 'Heisenberg' as he was known in crystal methamphetamine circles, was an accessory to almost murdering the entire cast of 'The Office'. I assure you this is pure coincidence."
Jenna added: "They had somehow gotten a portable air-conditioning unit (onto the bus)! 'We can pull it behind the bus with a hose that goes through the sunroof ... I noticed a funny smell. We began debating whether the bus smelled funny ... Guess what? The portable air-conditioning unit's INTAKE hose was right next to the EXHAUST pipe on the bus. So that hose was sucking in exhaust and blowing it straight into the sunroof of the bus. We were all being slowly poisoned. Or not so slowly, actually."
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