Bryan Cranston Shared His First Shroom Experience on Jimmy Kimmel

Good morning and welcome to another edition of The Drop In, DoubleBlind’s newsletter serving up independent journalism about psychedelics straight to your inbox!

Today’s lead story is about actor Bryan Cranston, who went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to talk about his first time trying mushrooms — a tale that now sits in the shadows of Kimmel getting booted from the air. You’ll find that story immediately below!

If you keep scrolling, you’ll find pieces on neurospirituality, giving dogs MDMA, and so much more.

Stay hydrated, friends!

Mary Carreón
Editor-in-Chief

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Bryan Cranston Ate Mushrooms at a Dead Show and Talked About It on Jimmy Kimmel

Actor Bryan Cranston recently had his first experience with mushrooms. He didn’t do it in the context of therapy. He didn’t do it to relieve depression. He ate mushrooms to get into character for his role on The Studio, according to People.

The Breaking Bad star talked about it during a September 10 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! saying that he and Catherine O’Hara decided to try mushrooms while filming in Las Vegas for their Apple TV+ series. Cranston plays Griffin Mill, a stereotypical evil studio executive whose storyline includes an accidental high-dose mushroom chocolate trip. Having little firsthand experience with psychedelics, he asked co-creator Seth Rogen and castmate Ike Barinholtz for pointers.

“I’m playing this character who is wiped out and I had never had any experience in that,” says Cranston. “So I was asking Seth Rogen and Ike Barinholtz, ‘You guys are huge druggies! What can you tell me?’”

Their advice? Microdosing, of course. Later that week, the cast went to the Sphere to catch the Dead. That’s when Barinholtz pulled out slim chocolate squares. “It’s a piece of chocolate? It’s like a wafer!” Cranston said. “And so I broke it in half, I took it … nothing. I didn’t feel anything.”

Even after nibbling more, he said the effect was almost nonexistent. “It felt like maybe I took three sips of wine,” Cranston said.

“It was nothing! Nothing!” said O’Hara, who was equally hesitant and clung to Cranston’s arm, as they waited for some cosmic rush that never arrived.

Cranston and O’Hara’s mushroom misfire has taken on new resonance in hindsight. Less than a week later, Kimmel was pulled off the air after controversial remarks about President Trump and far-right activist Charlie Kirk, according to NPR. But it was this statement that summoned the reaper for his show: "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it."

Several ABC affiliates owned by Nexstar Media Group dropped the show, and ABC announced an indefinite suspension. The situation has ignited a broader debate over broadcast standards and what, exactly, constitutes freedom of speech — ya know, our First Amendment right. FCC commissioner Brendan Carr weighed in, arguing that affiliates must balance “community standards” with constitutional protections, according to NPR.

So in retrospect, Cranston’s mushroom anecdote on Jimmy Kimmel Live! feels like one of the final lighthearted beats before the late-night stage became ground zero for a national debate on censorship and free speech, two issues that have remained front and center in the psychedelic space.

Lessons From the Cannabis Plant

From Venice Beach doctors handing out cannabis “scripts” without looking up from their soap operas to Instagram feeds flaunting ounce-a-day smoke sessions, the cannabis movement offers plenty of cautionary tales for psychedelics.

In our latest essay dropping on Friday, writer Patrick Maravelias distills three big takeaways the psychedelics movement must avoid repeating at all costs to avoid the corporate straitjacket.

Upgrade your subscription here to get the full story on Friday.

DoubleBlind Digs

• The Black Psychedelic Learning Project is collecting stories from African American trainees in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy programs to identify gaps and push for systemic change. Their research, rooted in African Psychology and Indigenous methodologies, aims to make psychedelic training more inclusive and accountable. Learn more here and here.

• Isaías Navarrete Chino, the first Wixárika Forest Engineer from his community in northern Jalisco, has been accepted to begin graduate studies at FLACSO–Ecuador this October. He’s raising funds to cover tuition, travel, and living expenses—support his journey to shape forest policy and amplify Indigenous representation. Donate here.

• In Portland? See author and writer Joe Dolce speak about his book titled Modern Psychedelics. Learn more here.

• The Shatter Foundation is hosting a virtual 5K to raise money for veterans and first responders to access psychedelic-assisted therapy, in partnership with Florida International University’s Society of Psychedelic Science. Run from anywhere in the world, support the cause, and help shatter the stigma. Learn more here.

Together With EntheoDNA

Know your body better with EntheoDNA.

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Results in 4–8 weeks, full tracking and guidance included.

Save $10 w/ DB10 → entheo.info/db10