Bryan Cranston spoke candidly for GQ about what he brought to the character in "Drive," even claiming he was actually the architect of Shannon's artery-severing exit from the proceedings. In fact, the actor said his idea for Shannon's death was so good that it led "Drive" director Nicolas Winding Refn to completely change what was written in the screenplay.
According to Cranston, as originally written, Bernie Rose kills Shannon by violently choking him to death with a garroting wire. But that didn't feel right for Cranston, particularly as the characters' relationship seemed to dictate something less aggressive. Though the scene continued to bother him, Cranston initially decided to let it go and play Shannon's death as scripted. But that changed when he woke up one night after literally dreaming up the perfect end for his character.
As Cranston notes, his new concept centered on a seemingly truce-making handshake between Shannon and Bernie turning into a brutal, yet oddly tender murder via straight blade razor. Cranston pitched the idea to Refn, whom the actor claims responded in no uncertain terms, "We're gonna do that. That's going in the movie." The rest as they say, is history, with Shannon's death scene ranking as one of the most memorable in a film boasting no particular shortage of memorable kills. And it seems we have Bryan Cranston to thank for making the moment happen.
