Why Bryan Cranston Thinks Kneeling During National Anthem Is Actually 'Very Patriotic'

The actor, producer, director and screenwriter said the act of peaceful protest Colin Kaepernick began is actually one of the most American things one can do.

"I think what he's doing is very patriotic," Cranston told The Daily Beast. "Dissent is one of the pillars of being an American. It's how our country was formed, through dissension. He is not preventing anyone from singing or partaking in how they want to experience that moment. He's quietly, respectfully, being silent. I think it's a beautiful way of protesting the racial injustice that he feels is present. And I share that with him. There is an injustice."

Cranston added that the stigma that liberal Hollywood actors and actresses don't love their country needs to be put to rest.

"I'm a guy who would be deemed a liberal from Hollywood. I think that should be stopped as well," he said. "That because you align yourself with a social policy that is more liberal than others may be, that doesn't make me not patriotic. Because I'm not wearing an American flag pin on my lapel doesn't make me unpatriotic. It's not that. It's who you are. It's your actions. It's your belief. It's how responsible you are in your conversations."

Cranston stars in director Richard Linklater's new drama "Last Flag Flying," which chronicles the reunion of three estranged Vietnam War veterans to help one of them -- a character played by Steve Carell -- bury his son, who was killed in Iraq under misleading circumstances by fault of the army.

The movie explores how a war the men fought in decades ago continues to affect their lives as they struggle to understand whether Doc's son died fighting in a war they believe the United States should have even started in the first place. According to Cranston, the film draws parallels between soldiers in Vietnam and soldiers in Iraq.

"It's not a slam of the military," he said. "It's an examination of it. To say there are good parts and there are bad parts, just as with anything in life."

"We try to do it honestly," he added.

Watch the trailer for "Last Flag Flying" below.