'Breaking Bad' Star Bryan Cranston Stops By Norwalk Wine Shop

NORWALK, CT — Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston paid a visit to Stew Leonard's Wines & Spirits of Norwalk on Monday to meet with customers and promote his new mezcal line, Dos Hombres.

Cranston, the star of hit TV shows like "Breaking Bad" and "Malcolm in the Middle" and movies like "Argo" and "Little Miss Sunshine," took pictures with customers as he signed bottles of Dos Hombres, which Cranston developed with his "Breaking Bad" co-star Aaron Paul.

Cranston entered the store around 10 a.m. sporting a Dos Hombres hat and said he was glad to see so many people in attendance, even joking about how much he and his team enjoyed their new mezcal line.

"It's some of our favorite juice," Cranston said to the crowd. "We've stopped drinking water!"

Stew Leonard Jr., the popular grocery chain's CEO, was also happy to see such a great turnout and noted that he and his four daughters, who were all in attendance Monday morning, were equally as excited to spend time with Cranston.

"If you look at the hundreds of people that showed up today," Leonard said, "they're all excited...I'm excited because our customers are excited, and that's how I feel about this today. Frankly, I don't even care about how many bottles of this stuff we sell, but I'm happy to see we're helping [Cranston] out. We're promoting it, we're creating excitement and it's like a win-win."

Stamford resident Hall Strauss said he and his wife, Beth, were excited to meet Cranston, especially since they frequent the Norwalk wine store often.

"We come here regularly," Strauss said. "It's the best wine store around. The fact that we had an opportunity to get some [mezcal] and meet Bryan Cranston also is just a fun thing to do for the day, and we'll go over shopping at Stew Leonard's afterwards."

Leonard's daughter, Blake, who runs all of the Stew Leonard's wine shops, said she and her father participated in a virtual tasting with Cranston and Paul last year, which they then shared with customers.

"All of our customers have been making so many more cocktails at home," Blake Leonard said, "especially when they couldn't be out at restaurants, so [Cranston and Paul] made a couple cocktails for us and it was great time."

Her father also recently took part in a virtual tasting with "Deadpool" actor Ryan Reynolds, who was promoting his Aviation American Gin, and she took part in one last year with singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige to discuss her Sun Goddess brand of wine.

Blake Leonard said the Norwalk store would likely sell over 150 bottles of the mezcal Monday due to Cranston's appearance. She and Cranston also emphasized the difference between mezcal and tequila, both of which are made from the agave plant.

"The difference with mezcal is that they take the same plant, but they actually smoke it in these open pit fires," Blake Leonard said. "That's why mezcal has this smokiness to it, and it's delicious. You can make a smoky mezcal margarita, or you can really do anything with it that you would a tequila."

After the bottle signing, Leonard and Cranston posed for pictures and swapped compliments, with Leonard noting he had recently seen the Showtime limited series "Your Honor," which Cranston starred in and executive produced. Leonard told Cranston he appreciated his range in the series and inquired how he was able to pull off such a feat.

"It's a process," Cranston said, "and everybody in their own particular line of work understands their process."

Stew Leonard's has also helped promote products from other celebrities, including "GoodFellas" star Lorraine Bracco and Danny DeVito of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" fame.

"We love it when these celebrities come out with a wine or spirit," Leonard said. "Some of them do well and some of them don't do well, but we just try to make it exciting, just as the people are here. It's just fun, and that's what Stew Leonard's is about: fun."