Breaking Bad Season 5 SPOILERS: Cast, Crew Say Goodbye at Television Critics Association Press Tour, Offer Series Finale Thoughts

The cast and crew of "Breaking Bad" appeared at the Television Critics Association press tour and fielded questions from reporters about the show's run and, in particular, the final eight episodes.

Firstly, Bryan Cranston revealed just how much he wanted to play Walter White and how he wanted as few spoilers as possible as he filmed.

"It was, in broad strokes, the idea of taking serialized TV and changing the character, and that hadn't been done," Cranston said. "I wanted the role. I really, really wanted the role. Coming in it was easy, when we read good scripts it lights-up the imagination, but we never discussed where it was going to end and as it went on I never asked. The twists and turns of my character were so sharp that it wouldn't help me to know. I took the ride with the audience and that remained till the end. About five or six days before we shot Aaron (Paul) and I read the last script together, and that will be a part of a documentary on the show."

The documentary to which Cranston refers is a two-hour film directed by Stu Richardson, a British filmmaker hired by Sony to film behind-the-scenes footage for the "Breaking Bad" Blu-ray releases.

Creator Vince Gilligan has said repeatedly that the plan for the show was to take Mr. Chips (from the 1939 movie Goodbye, Mr. Chips) and turn him into Scarface. One reporter brought up that Walter was never really Mr. Chips, and Gilligan admitted that Walt struggled as a teacher because he could not connect with his students. Mr. Chips, on the other hand, was more appreciated.

Cranston further addressed the Mr. Chips comparison:

"I embraced moments where he could show his teaching acumen. That was his true passion, besides his family and the only thing he excelled at. But there comes a time in a teacher's life that the overwhelming impact of apathy that faces them beats them down. That's where we met him. He could have been Mr. Chips twenty years ago, but now he's not. His emotions were calloused over by the depression, and the news of his illness allowed a volcano of emotions to erupt. And when they did he wasn't prepared and the emotions just spewed everywhere and it got messy."

Check out some more highlights from the press tour at IGN.