Claim: Bryan Cranston's character in Breaking Bad also went by his criminal alias Heisenberg.

Walter Hartwell White Sr. , also known by his clandestine alias Heisenberg , is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Breaking Bad . He is portrayed by Bryan Cranston . A graduate of the California Institute of Technology , Walt was once a promising chemist who cofounded the company Gray Matter Technologies with his close friend Elliot Schwartz and his then-girlfriend Gretchen . He left Gray Matter abruptly , selling his shares for $ 5,000 ; soon afterward , the company made a fortune , much of it from his research . Walt subsequently moved to Albuquerque , New Mexico , where he became a high school chemistry teacher . Breaking Bad begins on Walter 's 50th birthday , when he is diagnosed with Stage IIIA lung cancer . After this discovery , he resorts to manufacturing methamphetamine and drug dealing to ensure his family 's financial security after his death . He is pulled deeper into the illicit drug trade , becoming more and more ruthless as the series progresses , and later adopts the alias `` Heisenberg '' , which becomes recognizable as the kingpin figure in the local drug trade . Series creator Vince Gilligan has described his goal with Walter White as `` turning Mr. Chips into Scarface '' , and deliberately made the character less sympathetic over the course of the series . Walt 's evolution from mild-mannered school teacher and family man to ruthless criminal mastermind and murderer is the show 's central focus .   Although AMC officials hesitated to cast Cranston due to his previous comedic role on Malcolm in the Middle , Gilligan cast him based on the actor 's past performance in the X-Files episode `` Drive '' , which Gilligan wrote . Cranston contributed greatly to the creation of his character , including Walt 's backstory , physical appearance , and personality traits . Both the Walter White character and Bryan Cranston 's performance have received critical acclaim , with Walt frequently being mentioned as one of the greatest and most iconic television characters of all time . Cranston won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series , three of them being consecutive , becoming the second actor to do so since Bill Cosby for I Spy in the 1960s . Following his fourth win , Cranston tied Dennis Franz for the most wins in the category 's history . He is the first man to win a Critics ' Choice , Golden Globe , Primetime Emmy , SAG , and TCA Award for his performance .   In the Spanish-language remake Metástasis , his character is renamed Walter Blanco -LRB- blanco being the Spanish translation of white -RRB- and is portrayed by .