Bryan Cranston discusses 'traumatic' way he lost virginity to sex worker

Bryan Cranston has opened up about the time he lost his virginity to a sex worker, describing the experience as both 'traumatic' and 'exhilarating'.

One of the reasons people love the Breaking Bad star so much is that he comes across as being authentic and real.

Hollywood doesn't appear to have tarnished his personality, despite the fact that he's one of the most talented and revered actors on the circuit.

And this certainly came across in his recent appearance on the Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast.

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As soon as he's introduced, O'Brien and Cranston start bantering about whether or not they're friends, to which the host quips, "You're paid to be my friend."

Cranston then jokes their relationship is like that of a sex worker and client. "It's the world's oldest profession... or so I'm told. I never had any experience," replies O'Brien, before Cranston interjects, "You didn't? I did."

Not wanting to waste this golden opportunity, the host probes him about the experience, and Cranston's more than happy to oblige.

"I was a virgin," he says. "And I was travelling to a bunch of friends in Europe. I was 16 years old and it was the thing to do.

"I was actually looking forward to it and nervous as hell. Of course! I'm 16!"

He and his friends ended up going to the red light district in Salzburg, Austria. But when his two friends - who were about a year and a half older than him - went in to do the deed, Cranston said he started to get 'cold feet'.

To avoid having to go through with it, he pretended he didn't have enough money on him. However, one woman came up to him and took the money he had from his hands and led him into a room.

"She grabbed the money and grabbed my hand," he says. "And I thought, 'Oh my god, oh my god, this is happening.'

"We go into this room – there's a single bed, there's a sink and a trash can. That's it."

The actor went on to say that the woman indicated for him to take his clothes off, to which O'Brien joked that his 'penis would be inside' his body at this point.

"So I had to stand up while taking my clothes off and I put them on a hook... I was so nervous that I didn't really feel anything. My brain was on fire," Cranston continues.

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"At one point I thought, 'I should touch her breast'... so I just touched one of her breasts and all of a sudden I just felt her hand slap mine."

Despite this rather unfortunate moment, the Malcolm in the Middle star went through with it and lost his virginity.

Summing up the experience, he says: "It was a traumatic, great, exhilarating, memorable experience. It was a seminal moment in a person's life when they lose their virginity."

He finishes the anecdote by joking: "I've been going back to Austria ever since."

Well, that's one story to definitely not tell the grandkids.