Bryan Cranston felt "very lucky" to only experience "extreme exhaustion" when he contracted coronavirus

He said: "It was early on in March.

"Just around the same time that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson got it, my wife and I got it.

"They came out with it right away, and I thought 'That's great.' There's no need for another celebrity to say, 'Hey, I got it too.' So I just kept it quiet.

"We were very lucky. So many people are suffering desperately from this. My wife and I had a week of extreme exhaustion and some body aches, a little dry cough. And then it was gone."

But after he'd recovered, the 64-year-old star reached out to the 'Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood' actor because he wanted to join him in donating plasma.

He told talk show host Jimmy Fallon: "I asked Tom where he went, and he gave me the address."

And that decision led to Bryan going public with his diagnosis after the phlebotomist asked him to post about it because they had seen a decline in plasma donors.

He said: "And I thought, there's a good reason to just out myself and say, 'I had it. I'm fine. And if you had it, and you're fine now too, maybe you'll consider donating plasma because it really does help them.' "

Meanwhile, the actor was asked about a popular fan theory that his 'Breaking Bad' alter ego Walter White didn't die in the series finale but took on the identity of his other famous character, Hal in 'Malcolm in the Middle', but joked he wasn't able to comment on the link.

He said: "I am not at liberty to disclose that kind of information without security clearances.

"I think it's fun. I don't know. Walter White is definitely dead. He's dead, he's dead, he's dead."