'Trumbo' Premieres in Washington

— -- Two powerful worlds collide in the new film “Trumbo," a film by famed director Jay Roach and starring Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, John Goodman, Diane Lane, Louis C.K. and more.

The film focuses on Dalton Trumbo, a top Hollywood screenwriter in the late 1940s who was blacklisted and jailed by the U.S. government for his “radical” political beliefs.

Trumbo, one of the highest paid screenwriters and a fixture at Hollywood social events, was outspoken about his political beliefs. He supported labor unions, civil rights and equal pay. He was subsequently targeted, along with some of his like-minded colleagues, by Congress during its hunt to squash communism in America, known as the “red scare.” The sweeping probe focused on suspected communists in the movie industry.

After being subpoenaed to testify before the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947, Trumbo’s failure to answer a congressman’s question lands him in federal prison for a year. For thirteen years he’s on the Hollywood blacklist -– unwanted by the big movie studios and forced to work under pseudonyms. Still, during his time writing on the black Hollywood market, Trumbo writes films under pseudonymous,including the iconic film “Spartacus,” which is credited, in part, with ending the Hollywood blacklist era.

After his death he was awarded for his work, too -- such as a post-humorous Academy-Award for "Roman Holiday."

ABC News caught up with Cranston, who starred as Walter White in the beloved series “Breaking Bad,” and Jay Roach, who directed “Game Change" and “Recount," at the Washington, D.C. premiere of “Trumbo."

The film opens nationwide Nov. 26, 2015.