Bob Odenkirk talks new book, saying goodbye to Saul Goodman: âThe ending is awesomeâ
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.usatoday.com/gcdn/presto/2022/01/26/USAT/c627015f-e3f3-49c6-9a85-e51812dd982c-Barbara-mug.jpg?crop=966,966,x0,y0&width=48&height=48&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Bob Odenkirk has a lot to be grateful for.
Heâs alive, for one thing, after a heart attack last July that saw Twitter turn into a collective prayer vigil while awaiting news of his recovery. But even if his ticket had been punched, heâd still have been one lucky dude, judging by his new memoir, âComedy Comedy Comedy Dramaâ (Random House, 304 pp., out now). It's not every man gets to work with the greatest comedic talents of his generation to become a beloved fringe sketch comedian with HBO cult classic âMr. Show,â and then a four-time-Emmy-nominated actor for a career-redefining role as Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman, in AMC's âBreaking Badâ and its spinoff series âBetter Call Saul,â which begins its sixth and final season Monday (9 EDT/PDT).
âItâs kind of crazy. Itâs one of the reasons to write the book,â Odenkirk tells USA TODAY. His memoir makes for an interesting career retrospective, considering his career is still very much in full swing, with Odenkirk fresh off turning into an action film star in last yearâs bloody âNobody.â He's also set to star in recently announced potential new AMC series "Straight Man," adapted from the Richard Russo novel of the same name, to debut in 2023.
'Better Call Saul':Brace yourself for some âshatteringly upsetting momentsâ in the final season
The way Odenkirk writes it, his success was as much the result of dumb luck as hard work. And for all of Odenkirkâs talent, what quickly becomes clear reading his memoir is no man is an island, especially not in Hollywood. The list of world-class comedic talents he has worked with is staggering: David Cross, Conan OâBrien, Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Judd Apatow and Janeane Garofalo are just a few of the names dropped in Odenkirkâs book as the examines the arc of his blessed career. The book is overflowing with gratitude for the talented colleagues and twists of fate that turned the middle-class suburban kid with daddy issues from Naperville, Illinois, into a serious â and seriously good â dramatic actor.
Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist
âSometimes when people give me too much credit for my career or the things Iâve been a part of, I suggest that maybe Iâm a little more Forrest Gump than I am this operative element in all this wonderful stuff,â Odenkirk says. âIâm a guy who just happened to be in the picture frame at the same time.â
As he pithily writes in his book: âit takes a (expletive) village, so make more friends than enemies.â
'I didn't feel safe':Charlize Theron recalls Tom Hardy's 'bad behavior' on 'Mad Max' set in new book
Bob Odenkirk has no memory of the heart attack or the week that followed
âComedy Comedy Comedy Dramaâ is often a very funny read. But itâs easy to see how Odenkirk's sometimes mordant, self-deprecating humor could have read mournful had he not recovered from the heart attack that felled him on the set of "Better Call Saul" last year.
Odenkirk is open to talking about his experience, in part out of a desire to dispel COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, which spread online in the wake of his heart attack. âSome people thought that the vaccine gave me a heart attack, which is insane and stupid and gross,â Odenkirk says. âThe last thing I want to do is be fodder for their lunatic guesswork hypotheses.â
Odenkirk says he knew as early as 2018 that he had plaque buildup in his âwidowmakerâ artery, but that conflicting advice from two doctors persuaded him to not start medication right away.
âThe reason I even went to a second doctor was the first doctor was not very forthcoming,â Odenkirk says. âHe wouldnât consult about it, he wouldnât talk about the medication, he wouldn't talk about my condition. He was a person who, from my estimation, was tired of being a doctor.â
Odenkirk says that while he was told of the outpouring of love online at the time of his heart attack, he missed it completely. âI donât have any memory from the first week and a half,â he says. "I donât remember being in the hospital at all."
Sleazy Saul Goodman revived and redefined a struggling career
Fast-talking scam artist and billboard lawyer Saul Goodman sweet-talked his way into Odenkirkâs life at exactly the right time.
Odenkirk was in a professional rough patch when a âBreaking Badâ script crossed his desk in 2009 at the end of a string of misfires and missed opportunities. Years earlier, he had auditioned for (and just missed out, he was told) on getting the part of Michael Scott in NBC's remake of âThe Office,â which went to Steve Carell. Then came a succession of box-office bombs with Odenkirk behind the camera for broad comedies âLet's Go to Prisonâ (2006) and âThe Brothers Solomonâ (2007). A sloppy rehearsal got him canned from a part on âWill & Grace.â
He was struggling financially and had taken a loan to keep the roof over his familyâs head when he was given a script for a show he had never seen.
More:'Succession' star Brian Cox talks memoir, Logan Roy's planned exit, turning down 'Game of Thrones'
He called a friend to ask if he had ever seen âBreaking Bad.â His reaction helped seal the deal: âAre you kidding me? âBreaking Badâ is the best show on TV! Youâve got to say yes!â
Odenkirkâs expectations were low. Saul seemed as if he might be a retread of a type of character he played before, namely Stevie Grant, an obnoxious agent on HBO's "The Larry Sanders Show." Plus, Saul was meant to stick around for only a handful of episodes. But something clicked when filming started. Odenkirk writes that after Saulâs first scenes were filmed, a crew member on set shouted, âCan I get a job on the spinoff?!â
âAnd everybody laughed,â Odenkirk writes.
âI did not think (Saul) was special in âBreaking Bad,ââ Odenkirk says of his now-signature character.
But like any good bottom feeder, Saul stuck around and survived the meth labs and mayhem of âBreaking Bad.â As the series wrapped, the idea of a Saul-fronted spinoff suddenly wasnât so laughable. Still, when creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould approached Odenkirk with the offer, he was skeptical of Saulâs appeal as a protagonist.
âThe first thing I said to Peter and Vince is youâve got to make him likable if you want to write a show about him because I didnât think he was likable. I thought theyâd be insulted because I knew they liked the character, but they werenât. They understood what I meant,â Odenkirk says. âI did grow to like him a lot more than when I started."
Odenkirk grew close enough to Saul that he isnât quite ready to let go of the wisecracking louche with a heart of (very tarnished) gold, though filming wrapped in early February.
âI havenât said goodbye to him. Itâs going to take me a couple of months to realize thatâs ended. Itâs just strange,â Odenkirk says.
âWithout giving anything away, the ending is awesome. The journey, and where it went to, is very satisfying to me.â
Asked if thereâs any project he wishes readers of the book would go back and reassess, heâs quick to answer: âGirlfriendâs Day,â a 2017 Netflix film close to Odenkirkâs heart in which he plays a down-on-his-luck greeting-card writer embroiled in a noir-like scheme. The character is a variation on what Odenkirk plays so well, a charismatic sad sack kicked in the shins by life one too many times.
âNobody loves âGirlfriendâs Dayâ as much as I do,â Odenkirk says. âI do think more people would like it if they took a chance to see it. They donât even know it exists!â