Before Bob Odenkirk played Sol Goodman in AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” he smashed his piggy bank just to stay afloat.
The Emmy-nominated star of “Better Call of Sol” revealed that she actually went bankrupt before receiving the award-winning role in the award-winning drama by Brian Cranston.
“I’m getting a phone call, ‘You’re going to be offered a role in’ Breaking Bad, ‘” 59-year-old Odenkirk told veteran shock joker Howard Stern on his Sirius XM radio show.
The father of two – who is currently promoting his new memoir “Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama” – said that “Breaking Bad” was “not a popular show or a big show at the time”, so his agent warned him “don’t say no”. ‘ ”
“And I said to myself, ‘Dude, I haven’t said’ no ‘in a year and a half – but maybe you haven’t noticed.” The show “continued the star.
The drama premiered in 2008 on AMC and ended its five-season cycle in 2013. Before embarking on Breaking Bad, Odenkirk tried to direct and worked on several feature film projects that failed financially.
He revealed to 68-year-old Stern that as a director he had little creativity and was deprived of vision. The films he directed left him in a “financial hole”, which eventually led him to call his business manager for help. His then-business manager surprised him by applying for a $ 900,000 loan so that Odenkirk could “stay afloat.”
Odenkirk was skeptical about taking on the role and revealed to the host of the radio show that he had contacted one of his friends for advice before accepting the role.
“I was still checking it out, I still wanted to know what the hell the show was,” he said. “I called a friend, someone I was writing to, Reed Harrison, and he said, ‘Oh, this is the best show on TV.’ You have to do it. This is the best thing. “
His success in “Breaking Bad” and the popularity of his character paved the way for the actor to participate in his own spin-off. The premiere of “Better Call Saul” on AMC in 2015 and is expected to end later this year.
The Fargo actor is currently recovering from a “small” heart attack last attack year on the set of “Better Call Saul”. He also discussed his health with Stern and said CPR, the defibrillator and keeping fit saved his life.
Someone on the set of New Mexico began resuscitation after his collapse last July, when Odenkirk said he “saved my life.” A defibrillator was then used three times on the former author of Saturday Night Live sketches.
“Which is a lot, Howard,” Odenkirk explained. “When the defibrillator doesn’t work once, that’s not good. When it doesn’t work the second time, it’s something like – forget it. But then they picked him up for the third time, and that got me back on track. ”
Odenkirk added that he is in good physical shape for his 2021 thriller “Nobody” and that helped him stay alive.
“Because I was in good shape, you somehow dilate the other veins around your heart if you train a lot,” he said. “And they told me that more blood could go to my heart during CPR, because those veins were just a little bigger than a lot of training.