Conversations with Bob Odenkirk of BETTER CALL SAUL

A Q&A with Bob Odenkirk of BETTER CALL SAUL. Moderated by Dan Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter.
By the end of Season 3 of BETTER CALL SAUL, a near-fatal car crash forces Jimmy and Kim to re-evaluate what’s truly important to them - and how far they’re willing to go to pursue their ambitions. While Kim chooses to take a step back from her fledgling solo practice to recuperate, Jimmy tries to make amends with his brother. Chuck rejects Jimmy’s attempt to reconcile and soon relapses, tearing apart his house to remove any last pulse of electricity and then finally setting a deadly fire.
In the critically acclaimed drama’s fourth season, Chuck’s death catalyzes Jimmy McGill’s transformation into “Saul Goodman.” In the wake of his loss, Jimmy takes steps into the criminal world that will put his future as a lawyer - and his relationship with Kim - in jeopardy. Chuck’s death deeply affects former colleagues Howard and Kim as well, putting the two of them once again on opposite sides of a battle sparked by the Brothers McGill.
Meanwhile, Mike Ehrmantraut takes a more active role as Madrigal Electromotive’s newest (and most thorough) security consultant. It’s a volatile time to be in Gus Fring’s employ, as Hector’s collapse sends shock waves throughout the Albuquerque underworld and throws the cartel into chaos - tearing apart both Gus’s and Nacho’s well-laid plans. While Gus changes course, Nacho finds himself in the crosshairs of deadly forces.
BETTER CALL SAUL is executive produced by Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Thomas Schnauz, and Gennifer Hutchison. The series recently garnered a 2018 Peabody Award and, over three seasons, has earned 23 Emmy® Award nominations, three Golden Globe® Award nominations, two Writers Guild Awards, three Critics’ Choice Awards, a Television Critics Association Award, and two AFI Awards as one of the “TV Programs of the Year,” among many other Guild nominations.
Created by Gilligan and Gould, the series stars Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, and Giancarlo Esposito.

[@ehcmier]

I'd love to see/hear Rhea Seehorn talk shop on that stage.

[@FuellingObsession]

Wow, such a great interview! Bob was on fire and the interviewer only had to ask about 5 questions.

[@lolpppify]

Awesome interview! Bob is a treasure.

[@evilwomanofdoom]

Thanks so much for asking decent questions instead of the usual stuff! Excellent interview hilarious and interviewer lets Bob speak. Hyped for S5 as huge fan.

[@remy1728]

The Saul procedural sounds like it would be a lot of fun. I hope we get at least one episode like that before the end.

[@esmenouvelle9439]

This is a really good one. He has interesting things to say and a fascinating way of saying them.

[@shredwell2326]

Bob O is so good in the roles of Jimmy and Saul, very interesting to hear him discuss both

[@DigitalSniper18]

one of my favorite actors next to Chris Evans

[@Incoherent587]

Oh this is great! Bob is on great form here. What a guy.

[@kevinw712]

Even though Bob openly conceded there has been that more limited number of people who've approached him the last couple years saying how much they love BCS w/o still having ever watched any of BB, I honestly don't think that would disprove the point he was originally trying to make one iota. That they simply never would've been able to make this series exactly as it indeed is, w/o Breaking Bad for exactly what it was having preceded it. And the way I'm reconciling those two concepts, for that small minority of fans who only do the BCS side of the universe and genuinely adore it and fully "get it", just having the inescapable knowledge that Breaking Bad existed I think is enough for those people to remain ignorant of all the finer details Bob referred to. Even if it sorta happens for them somewhat subconsciously, they can ultimately know that this current show they're watching, which may have an unorthodoxy to it compared to most other television, was arrived at organically and deservedly. That earlier series they're still so largely in the dark about, it's still a widely known fact this same creative team knocked it out of the park as judged by almost the entirety of the audience that did experience it at the time.

[@comenadgetme]

For me he was always Jimmy

[@felibhr]

Fabulous interview, can’t wait to see how Saul ends and what Bob does next

[@zahrakh.d1400]

Great interview

[@mikeysaint4368]

Bob, like a lot of good comedy actors, is great at pathos. While he was fun in Breaking Bad, he only really blossomed fully in Better Call Saul. A jackass in BB, but fully rounded and sympathetic in BCS. Bryan Cranston took similar comedic skills to Breaking Bad. While a lot of people are worried about Kim's fate in the final season, It's also sad that Jimmy inevitably ends up as the glib, selfish Saul.

[@macpopetz625]

but does he “end up” as Saul? we still have the Gene storyline to look forward to

[@shorterfilms]

Why is the description about Ozark and not odenkirk or BCS

[@abcdefghi2749]

I agree that Breaking Bad is a landmark show and paved the way for what tv could be today. It's amazing and deserves to be one of the greatest tv shows of all time. With that much said, there were underused characters, story that didn't pay off or moments in the plot that were left unanswered, hispanic villian stereotypes and characters that weren't as fleshed out as they could of been. It had standout episodes but the story over the season, in quality of storytelling, was up and down and somewhat tumultuous. It is overrated as a lot of things usually are. After all, nothing is perfect.
But, Better Call Saul is just as good as Breaking Bad, if not better, and the show is overlooked because of lack of interest of being a prequel series to Breaking Bad, the executives not putting as much of an effort or money in promoting the show through AMC when it was on the air and the fact it came on the heels of the predecessor show, Breaking Bad. It is often disregarded at awards shows, which astonishes me to the core and the ratings and popularity is really high. ( It's not Breaking Bad levels but that show has been done now for 10 years since it ended and is on Netflix.)
All of this said, in an essay I've apparently written no less, the point is Better Call Saul is the Godfather 2 or Empire Strikes Back of the Breaking Bad franchise. It's just as good or arguably better than its predecessor show in a lot of ways. It deserves more respect, more high quality praise, awards and success even though it's recieved many already. It's just as universally acclaimed, highly rated, still popular, highly award winning, record-breaking and as successful as Breaking Bad is. Its got as many accpaimed standout episodes and the finale was universally praised overall, like Breaking Bad. This is fact not an opinion or a subjective viewpoint. Like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, created by Vince Gilligan and Peter gould, is a masterpiece of storytelling and one of the greatest tv series of all time. Its a travesty that the emmys and golden globes has done the show as dirty as it has.

[@breakbad9753]

Anyone know what moment he’s talking about ?

[@BenSeigal]

What was the question?

[@m.a.3322]

1:05, 3:38, 6:10, 7:11, 9:40, 11:20, 13:30, 14:48, 16:05, 19:05, 20:30, 23:30, 24:10, 25:25, 28:45, 29:45, 32:50, 33:52, 36:00, 37:44, 38:45, 40:55, 43:45,

[@abcdefghi2749]

Excuse the errors in my essay below.

[@EmpyreanFalling]

The singing question by the interviewer was silly... could have asked something meaningful. Bob is great though

[@KevrythingEvil]

S5 coming soon biatch