Bob Odenkirk Rewatches Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Nobody 2 & More

Vanity Fair

"That's the greatest show on TV." Bob Odenkirk takes a walk down memory lane as he rewatches scenes from his classic works including 'Breaking Bad,' 'Better Call Saul,' 'Mr. Show With Bob and David,' 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' 'The Larry Sanders Show,' 'Nobody 2,' and more.  NOBODY is in theaters August 15, 2025  https://www.nobody.movie  Director: Funmi Sunmonu Director of Photography: Grant Bell Editor: Lika Kumoi Talent: Bob Odenkirk Producer: Emebeit Beyene Line Producer: Natasha Soto-Albors Production Manager: Andressa Pelachi Associate Project Manager: Elizabeth Hymes Talent Booker: Meredith Judkins; Mica Medoff (on set) Camera Operator: Lucas Vilicich Audio Engineer: Kari Barber Production Assistant: Fernando Barajas; Abby Devine Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin Supervising Editor: Eduardo Araujo; Erica DeLeo Additional Editor: Sam DiVito Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds, Fynn Lithgow

Transcript

00:00Pounding, pounding, for hours and hours and hours.

00:04All right, that's enough.

00:05Stop it!

00:08Even I can't take it.

00:10Hi, I'm Bob Odenkirk, and today I'm

00:12going to watch some scenes from my career.

00:14And I'm happy about that.

00:16I don't actually sit around watching myself very often.

00:30Now, if you just tell me who your supplier is,

00:39I think this can end very well for you.

00:42Eh, what are you doing, detective?

00:44What are you doing talking to my client without me present?

00:46You sneaky Pete.

00:49Witches' witch.

00:51What did the Academy hire you right out of the womb?

00:53You guys get younger every?

00:55What did you say to Babyface, huh?

00:57How did you say anything stupid?

00:58By anything stupid, I mean anything at all.

01:01I want to look at you.

01:02Mouth open, vocal cords to Twitter.

01:04We'll talk about it later.

01:05Right now, you out.

01:06Ten minutes ago.

01:08Go on.

01:09There are laws, detective.

01:10Have your kindergarten teacher read them to you, right?

01:12Go grab a juice box, have a nap.

01:14Go on.

01:16Wow, it's all good, man.

01:17What a gift this part was.

01:19And I did not audition for it.

01:22And I was fully ready for them to send me home at any moment.

01:27I was completely girded to finish my day of shooting, or a take, and have the producers

01:34call me over and say, hey man, thanks for trying.

01:38You were great fun to be around.

01:40You can go home now.

01:41We're going to get a real actor.

01:43I mean, they saw something in me and gave me an opportunity that I had not earned and

01:49that I did not see in myself, really.

01:53That's a lottery win right there.

01:56And if you get one or two of those in your life, you're very lucky.

02:00Ah, here we go.

02:01Public masturbation.

02:02What?

02:03I don't get it.

02:04What's the kick?

02:05Why don't you do it at home like the rest of us with a big flat screen TV, 50 channels

02:08of pay-per-view in a Starbucks.

02:12That's nice.

02:13That ain't me, man.

02:15I was the guy who was selling meth, allegedly.

02:19Okay.

02:20All right.

02:21I got you.

02:22Meth.

02:23I mean, one of the things about the Saul role is I got the script.

02:26I actually started working on it as a writer.

02:28I started, like, crossing lines out, like, he doesn't need this.

02:31He doesn't need to say that.

02:32All he's saying is, hey, officer, leave him alone.

02:35Get the fuck out of here.

02:36So just say that.

02:37And then I got the rewrite, and only one word had been changed.

02:42And I couldn't believe they were going to keep all this language, all these words flowing

02:45out of this guy.

02:46They want a guy who talks too much, who doesn't speak economically.

02:51So why?

02:52Why?

02:53Why doesn't he speak economically?

02:54Well, because he's trying to own the space.

02:56He's trying to diffuse the energy in the room.

02:59He's doing all kinds of things with these words.

03:02He's trying to figure out what he's going to say next, what he's got in front of him.

03:06He's doing the math of what's happening here by just blabbering.

03:11Watching everyone.

03:13I guess this is the part that gave me free acting lessons.

03:18Not even free.

03:19I got paid to act.

03:22I got a scholarship.

03:24I mean, it's nuts.

03:25Gentlemen, I sense you're discussing my client.

03:27Anything you care to share with me?

03:29Sure.

03:29Your commercials, they suck ass.

03:32She better act in an epileptic courthouse.

03:35Is that like the one your mom works at?

03:37Is she still offering the two-for-one discount?

03:40DEA, huh?

03:41For a street bust.

03:42Now, what would two feds want with that little twerp?

03:45We did not know this was going to do so well.

03:48I mean, I thought I was going on a show that very few people had seen.

03:52I was very lucky that the first person I called, my friend Reed Harrison, a writer who I'd been

03:57doing a project with, because I wanted to ask somebody, what is this show Breaking Bad?

04:00Is it any good?

04:02And he just jumped, you know, I was on the phone and he jumped through the phone and grabbed

04:07me by the head and said, you better do that goddamn show.

04:10That's the greatest show on TV.

04:14Are you sure that's the person?

04:19There's no doubt in your mind.

04:20Take your time.

04:21I don't need time.

04:23That's him.

04:24Now, would you be surprised to learn, Mr. Harkness, that the person you just pointed to is not

04:29the defendant?

04:32What?

04:33My client is in the back of the courtroom.

04:35Mr. Sekey, would you please stand up?

04:37Objection.

04:37The person you ID'd is named Hollis Early.

04:40He's a bartender down in Belay.

04:40This is so funny.

04:42He has a very good alibi for the night in question.

04:44Your Honor, objection.

04:46Better Call Saul was an incredible challenging.

04:51It was so hard.

04:52Yeah, why was it harder?

04:54I had that same question.

04:56You want to be the lead in a drama?

04:58We're going to write a show around Saul.

04:59I'm like, hey, look, if you want to write it.

05:02I wasn't going to push it because I didn't want them to make this show because I wanted

05:07it.

05:08I wanted them to write the show because they wanted to write it and because they had an

05:11idea, not because I was out there going, I need work.

05:15I've always made a fairly good living as a writer and doing occasional acting spots.

05:20So I was fine with my career.

05:23They had already given me a big enough gift with the part in Breaking Bad.

05:27So I always said to Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, who created Better Call Saul, you know,

05:33look, if you guys want to write the show, I will do it.

05:35But you don't have to do it.

05:39I'm not asking you to do it.

05:40And in my mind, it was sort of, what's the big deal?

05:43I'm not going to treat it like I'm the lead.

05:46I'm not even going to act like I'm the lead.

05:48I'm just, this is my part.

05:49He has more lines than he usually has.

05:51So what?

05:51That's no different.

05:53Well, it is different.

05:55It really is different.

05:56Everyone's looking at you.

05:58It felt like the show was on my shoulders.

06:00My reputation as a performer was on my shoulders entirely for the rest of my life.

06:05Whatever I do here right now.

06:07And it was a different chemistry.

06:09I could do some pretty crazy stuff as Saul in Breaking Bad.

06:13And the weight and the gravity was around Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.

06:18And I was this extra thing that flew in and buzzed around and flew away.

06:26And of course, with this show, that wasn't the case.

06:28I love playing Saul, but he's not like me at all.

06:32Saul had a conscience, which was great.

06:35And you saw that in the show.

06:36But it was one that he lost track of fairly easily.

06:42And I don't think I'm that way.

06:48Eight days have passed since the hurricane sank our cruise ship in the waters off the Florida Keys.

06:56We are the only survivors.

06:58Derlin Whittier.

07:00His high school girlfriend, Shauna Munson.

07:03Tammy Munson, Shauna's mother and Derlin's secret lover who is having his baby.

07:09And one member of my studio audience.

07:11And me, Todd Linder Floman.

07:14Since that day, I've wondered if we ever should have taken my talk show out to sea for a week of shows about relationships.

07:21We are out of food and fresh water and cannot last long.

07:25I made Mr. Show in the early 80s with my friend David Cross and a whole bunch of friends.

07:32There are many scenes that I consider excellent.

07:34Each episode took about three weeks to make.

07:37And I had been a writer at Saturday Night Live where you essentially have a day and a half to write it and a day and a half to rehearse it.

07:44And no one knows their lines and you're reading cue cards and there's just not much you can do in that environment.

07:52So Mr. Show was an attempt to do sketches as well as they could be done as opposed to just barely getting them out in front of people.

08:00And I love this sketch because in our own way, we tried to be political.

08:06But because we weren't topical, because we weren't on that week, we played months after we shot the shows, we couldn't be topical in the way that Saturday Night Live is.

08:16Which was kind of a gift to us in that we could do things that were more about, you could say, the social fabric or the texture of a topical issue.

08:27In this particular scene, it's how we all are ranting and raving at each other about the most inconsequential arguments.

08:37Meanwhile, we're all on a lifeboat dying.

08:42Bitch!

08:43Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

08:46Todd, Todd, Todd.

08:48Hi.

08:48Can I say something?

08:49Of course you can. Sure.

08:52Yeah, I just want to say that she, the one with the t-shirt.

08:56Oh, Shawna.

08:57Yeah. She need to respect her mama.

08:59Okay.

08:59And then, the one that's her mother?

09:03Tamara.

09:03Yeah. You need to respect the baby, because life is precious.

09:08Luckily, I ran into David Cross, because I needed David Cross, too, to do Mr. Show.

09:14David is one of the funniest people I've ever met, and his brain is overflowing with comic takes and points of view, and he's got a strong political point of view, too.

09:30And he's got to crystallize, I would say, to contrarianism, which is a great thing, and a comedian, and any artist.

09:37So, together, we were a powerhouse.

09:39There's no cue cards on Mr. Show.

09:41And to actually do our best possible versions of each piece, we could do it on film, we could do it live, or we could do it on video.

09:49Or we could do multiple media within a sketch.

09:54So, it really was the ideal opportunity.

09:58I guess, if you think about it, we all live on a lifeboat, and it's important to prioritize.

10:06What seems important in a trailer park might seem frivolous when facing certain death at sea.

10:13Who are you talking at?

10:16It's the best.

10:18I'm thrilled at the legacy of Mr. Show.

10:21Look, I got into show business to write sketches, and to occasionally be in them.

10:27And I didn't get in it to be an actor.

10:30I didn't get in it to be in action films or to be in dramas.

10:33It's neat that this is where I've ended up, but this is what I got into the business for.

10:39The fact that we were able to do it, do it well, and that it has resonated, certainly, with comedy people, purists and stuff.

10:48That's all I ever wanted, and that's what I loved when I was young.

10:52I loved the credibility gap.

10:55Look them up.

10:55Monty Python.

10:57Derek and Clive.

10:58Look them up.

10:59And Albert Brooks' films, and Chris Guest's work, National Empowered Radio Hour, and other places that I could find it.

11:07So I loved that really strong, really pure sketch comedy.

11:13So I'm doing this scene.

11:21It's supposed to be two girls, and we keep waiting for the other girl to show up, and I'm fucking this girl for three hours.

11:26Pounding, pounding, pounding for hours and hours and hours, and then all of a sudden, after a couple hours, it feels like some chick's teabagging me.

11:38Right?

11:39Yeah, you should put her in on teabagging me.

11:41All right.

11:41That's enough.

11:42Stop it.

11:45Even I can't take it.

11:46This is so fun to do.

11:48There's different qualities to acting.

11:50I've gotten to act now.

11:51The last, like, 15 years of my life has been more acting than writing.

11:56And the most rewarding acting is a challenging scene, and I've gotten my share of those.

12:01The most fun acting is this, where you improvise within a scenario.

12:06Obviously, they did that on The Office, and I got to do one episode of that.

12:11But Curb was an opportunity to do this kind of acting.

12:16And it's just so fun, because you're surprising yourself.

12:19You're in the moment.

12:21And, of course, when it's done for comedy, you get to be a little outrageous and push the boundaries of character and logic and human behavior.

12:29Larry David called me.

12:30He said, you're going to play a porn star, and you have a story you tell.

12:34So come up with two stories.

12:36So I wrote up two stories that were rude, and you wouldn't want to hear them at a dinner party.

12:41That part that I just told, that I just watched, where he says, I'm fucking for three hours and pounding and pounding.

12:48I went to one of those sex shows in Times Square, like, in 1982.

12:54The performers were so bored.

12:58They were having sex, but they weren't engaged at all in it.

13:02I guess I took from that that a human being can do that, and that this guy's job was.

13:10And it's an awful story to tell at a dinner party.

13:13Larry!

13:20Hey, Stevie.

13:22Hank just forced me to sit through that activist.

13:24How can you stand it?

13:25What, that bad, was it?

13:26It's the worst piece of shit I've ever seen.

13:28Look at that young fella.

13:28You should really consider replacing him at New York campus.

13:31Look, Larry Sanders was an incredible break for me, and being able to work with these pros, everybody on that set, they were the best.

13:40Some of the best actors in America, including Rip Torn, who I got to do scenes with.

13:46And I didn't have to audition for it.

13:49I went into the audition, but Gary took me aside and just talked to me about the role.

13:55I was on the Ben Stiller show at the time.

13:58I mean, what a gift.

13:59And really, the first step into doing something more grounded than sketch comedy, and yet comedy still, and that's fun.

14:08But it was a huge break, really.

14:10True, Stevie.

14:11You take your clients to lunch.

14:12You don't buy them all frozen yogurt, though, do you?

14:14Just you, Larry.

14:16Good to know.

14:17So, Larry, are we on?

14:20Yeah.

14:22Yeah.

14:23Boom!

14:24You're number one!

14:24Gary Shandling was very supportive of young people breaking in and trying to make their way.

14:31And he identified a person as trying—it's so sad to talk about him in the past tense.

14:37When he saw somebody doing something interesting on the edges of things, but earnestly trying, he was really a great supporter for people like me and many people in that world, in that place in the world, trying to make their way.

14:54Always encouraging.

14:55Always encouraging, and he was that for me, and it just means a lot to have been included in this show and get that opportunity.

15:03And I do believe it may have been one of the reasons I got the opportunity to play Saul Goodman, because while it's true that Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould told me that the writers watched a lot of Mr. Show, and it's one of the reasons they gave me that part.

15:18I also think the fact that I had done this, whether they watched it or not, they had seen it, and the fact that I could pull this off and be in this world, this level of reality, and make it through, maybe is one of the reasons I got the opportunity to play Saul Goodman.

15:34You see my resume, you see I did a lot of acting, but it's usually for a day or two, and I always was happy to get it, because, and that includes Better Call Saul, the first episodes where I was like, this is great.

15:45I get to go somewhere, someone else suffers the writing work, someone else suffers the directing, the producing, all I have to do is play this guy.

15:54It's a vacation.

15:55I can do this, and it's because I have, as I said to David Carr, the journalist once, and he asked me, how do you do that?

16:04I said, well, I know how I do it.

16:06I have poor emotional boundaries.

16:08There's no need for this. This is all a big misunderstanding.

16:29I love the duck boat fight in Nobody 2. I'm so proud of this scene.

16:34It's true that the movie does go to some intense places, so I'm not telling you that this is a movie for little kids, but if there's a scene that you could really enjoy with your whole family, I think this is an action scene that everyone would enjoy.

16:48Look, the duck boat. I insisted upon it.

16:51We had a big family, seven kids, and I was the second oldest.

16:54We had a lot of unstable financial scenario.

16:59We lived in a very nice house and a very nice community, but we understood as kids that we were going to be homeless in a week or two, told many times.

17:10So it was really a precarious, weird, unsettling thread that underlie the whole childhood, and it was very disturbing and wrong, irresponsible, really, of my parents.

17:24We did go on two vacations in our station wagon.

17:28We went to the Illinois State Fair, and that was great, and we went to the Wisconsin Dells.

17:34And I've been to the Wisconsin Dells since, and I even took my kids there.

17:38I wanted this movie to be set in the Wisconsin Dells.

17:42The problem is the Wisconsin Dells is too nice.

17:45I really wanted it to be the place where Hutch went as a kid, and that it is a little bit smaller and more child-friendly than his older kids, who are now 13 and 18, would enjoy.

18:00There are a lot of reasons I asked if I could do an action movie.

18:14I asked the universe.

18:15I asked Hollywood.

18:16I asked my manager.

18:17I love the Jackie Chan movie Police Story.

18:21It was a movie that I could watch with my kids.

18:23It's got action in it, but it doesn't have blood, and it doesn't have guns, really.

18:27It's got that clever fighting that Jackie does in all of his films, but especially his early ones.

18:33Because that was an inspiration for me, I still want to get to do more of this kind of action that you could share with kids and stuff.

18:42This scene is my closest attempt to do a Jackie Chan style clever fight that has just got some humor laced throughout it.

18:54I really love it.

18:55I love that we got to do it.

18:56Universal was very supportive.

18:58This was challenging to do.

18:59It's hard to shoot on a boat.

19:01It's very hard to shoot on a boat.

19:03I was told, don't do it.

19:05Don't do it.

19:06You don't want to do it.

19:07And I can't wait for everybody in the world to see this fight.

19:10It's really wonderful to have been...

19:13Look, I know how lucky I've been.

19:15And of course, watching this makes me feel like I got luckier than I even imagined.

19:21I really did.

19:22Yeah.

19:23So, there's my lesson for actors.

19:26Get lucky.

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