Bob Odenkirk‘s career arc from SNL writer to sketch comedy legend to Emmy-nominated star of arguably the best drama (if not show) on television is pretty remarkable. He’s a triple threat, and as we know, triples is best.
Odenkirk never considered trying something other than comedy — until he worked with his good buddy Chris Farley.
“I was on stage with Chris Farley and Jill Talley at Second City, and we were improvising a scene, and Chris was so funny,” the Better Call Saul star recalled on Tuesday’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers. In the middle of the scene, his mind was drifting (it happens when you do seven shows a week) when he had a thought: “I should be in a drama.” Odenkirk was “loving [Farley’s] presence so much and he was so wonderful and I thought, ‘I can’t compete with that.’ So put me in a drama and I’ll be so funny,” he said.
Odenkirk didn’t make the immediate leap to drama, and even his role as Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad initially leaned towards comedy. But as the seasons went on, he was given the opportunity to flex his dramatic acting muscles (and later, actual muscles in Nobody). If performing with Farley hadn’t put the “I should be in a drama” thought in his head, he might not have accepted the part on Breaking Bad, and therefore, there might be no Better Call Saul. A world without Kim Wexler? No thanks.
You can watch the Late Night with Seth Meyers interview above.
