While Better Call Saul actor Bob Odenkirk has never exactly been a workaholic, the man is reflecting on his busy nature more prudently in recent times. Part of that approach is because of the heart attack Odenkirk suffered in 2021 on the set of his AMC show; which saw the Mr. Show comedy vet eventually make a steady recovery. And while he's fully back to work now, he also still thinks about this health scare "every day."
It may have only been a couple years back, but Bob hasn’t let that moment slip from his mind. Speaking with Yahoo for its series on parenting, So Mini Ways, Bob Odenkirk opened up about that health crisis and the effect it had on him after the fact. And as it turns out, the Emmy winner doesn’t let much moss grow on the memory of what was potentially his greatest health scare; which he revealed thusly:
It's something I think about every day. Weirdly, it didn't affect me much for a long time.
It shouldn’t be that surprising to learn that the Breaking Bad actor is still carrying the memory of that day with him. That is particularly true when Odenkirk revealed changes due to said heart attack earlier this year.
What also hasn’t changed is Bob Odenkirk’s thankfulness for his family, friends, and fans. In Bob’s previous reflections on the health scare, that mindful nature has always shone through, thanks to the outpouring of love he’s received in the past. But that feedback wasn’t just limited to the good things in life, as he had some problems with his memory after his collapse on the Better Call Saul set. A scenario that, as he continued to explain in this interview, had both its upsides and downsides:
I had a strange kind of upbeat energy literally the next day, and every day. It was because I had, like, a mind wipe every night. And so my ability to even think about what had happened to me [was compromised] — I needed to hear about it from people who'd been there, and I needed my brain to get back on a normal state.
Two years after this life changing event, Bob Odenkirk is still very much at work. At the same time, he’s acknowledged that he won’t be chasing as many projects as he used to, with a renewed intent to balance work and life. While no one would wish something like a heart attack on anyone, Bob’s clarity after the fact is something that all of us could stand to learn from; no matter where we are in our lives.
For those of you who want to enjoy the works of Bob Odenkirk, you can binge right up to Better Call Saul’s ending, thanks to the series’ current streaming home. All you need is a Netflix subscription to dive into the darkly comic world of the legal system, with the morally dubious Saul Goodman as your guide. And don’t forget that Odenkirk’s new series Lucky Hank is also available to stream, through AMC+.
