Interview with Bob Odenkirk

Bob Odenkirk is a real multi-talent: He is an actor, comedian, director, author and producer. Since season two he plays Saul Goodman on "Breaking Bad". Bob Odenkirk talked to myFanbase about his work behind the camera, his future projects and his charakter Saul.

Foto: Copyright: Dan Dion
© Dan Dion

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1. Of all the artistic endeavors you have engaged in, which is the most challenging and which is the most rewarding: writing, acting, directing or being a comedian?

DIRECTING is the most rewarding. It uses all of your talents and skill, your imagination, problem-solving, and your sense of what matters. That said, I haven’t delivered on the job as fully as I believe I can. I am working hard to generate another opportunity and I intend to make the most of it.

2. You and your wife have recently developed a comedy sketch show that is also appropriate for kids. How did you come up with this idea? In your experience, how do children and adults differ in their sense of humor? And do you think that humor is innate or rather a quality that is socially acquired and evolving with time?

My wife is a talent manager, mostly comic actors who she finds doing sketch shows around Los Angeles. I find myself interacting with young talent just as a matter of interest on my part. Between us we see a lot of shows and often there are scenes in these shows that we know our kids would love. Our kids are 9 and 11. So we assembled a "best of" show of such things and it went over great.

I don't see so much of a difference in children's senses of humor and adult senses of humor. I think taste and sensibility varies wildly in comedy and that is true in kids and adults. My kids love the TV show "The Office", but I don't think they would like more traditional situation comedies at all.

I think humor begins innately and can grow and become more sophisticated... it can also devolve.

3. As a writer, where do you draw your inspiration from?

Good question. I am sitting here doing this interview instead of writing because I am afraid of writing just now, that there is no great idea pressing in my head. But, it'll come.

4. In the course of your career, you have worked with a multitude of truly talented comedians. Who is the funniest person you have ever met?

It's a tie: Chris Farley, the actor from "Saturday Night Live", "Second City", and the movies "Tommy Boy" and "Black Sheep" was the most lovable and funny person ever. David Cross is, in a quite different, more cynical and anarchic way, equally funny nearly all the time.

5. Saul Goodman is a sleazy, selfish and self-centered son of a gun. Why do we still love him so much?

Because you know that he is a character in a TV show, and not really your real lawyer in the real world.

6. How much input did you have in creating this character with all his quirks (the commercials, the website etc.)?

I am very active in creating all the outside-the-show stuff. However, when it comes to the part as I play it on "Breaking Bad", I do not improvise any lines – they give me plenty of great ones.

7. Will we ever learn more about Saul's familial background? What role does his Irish ancestry play in who he is as a person?

I do not think you will learn much about his background. The Irish have a reputation for sweet-talking, don't they? I think Saul's gift of gab is Irish.

8. In "Breaking Bad", Walter's situation has become so desperate that it seems highly unlikely that the show could last more than another season or two. Where do you see Saul at the very end of the show?

Saul? Probably either in the bottom of a dumpster, or driving (fast) out of town in a new Escalade with suitcases full of cash in the back and pulling a boat called "The Shark II".

9. Tell us about your upcoming projects. Has "Breaking Bad" whet your appetite for doing more drama?

I would love to do more drama! This has been a real challenge, grounding the character, studying the dialogue and the action to figure out who Saul is, how he carries himself, what he is after... it's been a great time. I hope I get another chance.

I am writing a show for myself to star in. It's comic, but mixes styles, with a grounded character for myself to play and some fairly broad comic characters scattered around him.

10. Since myFanbase is an online magazine about TV series, do you have a favorite show?

My favorite TV shows are, in this order: THE ROYLE FAMILY, THE OFFICE (BBC VERSION), MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS. If you've never seen "The Royle Family" you should order it up from your dvd service... it may take you a short while to appreciate the situation and the relationships, but it's time well spent.

Paulina Banaszek - myFanbase