And now, the end is near \u2013 and Saul Goodman is facing his final curtain. This week, after six seasons Better Call Saul<\/a> comes to a close. The cult American drama about dodgy Albuquerque lawyer Saul Goodman has almost caught up with the events of Breaking Bad<\/a> \u2013 the hit series that introduced Bob Odenkirk\u2019s beloved protagonist of this prequel show about his back story.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been doing it for so long and it\u2019s such a part of my life that I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve fully accepted that it\u2019s over,\u201d admits Odenkirk, speaking on Zoom while on his morning dog-walk around his Los Angeles neighbourhood. \u201cIt\u2019s been 12 years of my life. But when I finish watching this season with everyone else, that\u2019s when it\u2019ll hit me: that\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n Things were nearly done for Odenkirk last year, too. While shooting this final season of Better Call Saul last summer, the actor suffered a heart attack<\/a> during filming for the eighth episode. He has no memory of the immediate aftermath of his collapse, but he knows it was 5:30pm, the cast and crew had been shooting all day and that they were changing shots. So the Illinois-born actor, now 59, headed to the exercise bike he used between scenes and began watching a Chicago Cubs baseball game on TV.<\/p>\n \u201cI went down on one knee, and then I went all the way down. I guess I said, \u2018I don\u2019t feel very good,\u2019\u201d he recalls with a rueful laugh. Odenkirk now knows that castmates Rhea Seehorn [who plays Kim Wexler] and Patrick Fabian [Howard Hamlin] grabbed his head and hand and \u201cstarted yelling at me to stay on Earth\u201d.<\/p>\n Luckily the show\u2019s health officer had a defibrillator in the boot of her car and, while she ran to get it, trained crew administered CPR \u2013 \u201cproper CPR\u201d, as he puts it. \u201cI wasn\u2019t breathing. I mean, if nobody had been there, if they didn\u2019t do that CPR, I\u2019d have been dead in a few minutes.\u201d Three shots of the defibrillator were followed by emergency surgery that cleaned out the artery he gamely dubs \u201cthe widowmaker\u201d.<\/p>\n But blocked blood vessels notwithstanding, Odenkirk was already in great shape after shooting last year\u2019s well-reviewed action film Nobody<\/a>. \u201cNow I take a bunch of heart medication I didn\u2019t take before!\u201d he says cheerfully, before adding that he is maintaining the same workout regime. \u201cOtherwise, what\u2019s changed is, you get that real sense that there\u2019s a limit to this life. So the choices you make with what you do next, and what you commit to, that\u2019s where it affects you. You try to get your [professional] priorities to be ones that you\u2019ll feel good about if you go down!\u201d<\/p>\n Fans have followed the on-screen antics of Saul Goodman for over a decade, with the slippery bagman for Mexican drug cartels arriving in season 2 of Breaking Bad. Odenkirk\u2019s get-out-of-jail fixer became entangled with the spiralling (mis)fortunes of high school chemistry teacher-turned-methamphetamine kingpin Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and his hapless sidekick Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).<\/p>\n But as beautifully unfurled in Better Call Saul\u2019s origins story, the character started out as lovable conman Jimmy McGill. He\u2019s a man who changes track \u2013 and also his name to something altogether slicker (Saul Goodman = \u201cit\u2019s all good, man\u201d). This is partly in response to forces conspiring against him, including a fusty New Mexico legal firm that won\u2019t give him a break.<\/p>\n Saul\u2019s still fundamentally decent, though. And he\u2019s a devoted husband to fellow lawyer Kim Wexler, played by Seehorn. Last month the actress was finally honoured with a first Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actress.<\/p>\n By contrast, Odenkirk has been nominated in the lead actor category for every one of the five full seasons that have aired so far.<\/p>\n But as we\u2019ve seen over the first half of this final season, Saul\u2019s fast-and-loose approach to legal procedure has caught up with him: he and Kim\u2019s actions have resulted in people being killed by the ruthless \u201cnarcos\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting for these two storylines to come together, the bad guys\u2019 and Kim and Jimmy\u2019s relationship \u2013 and now they have done in the worst possible way. From here on out, we watch them dealing with the consequences of their choices,\u201d Odenkirk says.<\/p>\n Given that Kim wasn\u2019t in Breaking Bad, it\u2019s clear that something wicked this way comes. For the faithful, though, that sense of dread has been mitigated by the appearance of Cranston and Paul\u2019s characters<\/a> in this final lap.<\/p>\n With his dog barking excitedly in the background, Odenkirk smiles and says it was \u201cthe greatest joy ever\u201d to reunite with the old gang. \u201cThe first episode I did on Breaking Bad was a big scene with those guys in the desert, at 2am, in a sandstorm. So to revisit the relationship now\u2026 I can\u2019t say more than that. Because it\u2019s a mindblower, man!\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: Breaking Bad creator responds to Better Call Saul spin-off rumours: \u201cTime to do something new\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Prior to Breaking Bad, Odenkirk was best known in the US as a comedian and sketch comedy writer\/actor; in the UK, he was barely known at all. Now he\u2019s renowned worldwide.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a whole lot more famous than I need to be,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s OK, I can deal with that, but it has been a massive alteration in how I live in the world \u2013 and certainly has been for my kids,\u201d he says of his son and daughter, both now in their early 20s. \u201cThey get excited by it. Then they also get tired of it.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Odenkirk has had roles in How I Met Your Mother<\/a>, Fargo, The Simpsons and the critically-acclaimed films Nebraska, The Post<\/a> and Little Women. His latest project is the recently announced series Straight Man.<\/p>\n In the comedy drama based on a comic novel, he plays a small-town East Coast university academic enduring a midlife crisis. \u201cI liked how it was totally a variation on Saul,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s more comic, there\u2019s a lighter tone, but it\u2019s very rich with human frailty and stupidity. I just loved the vibe of it. And obviously, [unlike Better Call Saul], it doesn\u2019t have guns.\u201d<\/p> \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Better Call Saul is available on\u00a0Netflix<\/a>\u00a0in the UK and AMC in the US.\u00a0<\/strong>Check out the\u00a0best\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>Netflix series<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/strong>best Netflix movies<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to keep you entertained, or visit our\u00a0<\/strong>TV guide<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for more to watch.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale on Tuesday 9th August \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n By Craig Mclean Published: Monday, 15 August 2022 at 12:00 am This interview was originally published in Radio Times magazine. And now, the end is near \u2013 and Saul Goodman is facing his final curtain. This week, after six seasons Better Call Saul comes to a close. The cult American drama about dodgy Albuquerque lawyer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":20296,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/bob-odenkirk-on-better-call-sauls-final-chapter-and-breaking-bad-reunion-joy.jpg",1300,867,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/bob-odenkirk-on-better-call-sauls-final-chapter-and-breaking-bad-reunion-joy-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/bob-odenkirk-on-better-call-sauls-final-chapter-and-breaking-bad-reunion-joy-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/bob-odenkirk-on-better-call-sauls-final-chapter-and-breaking-bad-reunion-joy-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/bob-odenkirk-on-better-call-sauls-final-chapter-and-breaking-bad-reunion-joy-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/bob-odenkirk-on-better-call-sauls-final-chapter-and-breaking-bad-reunion-joy.jpg",1300,867,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/bob-odenkirk-on-better-call-sauls-final-chapter-and-breaking-bad-reunion-joy.jpg",1300,867,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Craig Mclean Published: Monday, 15 August 2022 at 12:00 am This interview was originally published in Radio Times magazine. And now, the end is near \u2013 and Saul Goodman is facing his final curtain. This week, after six seasons Better Call Saul comes to a close. 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