Bob Odenkirk Traces His Rise to Unlikely Leading Man

You’ll be glad to know that the star of Better Call Saul and W/ Bob & David - two of the most adored spin-offs in recent TV history - is not comfortable with his newfound success.

- David Rensin

Q1: Your longtime manager, the late Bernie Brillstein, said, “When your time has come, success will find you.” Where were you when it happened?

ODENKIRK: Sitting in an office at Raleigh Studios, writing a pilot that was destined to fail—one of many. I got a phone call from my agent. “You’re going to get offered a role,” he said. “Don’t say no. It’s a good one.” I don’t know why he felt he had to remind me: I’d been saying yes to everything. I was in development on a couple of projects. I was directing commercials. I’d shot three films. I wrote a show about four dads, Incompetent Husbands, and I wrote a show about minor league baseball, San Diego Snakes. I wrote a couple of movies. I was also doing little roles here and there, stuff a friend asks you to do and you show up for a day. But it’s not really filling your life. I felt a little lost in the wilderness. So I get this call, and the show was Breaking Bad. It was a drama and a different kind of acting than anybody had asked me to do before. I’d never seen the show. I called a friend who had. “Oh yeah, that’s my favorite show,” he said. “You gotta do that.” It helps to have someone go, “It’s awesome.” So I said okay. I had to fly to Albuquerque. I took the bus to the airport. From then on, good things started happening.

Q2: At the final Breaking Bad wrap party you said, “A TV series is ultimately judged by its spinoff.” What are your favorite spin-offs?