Bob Odenkirk on Life After ‘Saul’ and Aging: ‘You Can Exhale a Little Bit’

Where would you be if comedy hadn’t clicked?

When I was young, I really liked being in the out-of-doors, hiking and walking in the forest. So I actually thought for a short while about being a forest ranger. I thought that was a great job and a cool thing to do.

You had a heart attack on the Better Call Saul set. How did that affect your outlook?

Having a heart attack like that is a level of reality check that you might struggle to find if you didn’t have an incident like that. It gave me this impetus to work on myself and work on my choices in my life going forward; to do things that I value.

“Saul Goodman was a huge role,” says Odenkirk, pictured above in Season 3 of “Better Call Saul.” “He was earnest and stupid. He was funny and heartbroken. I’m proud of that part.”

Michele K.Short/Netflix

How did you bounce back?

I had five weeks off, but there were still a few months where I needed more rest than I was used to. Now I do my workouts and take my statins and check in with my heart doctor every other year or so.

What led you to segue into action roles?

It was very much a planned quirk to try action. My thought was, 'I’ve been a comedy writer for 25 years. I hadn’t really used my body except to eat chicken and make jokes.' I started to train and then put the word out that I was up for an action film. Derek Kol­stad, who wrote the John Wick films, liked my idea and wrote a film called Nobody. I did not like going to the gym. I avoided it. But when I said I’d do this, I really needed to focus on becoming stronger physically and more agile.

In your latest action film, you have some intense scenes. What’s it like to film those?

Action-fighting sequences are a lot like a sketch. You have to work as a group, and even though it’s choreographed, it changes when you’re right there. You see all the blood in these movies. It’s fake blood, and it makes us laugh as much as it makes you laugh.

Do you have any hobbies?

I play guitar. Not well. I like to read. I like to create things. I’ve got some kids’ book ideas. I could work on a movie script or two, but I’m trying not to be in work mode all the time.

You’ve been married for 28 years. What’s your secret?

Years ago, I saw an interview with the longest-­married couple in America. They’d been married 75 years, and they asked them, “What was your secret?” The woman said, “He works on oil rigs.” The point of it was, he was not in the house for six months out of the year. What is the secret? Marry the right person. Good luck!

Your children, Nate and Erin, are on their own now, and you are an empty nester. How have you coped with that?

Not well. That’s hard. To be honest, [I’m] a little lost without kids to help, to be around. I gotta figure it out, but I am trying to enjoy it. You have a lot of freedom, but, yeah, trying to figure it out.

You get to work with them, though.

I’m working with my son on [a TV project]. My daughter and I put out a book of kids’ rhymes that we wrote and she illustrated. So we do work together.

“Having a heart attack ... gave me this impetus to work on myself and work on my choices in my life going forward; to do things that I value,” says Odenkirk, photographed in January 2026 at Dust Studio in Los Angeles.

Dylan Coulter (Wardrobe Stylist: Alvin Stillwell for Celestine; Grooming: Sonia Lee for Exclusive Artists)

How did growing up in Illinois with six siblings shape your identity?

When you become somewhat famous, people say, “Oh, you’re just a Hollywood guy.” And you’re like, “How am I a Hollywood guy? I’m a Naperville guy … running around fighting over the last piece of cake or wishing we could go to Pizza Hut.” I feel very shaped by my Naperville Boy Scout, Catholic, seven-kids childhood. I’m that guy at heart.

What do you love about being in your 60s?

You can exhale a little bit. Whatever you are, whatever you’ve made, however you behave — this is it. The idea of building this into something much, much bigger? That weight is off your shoulders.