Nowadays Bob Odenkirk may be synonymous for his work on “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” but it originally took the comedy star a while to get used to his new role.
During Wednesday night’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” the ABC host showed his audience a photo of the “Breaking Bad” reunion at the SAG Awards last weekend.
“They were very good people to include me because I really was popping in. I felt very much like a guest in their company,” Odenkirk, who was known for portraying Saul Goodman, aka Slippin’ Jimmy McGill, said.
“Did you always?” Kimmel asked.
“Maybe toward the end I felt more part of the show. But the truth is they established that show and everything about it — the tone and the integrity of the work — before I ever showed up,” Odenkirk said.
Though Saul Goodman would go on to become a fan favorite character in the adored and critically acclaimed drama, he didn’t appear until the fittingly titled Season 2 episode “Better Call Saul.”
Another reason why Odenkirk may have felt distant from the rest of the cast had to do with how he personally experienced “Breaking Bad.” Going into the role, he had never seen the show. Though he repeatedly tried to watch it, his young children were often around, preventing him from watching graphic and bloody cable drama. Odenkirk did eventually watch “Breaking Bad,” but his ignorance did lead to one notable faux pas in the makeup trailer.
“Bryan [Cranston] was talking about a scene he was doing. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, but your character and Gus are friends, right?’” Odenkirk recalled.
Ever since the Chicken Man and drug kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) was introduced in Season 2, he served as a major rival for Cranston’s Walter White.
“[Bryan Cranston] looked at me — this was the third season — and he goes, ‘You’ve never watched the show, have you?’” Odenkirk said. “I just laughed.”
