Bob Odenkirk Reveals He Was Bankrupt Before Getting Breaking Bad Role

Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk has revealed that he was bankrupt prior to being cast on Breaking Bad. The comedian took on his career-defining role as Saul Goodman during the show’s second season. He will soon reprise the role of Saul yet again when Better Call Saul’s sixth and final season premieres on AMC in April.

Odenkirk has become an icon of comedy over the course of his career. Spending many of the early years of his career working on beloved sketch comedy series such as Saturday Night Live and Mr. Show alongside fellow comedian, David Cross, and minor roles in shows such as Seinfeld and Roseanne. In the 2000s, he lost out on the part of Michael Scott in The Office and landed roles in critically and commercially unsuccessful films, including Let’s Go to Prison and The Brothers Solomon. It was in 2009 when he finally became a household name by joining the cast of Breaking Bad as corrupt lawyer Saul Goodman.

Despite the critical acclaim that Odenkirk has garnered for his work on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, he did not have the easiest road to get there. In fact, during a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show, Odenkirk revealed that he had gone bankrupt before being offered his now-iconic role. By his own estimation, he ended up in a “financial hole” from which he had to climb out of, which involved aggressively taking on more work as an actor.

As a result of Odenkirk’s financial state at the time, he found himself in a situation where he could not decline work – he even noted in his interview that his manager specifically forbid him from turning down jobs. That led to him taking everything he could to earn money and remedy his financial situation. Eventually, the offer for Breaking Bad came in, and by Odenkirk’s own confession, he was not very familiar with the show, as it was only on season 1. A slow build of a series, Breaking Bad did not become the ratings sensation everyone knows it to be until midway through its run on AMC, so it was still fairly under the radar when Odenkirk got the offer to play Saul.

The rest is history, as Odenkirk fundamentally changed the overall chemistry of Breaking Bad as a series, as well as the course of his own career. His character became so beloved that he was one of the few to actually survive the events of the series, which led to his eventual spinoff with Better Call Saul. From there, Odenkirk has continued to appear in other projects, even becoming an action star with the release of Nobody. Moreover, his recent health scare on the set of Better Call Saul’s latest season led to a massive rally of support from the online community showing just how much of a household name and beloved Hollywood performer he has become.

Source: The Howard Stern Show