Bob Odenkirk has recalled how he “turned grey” moments after he suffered a near-fatal heart attack on the set of Better Call Saul.
Bob Odenkirk has recalled how he “turned grey” moments after he suffered a near-fatal heart attack on the set of Better Call Saul
Revealing how crew members initially mistook the emergency for a joke as the 63-year-old actor’s co-stars Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian, rushed to help him, Bob – best known for playing morally slippery lawyer Saul Goodman in Better Call Saul and its predecessor Breaking Bad – said screaming also erupted on set during his health horror.
Speaking about the incident to The Times, Bob said: “I went down and Rhea and Patrick grabbed me and they were screaming, but (the crew members who noticed) thought they were laughing.
“So there were delays in reacting because we were all so far apart from each other.”
Bob added: “I was gone. I turned grey. Eventually the on-set medic showed up and he didn’t know what to do. He’d never done CPR.”
After being transported to hospital, the actor was treated without surgery.
Bob said he has little memory of the ordeal itself.
He added: “A lot of people get that wonderful reel of film of their life, or they have a person who says, ‘Do you want to go back?’ None of that for me.
“The first memory I have is leaving the hospital a week after I got there.”
Bob said the experience changed his outlook on life.
He added: “That was such a gift, to experience a few weeks where I felt that way about my presence in the world.
“I felt just very, very delighted and engaged.”
Following the incident in July 2021, Bob confirmed on social media he had suffered a heart attack while filming the final season of Better Call Saul.
He wrote on X – then known as Twitter: “Hi. It’s Bob.
“Thank you. To my family and friends who have surrounded me this week.”
Bob continued: “And for the outpouring of love from everyone who expressed concern and care for me. It’s overwhelming. But I feel the love and it means so much.”
In a follow-up post, he wrote: “I’m going to be ok thanks to Rosa Estrada and the doctors who knew how to fix the blockage without surgery.”
“I’m going to take a beat to recover but I’ll be back soon.“
A month later, Bob updated fans again, writing: “I am doing great.
Referencing the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, he added: “I’ve had my very own ‘It’s a wonderful life’ week of people insisting I make the world slightly better.
“Wow! Thank you, I love everyone right now but let’s keep expectations reasonable!”
During a 2022 appearance on Sunday Today, Bob revealed the severity of the blockage in his chest.
He said: “My widow-maker artery was completely blocked.
“That’s why it’s called the widow-maker ’cause you die when that happens, but I went down.
“I was not present for any of it.
“I’m told it was a pretty shocking day on set, and traumatising for all my costars and crew members and people I love very much who love me and stood by my side and then went to the hospital with me.”
In 2023, speaking to Yahoo! Life, Bob said the heart attack “didn’t affect” him “much for a long time”.
He added: “I had a strange kind of upbeat energy literally the next day, and every day.
“It was because I had, like, a mind wipe every night.
“I needed my brain to get back on a normal state. It’s something I think about every day.”
