Bob Odenkirk Would Like to Remind You That Life Is a Meaningless Farce

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The Interview

Bob Odenkirk Would Like to Remind You That Life Is a Meaningless Farce

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Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times

The Interview

Bob Odenkirk Would Like to Remind You That Life Is a Meaningless Farce

Credit...

Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times

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By

David Marchese

April 25, 2026

Bob Odenkirk has had one of show business’s most wonderfully improbable careers. After decades as a cult hero in the comedy world — his ’90s HBO sketch series, “Mr. Show With Bob and David,” is the apex of his work in that realm — he transitioned to mainstream success as, of all things, a serious dramatic actor. First in a supporting part as the amoral lawyer Saul Goodman on “Breaking Bad,” and then, to further critical and popular acclaim, as the star of that show’s spinoff, “Better Call Saul.”

Lately, his career has taken another turn that few could’ve seen coming: to action movie star. In the “Nobody” movies, he played a family man/assassin. In “Normal,” which is in theaters now, he plays an emotionally hollowed-out small-town Minnesota sheriff who finds renewed purpose when he’s forced to bloodily face off against, among other baddies with ill intentions, the yakuza.

You might think that at 63 years old, Odenkirk would be all gumdrops and lollipops about how his career — and life — have shaken out. But, in the best way, you’d be wrong.

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Bob Odenkirk Would Like to Remind You That Life Is a Meaningless Farce

The actor from “Mr. Show With Bob and David,” “Better Call Saul” and the new film, “Normal,” reflects on having one of show business’s most wonderfully improbable careers.

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Before we started recording the interview, you were telling me about a novel you just read and how it affected your thinking about something important that happened to you. Can you pick up where you left off?

Yeah, so almost four years ago, I had this heart incident. One of the tributaries to my widow-maker artery was shut down completely by a plaque buildup. I went down on the set of “Better Call Saul,” and it was really scary, especially for everyone around me. I’ve talked about it many times, and people have asked me, How did that affect you? People want to hear that you saw a white light. Then they would love to hear that you watched your whole life pass before you on a film reel. That would have been cool, but that didn’t happen. It was a blank for me. I came to, essentially, a week later.

So I’ve tried to answer this question for people, How did it impact you? And I’ve had a hard time because I’ve always felt I don’t do justice to the experience. OK, so then I’m reading this novel [Odenkirk holds up the book], “

On the Calculation of Volume

,” and the character in this book is having a very unique experience of time. She’s relating her experience of reliving the same day over and over. And I come to these passages and I’m like,

That’s

how I felt! That’s

exactly

how I felt for weeks after having this heart attack. There are passages that I marked because I’ve never been able to express this to people.

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