Better Call Saul premieres tonight, and it looks as though Bob Odenkirk will be relieved to finally see his work come to fruition.
Better Call Saul is, of course, the spinoff of AMC’s massively popular show Breaking Bad , which ended last year. Now that Bob Odenkirk is starring in his own show, the actor recently said that he’s never worked harder now that he’s the man.
Perhaps because Odenkirk knows that this is not Breaking Bad , the actor has been working hard to make sure that Better Call Saul is successful. As the AV Club points out, the new show’s debut will likely be helped quite a bit by the fact that the show immediately preceding it will be the return of The Walking Dead . Now it’s time to see whether an actor who has been in the supporting role for most of his career can actually carry a show.
When it comes to shooting Better Call Saul , it’s pretty obvious that the lead actor has definitely noticed the heavier job.
“The workload is exponentially, by a factor of one thousand, greater. I mean, my part in Breaking Bad wasn’t that large,” Bob expressed about shooting the show, according to Time . “I would fly in, do my part, and go home sometimes the same day. Flew to Albuquerque, shot, and then came home. This time, I moved there for four and a half months and there were whole weeks where I was in every scene. So yeah, very different. I had to work harder by a lot.”
That doesn’t mean Bob Odenkirk isn’t enjoying his new found fame. Once upon a time, Bryan Cranston was another actor who had a recognizable face but was far from a superstar. Is it possible that the 52-year-old Odenkirk can find the same kind of spark to his career? Whether or not Better Call Saul can become something as popular as Breaking Bad is anyone’s guess. At the very least it’s a welcome sight to see an actor announcing how much harder he is working in order to get his show off the ground.
The fans of the super popular series that spawned this show will likely tune in to see what is offered up. After that, Better Call Saul is going to have to carry its own water and Bob Odenkirk has gone out of his way to try and make sure it does.