Latest news with #Odenkirk
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Breaking Bad fans discover little-known secret about Mike's iconic role
A fan favourite character from the hit show Breaking Bad was written to cover for a cast member's absence. The Bryan Cranston-starring show was lauded by critics and the public on its release and is now regarded as one of the best shows in history. The series also featured Bob Odenkirk, Aaron Paul, and Jonathan Banks. Banks, who plays fan favourite Mike Ehrmantraut in both Breaking Bad and the prequel series, Better Call Saul, was brought in for the show's second series, and was never meant to be a main cast member. But the fans loved his work so much during another character's absence that the decision was made to keep him on. Other cast members were also meant to depart the show earlier than expected. Aaron Paul, who portrays Jesse Pinkman in all series and the sequel Netflix movie, was set to leave Breaking Bad after its first series. He was kept on, however, after a series of rewrites. Revisions were also made to cover for Odenkirk's absence, with his lowlife lawyer character, Saul Goodman, absent for a few episodes. In his place, Banks filled in as the enforcer Ehrmantraut, because Odenkirk had obligations to film a different series. His recurring role on How I Met Your Mother clashed with Breaking Bad's shooting schedule. A character was then needed to cover for Odenkirk's absence, and led to the writing of the Mike Ehrmantraut character. A Better Call Saul fan account posted the fact to X, which has since been verified by writers from the show. The post reads: "Writers for Breaking Bad created Mike Ehrmantraut as a substitute for Saul Goodman when Bob Odenkirk was unavailable because of a commitment to appear in How I Met Your Mother." Odenkirk was unavailable for the season two finale episode, and thus a replacement character was brought in. Fans were delighted to realise the origins of Ehrmantraut come from the absence of another beloved character. One user wrote: "IMO, the most interesting character on BB or BCS. I wish there was a series to take us from Mike the policeman to Mike the fixer." Another added: "I love characters who were meant to be one offs due to outstanding circumstances become the fan favourites." A third wrote: "It's funny how such a small twist of fate could have prevented us from seeing what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest characters in TV history." Other fans of the show have praised the unexpected stand-in, and the legendary character it led to. One user wrote: "Best piece of lore I have read in a long time." Another added: "It's probably the best story that came out after the show finished." A third shared: "After that infamous finale, this is literally the only good thing that HIMYM did. Mike Ehrmantraut is one of the best characters in all of television."
UPI
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
Bob Odenkirk kept training since 'Nobody' for bigger sequel
1 of 5 | Bob Odenkirk, seen at the 2025 Tony Awards in New York City, returns in "Nobody 2." File Photo by Angelina Katsanis/UPI | License Photo July 17 (UPI) -- Universal Pictures released a behind-the-scenes look at Nobody 2 on Thursday. The film opens Aug. 15 in theaters. In the featurette, star Bob Odenkirk tells viewers he continued training after he wrapped the first Nobody, which opened in 2021. For that film, he trained two years with Daniel Bernhardt and the 87eleven Action Design team. On the set of Nobody 2, Odenkirk is seen offering to do extra takes and lifting weights on the set claiming, "Come on, that's not hard." Bernhardt confirmed that Odenkirk was ready for more in the sequel. "Bob was already on a whole different level," Bernhardt said. "It's a whole different game now." Producer David Leitch, who co-created the John Wick franchise and has directed Atomic Blonde, The Fall Guy and more, said Nobody 2 took advantage of Odenkirk's new skills. "When you get an actor that does that and immerses themselves, it allows you to create action that you couldn't create for some other actor who doesn't have the discipline," Leitch said. "We can amp up the level in this film." Odenkirk returns as Hutch, a retired assassin who takes his family on vacation and stumbles upon another criminal operation. He fights bad guys on a boat, in an arcade and an elevator, among other action settings.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nobody 2 Trailer: Bob Odenkirk's Vacation Gets Very Violent
Universal Pictures has shared the official trailer for the highly-anticipated action thriller, which serves as the sequel to the Bob Odenkirk-led 2021movie. The upcoming movie is scheduled to arrive in theaters on August 15. 'Four years after he inadvertently took on the Russian mob, Hutch remains $30 million in debt to the criminal organization and is working it off with an unending string of hits on international thugs,' reads the official synopsis. 'Much as he likes the slam-bang action of his 'job,' Hutch and his wife Becca find themselves overworked and drifting apart. So, they decide to take their kids on a short getaway to Wild Bill's Majestic Midway and Waterpark, the one and only place where Hutch and his brother Harry went on a vacation as kids. With Hutch's dad in tow, the family arrives in the small tourist town of Plummerville, eager for some fun in the sun.' Check out the Nobody 2 trailer below (watch more trailers): In the video, Odenkirk returns as Hutch Mansell, who just can't seem to catch a break. Since going back to the hitman business, Hutch hasn't been able to spend time with his family. Because of this, he decides to go on a spontaneous family vacation, where he'll soon discover that he has taken his family to the most dangerous place ever. The ensemble cast also includes Connie Nielsen, John Ortiz, RZA, Colin Hanks, with Christopher Lloyd and Sharon Stone. Nobody 2 is directed by Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto from a screenplay written by John Wick franchise creator Derek Kolstad, Odenkirk, Aaron Rabin, and Umair Aleem. It is produced by Kelly McCormick and David Leitch for 87North, Odenkirk and Marc Provissiero for Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment, and Braden Aftergood for Eighty Two Films. During its theatrical run, the first installment received positive reviews from critics. It also earned a worldwide gross of over $57 million against a reported budget of around $16 million. The post Nobody 2 Trailer: Bob Odenkirk's Vacation Gets Very Violent appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Los Angeles Times
30-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Saul' brothers bond over ‘Glengarry' stage work, shared comedy instincts
One man is the consummate professional, calm and seen-it-all experienced, ready to handle any assignment. The other lacks all that but throws himself almost recklessly into the mix, relying on charm and quick-on-his-feet wit as he strives for something that feels just beyond him. I could easily be describing Chuck and Jimmy McGill (a.k.a. Saul Goodman), the two brothers brilliantly portrayed by Michael McKean and Bob Odenkirk in 'Better Call Saul.' But these days the description fits McKean, 77, and Odenkirk, 62, in real life as they take the stage, along with Kieran Culkin and Bill Burr, in 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' David Mamet's profane play about real estate salesmen whose souls are being ground to dust by the eternal chase for dollars. McKean has regularly graced the stage in recent decades, appearing in works by everyone from John Waters to Harold Pinter to William Shakespeare. 'It's as much fun as it looks,' he says, adding that he can't really give advice to his former small-screen sibling about treading the boards. 'It just seems so logical,' he says. Odenkirk's stage experience: one play in Chicago for a month when he was 21. 'I don't remember much about it,' he says dryly during our lunch, adding that while he's read books about Shakespeare he's never even seen one of his plays. After less than a week of previews for his Broadway debut, he sounds a bit dazzled by the ease with which McKean and Culkin, another experienced theater actor, inhabit the stage: Odenkirk calls the pair Broadway actors while describing himself as a 'nonsense actor.' He feels like he's getting a free education in theater. 'I still don't understand it,' he admits. 'I'm the only one who's a little off, but I'm going to get there.' (McKean encourages him by saying that the previous night he was so emotionally caught up in Odenkirk's Shelley that he almost missed a cue.) Odenkirk says director Patrick Marber talked about reaching that Zen zone where you're not running lines or motivations or physicalizations in your head. 'You're just existing and this play comes out of you,' Odenkirk says. 'I see that on the horizon, but I haven't experienced it myself yet. 'I'm excited about a play being a living thing that changes each time,' he adds, 'but I'm still thinking, 'What if I start on this foot?' I'm still trying to engineer moments like you can in TV where you have more control. But you never get a print here. You just do it again tomorrow.' Odenkirk quips that he thought he was 'just doing a show, but it turns out I'm 'doing Broadway.'' And that, McKean points out, is a rarefied world. 'It's fun to be a part of once, but I'm an interloper as I always am, so it's not easy,' Odenkirk says, explaining that he doesn't expect to return … unless, he jokes, they do a Broadway version of 'Brian's Song' with McKean in the Billy Dee Williams role. But Odenkirk is game for the stage role, saying he loved how 'Better Call Saul' stretched his acting muscles — 'that was really good for me' — and he believes this will too. One bonus: There's some of Saul in his character, Shelley Levene. Shelley is overeager and desperate; he just lacks Jimmy's/Saul's imagination and gumption. 'People know me as a striver, someone who's always coming up with devious, clever ways around things, who then gets punched in the face by the world over and over,' Odenkirk says. McKean, meanwhile, plays George Aaronow, a salesman he describes as 'pathetic' even compared to Shelley; obviously someone very different from Chuck McGill. But McKean says he consciously mixed up roles early in his career to avoid pigeonholing — from Lenny on 'Laverne & Shirley' to David St. Hubbins in 'This Is Spinal Tap' to Edna Turnblad ('Hairspray') and J. Edgar Hoover ('All the Way') on Broadway. For all his lack of stage experience, Odenkirk had 'Glengarry' in his sights for years. Two decades ago, he wrote to Mamet asking permission to do a 'purely comic version where instead of land sales it would be pots and pans' ; the cast would have also featured his 'Mr. Show' co-star David Cross and Fred Willard. Unsurprisingly, Mamet never responded. More recently he tried again, without the pots and pans but with characters using cellphones. He hoped to have Burr in that cast. Mamet wrote back but said no. So when Odenkirk was offered the role in this production he jumped at the chance to step into the shoes worn by Jack Lemmon, Alan Alda and Al Pacino. Mamet's play debuted on Broadway in 1984 after premiering in London the year before; in addition to a 1992 film adaptation starring Lemmon as Levene, there have been two Broadway productions of the show in the last 20 years. One reason the show keeps coming back is that there's plenty of scenery to chew for the top-flight actors — Alda's co-stars in the 2005 revival included Liev Schreiber and Jeffrey Tambor, while Pacino was joined by Bobby Cannavale and John C. McGinley in 2012. But McKean says the play offers more than showy roles. 'It's about toxic masculinity and what's in our nature,' he says. 'There's the slow boil everyone is on in a game with high stakes where your success says something about how much of a man you are.' These salesmen 'love what they're doing and it's killing them,' Odenkirk says, calling the four-decade old play more relevant than ever before. 'Now everyone is in this cage match of capitalism unbridled without a [functional] Justice Department and with all the watchdogs being let go,' he says. 'It's just you guys beat each other to shreds, and we'll watch and the money will go up the chain.' This leads Odenkirk to ask McKean if he's ever seen the 1969 documentary 'Salesman,' centered on employees of the Mid-American Bible Co. pitching their wares door to door. 'That film invented a lot about what we take for granted as a great documentary,' the younger of the pair says. A digression ensues as the pair chats about anything and everything, from whose dog is cuter (a much friendlier competition than the cutthroat 'Glengarry') to Monty Python, comedy duo Bob and Ray, and Odenkirk's next movie, 'Normal.' Also discussed: a long-ago Chicago play called 'Bleacher Bums' and where they each lived while working on 'Saturday Night Live.' Although they didn't overlap on 'SNL,' they met while McKean was there. A few years later, McKean made an appearance on 'Mr. Show,' as a condescending law professor, a forerunner of Chuck McGill, while Odenkirk's character on that episode has a touch of Jimmy McGill's DNA. Odenkirk spends much of our lunch celebrating McKean, repeating twice that his co-star, in a scene with Burr (a stand-up also making his Broadway debut), is getting 'Glengarry's' biggest laughs. He also brings up McKean's early comedy records, saying, 'Wait, can we just talk about the Credibility Gap?,' a troupe that included Harry Shearer and 'Laverne & Shirley' compatriot David L. Lander. (McKean, meanwhile, can still recite lines from his favorite 'Mr. Show' skits, including 'The Fad 3.') After our meal, McKean, casual and rumpled, tugs on his old Brooklyn Dodgers hat ('I went to my first game at Ebbets Field,' he had mentioned), is a man very much at home. We had, in fact, met at a diner just blocks from his apartment. Odenkirk, by contrast, is trim and fit and dressed sharply, with a black-and-red Chicago Cubs cap atop his head. Odenkirk stops in a bank after our meal because he'd given his last few dollars to a mariachi in the subway. He makes small talk about baseball with the security, but the ATM just won't give him cash. It turns out his card is inserted backward, fitting for a man who feels a little out of place here. Unlike his characters, Odenkirk is calm and gracious. When it's time to go, he takes one last opportunity to say: 'Make sure the story talks about how great Michael McKean is.'
