Featured Image Credit: Alamy/AMC
Topics: Film and TV, Entertainment, Celebrity, Health
Emily Brown
The scene Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk was filming when he suffered a heart attack last July is set to be released in the upcoming string of episodes.
Odenkirk was in the middle of filming the sixth and final series of the Breaking Bad spin-off when he had to undergo CPR on set, resulting in him stepping back from production for a while to allow himself time to recover.
Co-stars Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian witnessed the moment Odenkirk fell, and the show’s health safety supervisor, Rosa Estrada, and assistant director Angie Meyer hooked him up to an automated defibrillator in a bid to restart his pulse.
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After three attempts the recovery efforts were successful, and Odenkirk was taken to Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque.
Following the ordeal, Better Call Saul co-creator Vince Gilligan praised the actor for coming 'right back, like it never happened'.
He described how the cast had been part way through one scene in particular at the time of Odenkirk's heart attack, meaning they had to pick up where they had left off with as much continuity as possible.
Speaking to Deadline, Gilligan explained: “It was a hard scene to go back to. I was directing. I was there. We weren’t all the way through it.
"We were four-fifths of the way through it, so when he recovered, we had to finish shooting the scene. All of our amazing crew — makeup, wardrobe, hair, director of photography — everybody had to make sure that it looked exactly like the stuff we shot previously, so when it cuts together you can’t tell what’s the new stuff and what’s the old stuff."
The director has denied to reveal what happens in the scene, but fans will see it play out in the second part of the sixth series, which is set to kick off on 11 July after the first half of the season began airing in April.
Co-creator Peter Gould said fans would 'never know' which shots showed Odenkirk before his heart attack and which ones featured him afterwards, saying: "I can put the two scenes next to each other and never know the difference.”
Following the scare, Odenkirk took to social media to thank fans and celebrities who had expressed their concern and support, describing the reaction as 'overwhelming' and assuring he was 'going to be okay' thanks to the work of Estrada and the doctors.
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