Bob Odenkirk Opens Up About Heart Attack On Better Call Saul Set
Topics: Film and TV, Entertainment
Cameron Frew
Featured Image Credit: Alamy/All Star Picture Library/Netflix
Topics: Film and TV, Entertainment
Bob Odenkirk has opened about a 'lucky' twist of fate saving his life after suffering a heart attack on the set of Better Call Saul.
The Breaking Bad star, who'll soon return to our screens as the world's favourite crook lawyer in Better Call Saul's sixth and final season, was rushed to hospital after collapsing on the set in July last year.
News of his heart attack sparked immediate concern, with fans taking to social media to wish him a speedy recovery while fearing the worst due to the wait between updates. Fortunately, he's doing absolutely fine.
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'Hi. It's Bob. Thank you. To my family and friends who have surrounded me this week. 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,' he earlier tweeted.
In a new interview with The New York Times, Odenkirk spoke publicly about his heart attack for the first time. 'I’d known since 2018 that I had this plaque build-up in my heart,' the actor explained.
'I went to two heart doctors at Cedars-Sinai, and I had dye and an M.R.I. and all that stuff, and the doctors disagreed on treatment,' he said, with one doctor believing he should start immediately on medication, while the other said he should hold off. He decided to listen to the second doctor, and for the most part, he was doing okay - until 'one of those pieces of plaque broke up'.
Odenkirk had been shooting with co-stars Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian on the day he collapsed. Luckily, he wasn't alone at the time.
'We were shooting a scene – we’d been shooting all day, and luckily I didn’t go back to my trailer. I went to play the Cubs game and ride my workout bike, and I just went down. Rhea said I started turning bluish-grey right away,' he said.
Rosa Estrada, the show's health safety supervisor, and assistant director Angie Meyer began administering CPR and used an automated defibrillator. After three zaps, 'it got me that rhythm back,' Odenkirk said.
Odenkirk rested in Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque for the best part of a week, but he has little recollection of his recovery. 'That’s its own weirdness. You didn’t have a near-death experience - you’re told you had one,' Seehorn said.
While unconfirmed, fans believe Better Call Saul's sixth season will premiere on April 18.
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