Actor Bob Odenkirk opens up to Shrabasti Mallik about his character James ‘Jimmy’ Morgan in Better Call Saul, a prequel to Breaking Bad, and tells her the difference between acting in a comedy and in a drama
There’s a reversal at the beginning of season two with Jimmy going to work with Davis and Mayne and that looks like it will be the big thread for season two, which conflicts with the end of season one. Was that a surprise to youIJ
It was, for exactly the reason you said. Yeah, it conflicts a little bit. But in season one Jimmy is really trying to win the respect and appreciation of his brother and then that goes terribly wrong.
In season two the only person he’s really connected to in an aspirational way is Kim. And in Kim’s world view, Davis and Mayne and HHM — the world she’s living. So if he wants to stay connected with her or make her proud or make her like him, he should try to be in that world. That’s where he should be if he wants to be close to her.
So yeah, it’s a surprise for sure and the only other thing I would say to you is that while we see Jimmy make this choice to try again to fit into the corporate world, he doesn’t really try as hard and he’s very aware now of the fact that he isn’t really going to fit in easily here.
He’s very aware right from the start. The scene where he walks into his office, he already knows that it’s going to be hard to fit in, as opposed to HHM where he was wide-eyed and going, “I can work here now rightIJ I’m a lawyer now — put in a word for me.”
Now you’ve done some more episodes of this show, did that change you approach to the character at allIJ
No. People have asked me a lot about the difference between comic acting and dramatic acting and in one way they’re very similar — it’s about committing to an alternate reality person. In comedy a lot of times you’re really blowing the characterisation up really big and it’s only better the bigger it is. In drama it’s often about tuning it in a lot more.
But commitment is important in both and for me, I get rewarded from doing the dramatic scenes that are really intense, interior and hard. That’s a great feeling, to feel like you connected and did a good job in drama. And then it’s a reward for me to get to do the comedy cause it’s a relief and it makes me laugh and makes me smile and I just know the rhythms of it really well and feel confident in it.
As a writer, do you like the background they gave youIJ
The background is wonderful and true to a person. It has an emotional truth to it. They worked really hard.
The thing that’s crazy about the work that Vince and Peter Goulddo is that they claim to — and I believe them actually — not know what they’re doing. like, we didn’t know when we started why he knows this person or where he lives. There are so many big choices, and then later as you watch the show everything affects everything else and it matters and it all builds and it’s all logical.
I mean, with Walter White there were choices he made that were kind of crazy and then as you get to know him, they ring true to who he is on a deeper level.
I know they work really, really hard. I know that they think hard and make a lot of notes and talk at length with this group of writers. I know Vince really sweats every detail.
Does it make a difference for you as an actor knowing that the audience knows how your character will ultimately end upIJ
Yeah, but they don’t know because I think the challenge for Vince and Peter as writers is to figure out this guy in a richer way — as a younger guy with many drives, who’s sympathetic, who you can relate to and who you can know.
Whereas Saul Goodman is a character who you stand back and laugh at and you think he’s entertaining, but you don’t say, “I’m like him.” You say, “He’s like him and I’m not like that.”
For me, it’s not a problem because Saul Goodman in the first scene he’s in, in Breaking Bad, tells Walter White, “My name isn’t Saul Goodman and this is all a front.” He admits it and it’s a show. It’s a show he’s putting on. You only saw him in disguise and his only purpose was as this fixer lawyer.
There were only two things he did that suggest a richer human behind the façade. Firstly, when he tells Jesse to go in and see Brock and Brock’s mum. When he goes, “You should go see Brock and Andrea,” that’s just out-of-character. In fact, there’s danger because Saul doesn’t want to get caught. Prime motivation for him is, “Don’t get caught.” So that’s a weird moment. And it was okay but I felt that was a glimpse into a person with some conscience.
But potentially he’s a more grounded guy than Saul presents himself to be when we first meet him. When he tells Walter White, “You know what a smart person would do when they were where you areIJ They’d quit.” Remember that sceneIJ It’s out-of-character for Saul. Saul doesn’t really care about Walter’s family or future — he just wants to make money off this guy.
So it’s almost like two charactersIJ
Yeah, three actually. Jimmy, Saul and then Gene. Yeah, and maybe more. Maybe one more after Gene. That’s what I think!
How sad were you when you found out that Saul and Jimmy are GeneIJ
I loved it. I loved it. I hoped that we would pull it off and that people wouldn’t go, “Oh, it’s just a joke.” It’s a real job! People really have it and it’s a job you can probably get without too much background check going on!