Bob Odenkirk opens up about his life-threatening heart attack on the set of Better Call Saul last year.
The 59-year-old actor collapsed unexpectedly while working on the New Mexico set in July. An ambulance was immediately called and Odenkirk spent a week recovering in an Albuquerque hospital.
Speaking with New York Times magazine, Odenkirk revealed that he had no recollection of the events leading up to his collapse.
“We were shooting a scene, we’d been shooting all day, and luckily I didn’t go back to my trailer,” he said. “I went to play the Cubs game and ride my workout bike, and just went down.”
He explained that his co-stars Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian were present at the time and played a big part in saving his life, immediately alerting the set. “Rhea said I started turning bluish-gray right away,” he added.
Odenkirk said that he had been made aware of a possible heart condition in 2018 but had received conflicting advice from doctors. Described as a “plaque buildup on his heart” Odenkirk claims his heart attack was caused when one of those pieces of plaque broke up.
Health advisor Rosa Estrada and assistant director Angie Meyer rushed to his aid on set, performing CPR and shocking him with a defibrillator when they found no pulse. Odenkirk said that three shocks “got me that rhythm back” after the first two failed.
Stating that he has no personal recollection of his collapse, his account is instead pieced together from the experience of those on set.
“That’s its own weirdness,” piped in Seehorn. “You didn’t have a near-death experience – you’re told you had one.”
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