Bob Odenkirk’s career has been a masterclass in reinvention. From his beginnings as a writer for Saturday Night Live and co-creator of the cult sketch series Mr. Show, he defied expectations by transforming into a celebrated dramatic actor in Breaking Bad and its prequel, Better Call Saul. But his most unexpected pivot came in his late 50s: becoming an action star.
The vehicle for this transformation was 2021’s Nobody, a sleeper hit directed by Ilya Naishuller. The film, which Odenkirk starred in and produced, earned critical acclaim and grossed $57.5 million on a $16 million budget—a significant success for the pandemic-era box office. In it, Odenkirk plays Hutch Mansell, a seemingly mild-mannered family man who reawakens his dormant skills as a lethal government “auditor” after a home invasion.
To prepare, Odenkirk dedicated years to a rigorous training program developed by the stunt coordinators behind the John Wick franchise. This intense physical conditioning proved life-saving when, in July 2021, he suffered a near-fatal heart attack on the set of Better Call Saul. After recovering, he recommitted to the workouts. “You’ve got to exercise when you get older,” Odenkirk says, praising the varied disciplines of the training. “They lift from every kind of fight tradition, so there will be people at their gyms who do jiu-jitsu, karate, judo and boxing. It just makes for a more entertaining workout.”
For the sequel, Nobody 2, Odenkirk once again drew from personal experience. While the first film’s plot was sparked by real-life home invasions his family endured, the new film finds the Mansells on a vacation inspired by Odenkirk’s childhood trips. The story, which director Timo Tjahjanto reportedly infuses with elements of National Lampoon’s Vacation, sees Hutch, his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen), and their children attempting to reconnect at a waterpark town similar to the Wisconsin Dells.
“The family I grew up in, we went on two vacations in my life,” Odenkirk recalls. “There were seven kids… we went to the Wisconsin Dells in a station wagon… sweating and complaining.” This sense of parental ambition meeting youthful disappointment is a key theme, as Hutch’s childhood paradise turns out to be a “little rinky-dink” park for his teenage kids.
Odenkirk’s involvement in the sequel extended far beyond acting. As a producer and uncredited writer, the 62-year-old actor’s schedule was demanding. “When you get closer to filming, you do two workouts a day, and when you’re doing that, you’re stressing as well,” he explains. “I didn’t go home and have a massage and go to sleep. I went home and worked on the next day’s screenplay.”
After 14 years playing the complex, morally ambiguous Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman, Odenkirk admits he doesn’t miss the role. “Both Hutch Mansell in Nobody and Saul Goodman… have a lot of impacted frustration inside them,” he says. “They’re guys who… have pretty big chips on their shoulders, and that’s hard to play after a while. I’m fine with moving on from them both.”
However, he is eager to continue Hutch’s story, seeing potential for a third or even fourth film exploring the Mansell family dynamics. He also finds a surprising creative parallel between action and his comedy roots. “Fight scenes are actually similar in creative joy to sketch writing,” Odenkirk notes. “Each fight should have a character unto itself… just like a sketch.”
He remains a staunch supporter of his Better Call Saul colleagues. He recently attended the Nobody 2 premiere with co-star Rhea Seehorn and expressed immense excitement for her upcoming Apple TV+ sci-fi series Pluribus, created by Vince Gilligan. “I know it’s going to be massive,” he shared. “It’s going to be the biggest thing… since Game of Thrones. I can’t wait.”
