Better Call Saul is so good that it's easy to forget that it's a spin-off of an even more successful show. While diehard fans of Breaking Bad are still clamoring to see all of their favorite characters from the groundbreaking AMC series show up on Better Call Saul, the show simply doesn't need it. Vince Gilligan created a second masterpiece that can truly stand-alone... Well, 'alone' with Bob Odenkirk's Saul Goodman. Let's face it, the show simply wouldn't work without him.
Given how successful Better Call Saul is, and the fact that famous directors also adore the show, it totally makes sense why Rotten Tomatoes would go to an effort to uncover the true origin of the series. And who better to reveal the truth than Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill himself, Bob Odenkirk... Let's take a look...
How Bob Landed A Role On Breaking Bad
Of course, the origin of Better Call Saul begins with the success of Breaking Bad. But when famed actor and comedian Bob Odenkirk was cast in the role of Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill, the show was anything but successful.
"My agent called me and said, 'They’re going to offer you a role. It’s a great show and you should say yes to doing it.' Not many people had seen Breaking Bad at that point. It was towards the end of season two shooting," Bob Odenkirk explained to Rotten Tomatoes. "The first season was cut short by a writer’s strike. I think the show was pretty much overshadowed by Mad Men to a great, great extent. And it hadn’t streamed, of course. So very few people knew Breaking Bad until about the fourth season. I did actually call a friend who I had been working with and I said, 'Do you know this show Breaking Bad?' And he said, 'Best show on TV. You’ve got to say yes to that.' So I said, 'Sure, I’ll do it.'"
The idea of playing a lawyer who was a bit of a con man was exciting to Bob. Additionally, he felt it was in his 'wheelhouse' since he played Stevie Grant on The Larry Sanders Show. Because of this, Bob had a lot to offer Vince about how the character should look and sound. Luckily for him, Vince was the type of showrunner who was open to collaboration. This is what truly made Saul Goodman a fantastic character and worthy of a spin-off series.
The Idea For Better Call Saul Came From A Joke In Breaking Bad
While Bob Odenkirk could've easy rode the success of Breaking Bad into a spin-off series and made his bank account really happy, he wasn't sure if the decision was worth it. At least, not at first. In fact, the idea actually came out of a joke from the set of Breaking Bad.
"I always approached the notion of a sequel as a joke and one that I didn’t have a lot of feelings about," Bob explained. "The first scene I did on Breaking Bad with Bryan Cranston is a big scene where I’d do a monologue, and tell Walter White who I am and tell him he doesn’t need me and 'Why don’t you just kill your friend who’s in jail? Have him killed or something.' Somebody in the crew joked, 'Can I get a job on the sequel?' after we shot that scene – right there on the set, somebody shouted out, 'Can I get a job on the sequel?' Everyone laughed because I guess the character really popped.
About a year late, the joke continued when the character of Saul returned to the show...
"I think it was a year later when Saul was coming back, and people would joke, 'Do you think he should have a sequel? I think I’d like to watch that.' Vince said to me, 'Do you think there’s a show in this character? Because I think there is.' And I said, 'I don’t know. If you think there is, I guess.' I have got to be honest. I did not think so. Not at the time. [I thought,] 'He’s just a con man. Who cares?'"
But Vince found a way around that. He made the character far more likable, dynamic, and who had to deal with some real stakes.
"One of the first things we talked about when Vince and Peter [Gould] talked about creating a series is, I said, 'You’ve got to make him likable.' I don’t think he’s a likable guy," Bob explained. "He’s likable in relation to the world around him in Breaking Bad. [So] they went ahead and did that. They invented who he really was, who James McGill was. And James McGill is likable. Saul is a front, and a façade; I don’t know if you can say you like that version of a person, but the real guy that we’ve gotten to know in Better Call Saul is a likable guy who you can empathize with and champion.”
And, much like the Walter White/Heisenberg dynamic, this is what truly locked Bob Odenkirk into the idea of the spin-off show and ultimately created Better Caul Saul.