It took three attempts to revive Bob Odenkirk after he suffered a near-fatal heart attack on the set of Better Call Saul last year.
In a New York Times Magazine profile to be published in print on Sunday (Feb. 13th), the former Breaking Bad star revealed, “I’d known since 2018 that I had this plaque buildup in my heart. 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.”
Odenkirk took a wait-and-see approach, which worked out fine until he collapsed while riding an exercise bike on-set last July. The show’s health safety supervisor and an assistant director administered CPR and hooked him up to a defibrillator. According to the actor, the first two zaps failed to produce a regular heartbeat, but the third time, “it got me that rhythm back.”
He has no memory of the incident. His Saul costar, Rhea Seehorn, who witnessed his collapse said, “That’s its own weirdness. You didn’t have a near-death experience – you’re told you had one.”