Bob Odenkirk, star of Breaking Bad and the recent action hit Nobody, has been rushed to the hospital after collapsing on the set of the Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul. The actor and comedian reportedly collapsed around 11:30 a.m. PT, according to TMZ, who broke the news. According to their report, Odenkirk’s exact status is unknown, but he is reportedly still in the hospital. The collapse happened while Odenkirk was filming Better Call Saul on the Sony backlot, and an ambulance was called to take him from the lot to a nearby hospital. There are no further details available at this time.
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Odenkirk has been playing Saul Goodman — real name Jimmy McGill — for over a decade, first appearing in a 2009 episode of Breaking Bad. Better Call Saul is currently filming its sixth and final season.
When audiences first met Saul, he was a slimy-but-successful criminal defense lawyer, who became wrapped up in the web of lies, violence, and chaos that followed Walter White (Bryan Cranston) everywhere he went. The premise of Better Call Saul is explaining how Jimmy McGill, a small-time criminal, made his transformation into Saul Goodman.
Over the life of the series so far, Odenkirk has earned four Golden Globe nominations for best actor in a television series drama, and four Emmy nominations outstanding lead actor in a drama series. AMC recently revealed that they are developing Slippin’ Jimmy, an animated prequel to Better Call Saul that centers on brothers Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) and Chuck McGill (Michael McKean). The spin-off follows the adventures of the young McGill brothers and friends back home in Cicero, Illinois, years before the two lawyers clash privately and professionally over the law firm Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill.
Slippin’ Jimmy will hail from writers Ariel Levine (Better Call Saul, the Emmy-winning digital series Better Call Saul Employee Training) and Kathleen Williams-Foshee. According to the original announcement, the series is created in the retro style of Fat Albert and will pay homage to “everything from spaghetti westerns to Buster Keaton to After Hours.” There is no word yet whether Odenkirk and McKean plan to return to reprise their roles, or whether the younger versions of the McGill brothers will be voiced by other actors.
Representatives for AMC, Sony Pictures Television and High Bridge Productions have not yet issued a comment in response to Odenkirk’s collapse. There is no word, or even speculation, yet as to what might have caused it or how serious it is.
