Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk, 60, reveals he learned of his heart attack after daughter Erin made a ‘chart’: ‘I didn’t know what had happened to me’
Bob Odenkirk has opened up about the health scare he faced two years ago and candidly revealed that he found out he was having a heart attack from a “map” made by his daughter, Erin.
The 60-year-old “Better Call Sol” star — who notably suffered a heart attack in 2021 while filming the sixth season of the hit spin-off series — discussed her time in the hospital while promoting their children’s book together: Zealot and Other Important Rhymes.
During a recent joint interview with Entertainment Tonightthe Emmy-nominated actor told his daughter, 22, ‘You made me a chart of what happened last week.’
‘Every day I woke up and didn’t know what had happened to me or almost what was happening and Erin made a beautiful list, it was her version of the movie Momento…’
He added, “where I could look up and see, ‘you had a heart attack, these people visited, then you came to, you had surgery.’
Alongside him: Bob Odenkirk, 60, opened up about the health scare he faced two years ago and candidly revealed he found out he’d had a heart attack from a “map” made by his daughter Erin, 22; seen on Tuesday
Erin also took extra care of her father after he came home from the hospital and made sure he took his recovery seriously.
“Almost every morning you would wake up and try to get out of bed to walk to finish shooting your scenes,” she recalls.
“That was a big part of recovery trying to get you to stay in your room and sleep and not go to work.”
Bob admitted during an interview with Yahoo Life earlier this week that his heart attack, ‘is something I think about every day.’
“Strange, it didn’t affect me much for a long time. I had a strange energy of optimism literally the next day, and every day. It was because I was, like, wiping my mind every night,” he explained to the outlet.
“And so my ability to even think about what happened to me (was compromised) – I had to hear about it from people who were there, and I needed my brain to get back to normal.”
Odenkirk – who shares Erin and son Nate, 24, with wife Naomi – also admitted he will be taking it easy on his work life from now on.
“Now that I’ve been able to make some space in my life — partly because of i — I’ve had time to think about what happened to i, and it makes me think, ‘How do I enjoy the days I have?'”
‘Chart’: During a recent joint interview with Entertainment Tonight, the Emmy-nominated actor expressed to his daughter, 22, ‘You made a chart for me of what happened last week’; seen in March in Hollywood
Informed: He added “where I could look up and see, ‘you had a heart attack, these people visited, then you came to, you had surgery’; seen in March in Austin
“And part of that is you need space. You can’t just rush from thing to thing. I know one of the songs on here is called ‘Lolligagging’, and it’s definitely something I’ve thought about a lot, which is the ability to daydream or just take things in and think about what’s happened to you.’
The Breaking Bad alum then added: “I will never agree to work as hard as I did for so many years. I will never do that. If I see it coming down the pike, I’ll avoid it.’
‘If you’re not able to collect memories because you’re just exhaustedly rushing from one project to the next, then you can’t really enjoy the work you’re doing and it’s not worth it.’
He thought further: “You cannot live forever. It will be the end. And for it to feel like something, you have to have time to accept it.’
Last month in September, he admitted during an interview on Today that he did not follow his doctor’s advice before the heart attack.
“My doctor was a conservative. “He got more nervous the older he got,” Odenkirk said. “So I was with him for 20 years, and he said, ‘You need to start taking statins right now.'” Statins can help lower blood cholesterol.
‘And I said, “Well, I don’t know. I don’t have heart disease in my family.” He says, “Just take them.” And I didn’t listen to him.’ Instead, he saw another doctor for a second opinion and was told, “You don’t need the medication yet.”
Bob revealed: “And I had a heart attack. And I think the first doctor was right, the grumpy conservative*** was right, because he was a bloody good doctor.’
Family: Odenkirk shares daughter Erin and son Nate, 24, with wife Naomi – whom he married in 1997; the couple was spotted in New York in June
Reflecting: Bob admitted during an interview with Yahoo Life earlier this week that his heart attack is “something I think about every day”; seen in June 2022 in New York
In addition to focusing on his health, Bob was celebrating the release of his latest children’s book, Zealot & Other Important Rhymes, with illustrations by his daughter, Erin.
Bob’s son Nate also helped with the project, and he played a big role in the title.
Erin told ET, “The Zealot is a closed fortress. It’s the perfect name for this book because it’s a word my brother came up with back when we were writing original songs.’
Bob later admitted, “I had no plan to enter the world of published poetry,” when it came to writing the book. ‘I just wanted to write a book of poetry with my two children, Nate and Erin.’
Health scare: Better Call Saul star had heart attack in 2021 while filming season six of hit spin-off series
Tip: Last month in September, he admitted during an interview with Danas that he didn’t listen to his doctor’s advice before the heart attack; seen in April 2022 in Hollywood
The star told her daughter: “Then, since we wrote all those songs when you were young, and I knew some of them were pretty good, almost perfect, I thought I should keep this around, maybe we could turn it in the book. ‘
On how Nate was involved, Erin stated, “Well, not only did he help write a lot if not all of the songs in the original book, because he’s really the dumber brother, he also helped write some of the finished versions which made it into the book.’
“And he helped me with drawing ideas. And he helped me by being someone I could get mad at my dad for. ‘
Zealot & Other Important Rhimes officially hit shelves earlier this week on Tuesday, October 10th.