Bob Odenkirk On Recovering From His Better Call Saul Heart Attack: 'Like Being This Weird Little Baby Bird'

Every day we get on this Earth is a gift ... or so some of us were brought up to believe, at least. And it usually only takes one harrowing experience to remind us of just how fragile life really is. We can count actor Bob Odenkirk among those taking full advantage of a new lease on life, after having narrowly survived his brush with death upon suffering a heart attack on set during filming of "Better Call Saul."

Going through something as traumatic as that is sure to change anyone's perspective, but not everyone can be counted on to be as eloquent and thoughtful as Odenkirk. A far cry from the brash and performative caricature Saul Goodman, who he played throughout both "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" (not to mention the more thoughtful and good-hearted Jimmy McGill who constantly wrestled with his inner demons), Odenkirk opened up about his recovery while promoting his new and freshly retitled series "Lucky Hank" at this year's Television Critics Association event. Luckily, /Film's Vanessa Armstrong was in attendance to report on Odenkirk's remarks on how emerging from that medical emergency safely changed him in ways that the actor is still dealing with.

As you'd expect, this will likely be a lifelong process for one of the very best actors around and, by all accounts, an absolute gem of a human being.

However frightening you thought Bob Odenkirk's near-fatal heart attack was for us concerned onlookers, imagine being in the actor's own shoes when it was all going down. Reiterating previous comments that he's made, Odenkirk explained at the TCA event how he came out of it a changed person ... though still with room for improvement. As he put it in his usual insightful way, it's all about that work/life balance:

"For me, I think it's still resonating in my life. On this very serious subject, to me, right now it's trying to [find] that work/life balance. Because I don't think I have figured that out yet and I didn't figure it out at the time. I have to do a better job, because we don't get to carry on forever. We just don't. I want to make the right choices so I can feel like I'm doing the best I can with the time I have left for the things that I love in this world."

Talk about inspirational! He goes on to describe how that approach translated to his admittedly "weirdly upbeat" response once he was able to get back on his own feet again:

"I was weirdly upbeat after that heart attack for a long time. It was a gift, I suppose, but also strange to everyone around me. It was like, 'Are you alright?' 'I'm great! Let's go to work!' Okay, calm down [laughs]. It was like being this weird little baby bird at the age of 59."

Honestly, may we all find such peace in impossible circumstances. For his part, Odenkirk is moving on to his brand-new series "Lucky Hank" (you can watch the teaser below), debuting on AMC and AMC+ March 19, 2023.