Chris Farley’s comedic brilliance inspired Bob Odenkirk to become a dramatic actor

We’re all beyond excited that Bob Odenkirk is healthy, smiling, and back in his chintzy suits on Better Call Saul. The national treasure suffered a heart attack on set earlier this year, prompting an outpouring of concern for the multi-hyphenate actor-writer-legend. Now, he’s back, promoting his show and gracing his adoring public with his presence.

With Better Call Saul wrapping up its unprecedented run of six perfect seasons, Odenkirk dropped by Late Night With Seth Meyers to explain how he ended up a dramatic actor anyway. Turns out, it was performing with Chris Farley. “It was kind of a brain fart moment. I was on stage with Chris Farley and Jill Talley at Second City, and we were improvising a scene, and Chris was always so funny,” Odenkirk told Meyers.

“And I’m in the middle of this scene, and when you do those Second City shows, you do seven shows a week, and you can think about, like, groceries. [Sighs] ‘I got to get eggs later,’ and then you’re your character, and then you’re like, ‘Ah, I’ve also got to get, you know, some new socks.’”

“Anyway, you can think about a million things, and Chris and I are acting, and I think, ‘I should be in a drama. That’s what I should do,’” Odenkirk recalled.

But it wasn’t the material that inspired the thought; it was Chris Farley’s presence. He explained, “I think I was just loving his presence so much and he was so wonderful, and I thought, I can’t compete with that but put me in a drama, and I’ll be so funny.”

Of course, Odenkirk is funny in comedies and dramas, but we understand him feeling insecure next to Chris Farley. Odenkirk appears to be taking the dramatic turn even more literally with the next series, the aptly titled The Straight Man, which will also be for AMC. The show is slated to premiere in 2023. In the meantime, you can savor the remaining episodes of Better Call Saul on Mondays on AMC.