Bob Odenkirk Had An Epiphany His Life Was 'Pretty Damn Great' After Near-Death Experience

Bob Odenkirk appeared on the "Today" show to promote his new memoir "Comedy, Comedy, Comedy, Drama." He, however, took the opportunity to speak about the previous experience that could have cost him his life.

Last July, Odenkirk had a shocking episode while filming "Better Call Saul." He told Hoda Kotb about the experience and how a simple decision saved his life.

The 4-time Emmy nominee described it as a heart incident and not a heart attack based on the doctors' explanation. However, he did not know the difference as both conditions had similar symptoms.

According to the actor, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, himself, and some other cast members were shooting a great scene of the final season of "Better Call Saul" when it happened.

He and the cast members decided to remain in the waiting area instead of heading back to his trailer. Then he stopped breathing, started turning blue, and his heart had an irregular beat.

Odenkirk further stated, "If I had gone to my trailer, I wouldn't be here right now." So, when he collapsed, his co-stars set off the alarm for help which brought Rosa Estrada, the health officer, to his aid.

The comedian confessed to Kotb that he had a pretty slow epiphany, saying, "My life is pretty damn great, and I should appreciate it and the people around me."

He believed people had epiphanies when they went through near-death experiences and felt they had to change things. However, his epiphany was to appreciate what he had as Odenkirk had good people around him.

After the incident, the talented star admitted people were friendly to him even on social media, and he expressed his gratitude to them in his book.

As Today recounted, the comedian previously spoke about the occurrence last year, during which he thanked his fans for their support and stated he would recover in no time.

He wrote on Twitter back then, "Hi. It's Bob. Thank you. To my family and friends who have surrounded me this week." 

The message continued, "And for the outpouring of love from everyone who expressed concern and cares for me. It's overwhelming. But I feel the love, and it means so much."

Odenkirk talked about his near-death experience again during an interview with The New York Times, where he spoke about having no pulse.

Last month, The Blast reported that the writer did not remember collapsing or any other incident detail. However, his co-stars could sum up the whole event to him.

When Odenkirk collapsed, Estrada conducted CPR on him and failed twice. But fortunately for the star, the third attempt was successful.

The heart incident was not predicted but could have been avoided as the 59-year-old had accumulated plaque on his heart since 2018.

At the time, he did not get treatment which did not affect his well-being until pieces of the plaque disconnected, hence, the heart incident.

Odenkirk finally got the treatment he needed, whereby the plaques were removed. He further appreciated the doctors for fixing his heart without surgery.

Odenkirk was not so successful in the mid-2000s as he faced major financial challenges before starring in "Breaking Bad."

The Blast shared that he talked about his past during an appearance on the Sirius XM radio show, where he revealed he was bankrupt and managed some movies that did not do well at the box office.

The producer did not name the movies, but he said they were not great, and he was paid little for them.

Odenkirk enjoyed directing the feature films, but he felt like he had no vision after his work on them. His financial status at the time was pretty dire, and his then business manager advised him to take a loan.

The loan was a massive $900,000, but the AMC star did not take it. He later got another business manager who counseled him to take on more movie roles to alleviate his finances.

The celeb took the advice and did more acting and writing for movies; he also directed commercials. This went on for years until he was given the role of 'Saul Goodman' in "Breaking Bad."