Bob Odenkirk Says 'Better Call Saul' Crew Saved His Life After Heart Attack

After suffering a near-fatal heart attack on a Better Call Saul set last July, actor Bob Odenkirk credits members of the show's cast and crew with saving his life.

During a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Odenkirk explained exactly what happened when he collapsed on the New Mexico set, and how swift actions from those around him kept him alive.

"It's really, technically, a heart 'incident,'" he told Stern. "Although I would have been dead if somebody hadn't immediately screamed and gotten someone there to give me CPR."

"Some lucky things happened. I had trained and I did the movie Nobody and I was in good shape," the 59-year-old continued. "But most of all, I was near my co-stars Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian, who rushed right to my side."

"Rhea held my head and Patrick grabbed my hand and they were yelling at me, 'cause I guess I turned gray right away and stopped breathing," he said.

Telling Stern that CPR saved his life, Odenkirk added that Rosa Estrada, Better Call Saul's health officer, was forced to use an emergency defibrillator numerous times before his heart started beating again.

"It took three attempts to get me to a rhythm, which is actually a lot," he said. "I was told later that when the defibrillator doesn't work once, that's not good. When it doesn't work a second time, that's kinda like, forget it."

"But then they jacked it up a third time and it got me back to a rhythm," he said. "That was what saved my life."

Last month, in an interview with The New York Times, Odenkirk admitted that he had known about his heart problems for years, but said that conflicting advice from multiple doctors created confusion and, ultimately, inaction.

"I'd known since 2018 that I had this plaque buildup in my heart," he said. "I went to two heart doctors as Cedars-Sinai, and I had dye and an M.R.I and all that stuff, and the doctors disagreed."

Odenkirk said that one doctor advised him to take medication, while the other told him medication could wait. And for three years, he was fine without medication, until "one of those pieces of plaque broke up," blocking an artery and nearly killing him.

In September, after Odenkirk's medical scare, he announced his return to the set of Better Call Saul and early last month, the actor assured his 886.2K Twitter followers that the show's upcoming season (its sixth-and-final) will be one to remember.

"It's a helluva great season," Odenkirk tweeted. "Our best..."

After first appearing on Breaking Bad in 2009, and starring in Better Call Saul since 2015, Odenkirk has played shady attorney Saul Goodman for well over a decade.

Speaking with Digital Spy in February, Odenkirk said he was conflicted about the end of Better Call Saul, but that he was ready to step outside of the AMC universe he's existed in for 13 years.

"I have very mixed feelings. I don't think you can watch the show, and I can't play this guy, without growing to want him to succeed, and liking him," Odenkirk told Digital Spy. "I do like him. I think he's got some good skills. He just doesn't know where to put them."

"But also, I'll be happy to move onto other characters, because I have played him a long time," he added.

The sixth season of Better Call Saul is set to premiere on AMC on April 18.