Bob Odenkirk is adamant that Better Call Saul can live on its own.
The American actor is instantly recognisable as sleazy solicitor Saul Goodman in smash hit series Breaking Bad.
The series, which had people around the world hooked on the crystal meth laced episodes, came to an end in 2013 after five years. Fans who mourned the end of the show will be eagerly awaiting the spin off Better Call Saul, which hits Netflix next month.
“Absolutely [it will be able to find its voice]. Probably some people will be frustrated by it because, you know, Jesse’s not in it or whatever. But this show can live on its own, for sure,” Bob revealed to British magazine ShortList. “Like Breaking Bad, the real appreciation for the show, I think, will take a while. It won’t come right away.
“But initially, it’s about Vince [Gilligan, Breaking Bad creator and writer] and Peter [Gould, co-creator], their mastery of storytelling, their ability to put in cliffhanger moments, to shock and surprise.”
Breaking Bad shot Aaron Paul to global stardom and gave Bryan Cranston’s career another surge of life. They played unlikely drug making duo Jesse Pinkman and Walter White, and helped the show bag two Golden Globe awards and 16 Emmys.
Vince concedes there’s a lot more pressure on his writing team this time around.
“We don’t have quite as much fun as on Breaking Bad,” he admitted. “I feel like we had a good time in the writers’ room on Better Call Saul this year, but there’s a fair bit of pressure we put on ourselves to not disappoint people, and therefore the writers’ room it’s not as merry, if you will, as I recall the Breaking Bad writers’ room of Season Two or Three.
“Back then, on Breaking Bad, before the show turned into what it turned into, there wasn’t much expectation, and I just recall having more fun. But then again, if you talk to one of my other writers that were around back then, they’d say, ‘That’s completely untrue, he was as freaked out then as he is now!’”
