Bob Odenkirk says his time on ‘SNL’ was “existentially dangerous”
In 1987, Bob Odenkirk was hired to write for Lorne Michaels’ sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live. Though the show kickstarted his career, the writer-turned-actor has now spoken about how difficult he found the experience.
When he appeared on an episode of Don’t Ask Tig, a podcast hosted by comedian Tig Notaro, the actor opened up about the feelings of self-doubt he had while working on SNL.
Odenkirk explained that his son is interested in following in his footsteps in comedy writing. This led the Better Call Saul actor to caution him about the damaging effects of getting into the industry at a young age. He shared, “I got a job when I was 25 at SNL, and I’ve talked to the kids and I’ve shared with people that I was unsure of myself. It was hard. It was existentially dangerous. I had feelings of ‘I should erase myself.'”
He continued to emphasise the impact on his younger self, stating, “I was too young when I got hired at SNL. That was not a good thing. That could’ve gone wrong. That could’ve gone so wrong. It came this close so many times to going so wrong. You gotta believe me.”
Odenkirk concluded, “And it’s hard for kids to believe you when you say, ‘I had no fucking clue what I was doing and I was scared outta my wits for years.'”
The comedy writer remained part of the SNL writers room until 1991, and the show introduced him to the likes of Conan O’Brien and Ben Stiller, who later hired him for The Ben Stiller Show. He left the show in order to shift his focus to acting.
Since then, Odenkirk has become most well-known for his iconic portrayal of con artist-turned-lawyer Saul Goodman in HBO’s Breaking Bad and the acclaimed spin-off series, Better Caul Saul.
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