Bob Odenkirk has spent years building up an impressive body of work, but in recent years he's become primarily known for one role: Jimmy McGill a.k.a. Saul Goodman. The actor managed to completely reinvent his career when the character was first introduced on Breaking Bad nine years ago, and that success has continued with his brilliant spin-off series, Better Call Saul. Now the world has completely changed for Odenkirk because of the part, and interestingly it also inspired a key contrasting alteration in the making of Brad Bird's Incredibles 2. Odenkirk recently told me,
I spoke to Brad about it right away. I didn't want him to be too much like Saul Goodman, and the characters I've played in Larry Sanders and stuff. And Brad heard me out, and he was just in the early stages of still developing this character, and as the character developed over time I think he got more upbeat, and more genuine in his excitement for superheroes. I think he kind of shifted him a little and made him... [Catherine Keener] was saying he seems kind of young. Like a kid. And I think that came from the rewriting, and the developing of the character.
Last week, Bob Odenkirk and Catherine Keener were paired up for interviews during the Los Angeles press day for Incredibles 2, and when I sat down with them my first question was in regard to the collaborative reputation held by Pixar. Knowing the company's history letting different voices be heard in the making of a movie, I asked how the two actors took part in building their roles. In Odenkirk's case, it was really about doing something new and different from the archetype he's become famous for.
In Incredibles 2, Bob Odenkirk voices Winston Deavor, the co-owner of a telecommunications magnate, and the truth is that he is a very different character than Saul Goodman. As fans know, Goodman is a huckster and a con man, willing to lie and cheat to get anything that he wants. Deavor, on the other hand, is what one might call the genuine article. He leads the campaign to try and get the laws against powered vigilantes overturned because he sincerely loves superheroes and everything that they represent. It's absolutely a very different kind of role, but it's great all the same.
You can watch Bob Odenkirk discuss the careful evolution of Winston Deavor in the making of Incredibles 2 by clicking play on the video below!
Bob Odenkirk and Catherine Keener are two parts of a fantastic ensemble that stars in Incredibles 2, featuring a cast list that includes Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Vowell, Sophia Bush, and even Odenkirk's Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul co-star Jonathan Banks. The movie arrives in theaters on Friday, June 15th, and we'll have plenty more coverage coming your way in the coming days.
