Did Saul Goodman have a Big moment?
In a New York Times profile published on Feb. 9, Bob Odenkirk detailed the near-fatal heart attack he suffered on the set of “Better Call Saul” back in July, revealing that he was working out on an exercise bike when he suddenly collapsed in front of his co-stars Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian.
“We were shooting a scene, we’d been shooting all day, and luckily I didn’t go back to my trailer,” he recalled, explaining how he and his castmates had gone to a break area instead to unwind before the next take. “I went to play the Cubs game and ride my workout bike, and I just went down.”
Although Odenkirk doesn’t remember what happened next, he said Seehorn, who plays his onscreen love interest, later told him that he had “started turning bluish-gray” following the fall. Crew members rushed in and started administering CPR, before hooking the actor up to an automated defibrillator.
At one point, Odenkirk was on the ground without a pulse, per the New York Times. The “Breaking Bad” alum said that his heart got its “rhythm back” after he was zapped three times. Odenkirk was then transported to Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, N.M., where, he explained, a medical team “knocked out” a piece of loose plaque that caused heart attack and “left stents in two places.”
The 59-year-old had “known since 2018 that I had this plaque buildup in my heart,” he told the outlet, but didn’t start medication at the time per the advice of a doctor who said that he didn’t need immediate treatment. He felt fine until, Odenkirk said, “one of those pieces of plaque broke up,” resulting in the medical emergency.
Fortunately, Odenkirk has recovered since the incident. In August, he tweeted that he was “doing great” amid his recovery and called the outpour of support an “It’s a wonderful life” moment.
Though he didn’t specify what type of bike he was using when he had the heart attack, his story is eerily similar to plot lines recently seen in “And Just Like That….” Avid TV watchers know that Big (Chris Noth) experienced a heart attack after riding a Peloton bike on the first episode of the Sex and the City revival, while another character in the season six premiere of Billions also suffered the same fate.
However, in a previous statement to E! News addressing Big’s death, Peloton’s cardiologist Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum said that cardio exercise likely did not cause the death of Carrie Bradshaw’s husband, but rather his “lifestyle choices and perhaps even his family history” did.
Steinbaum added, “It’s always important to talk to your doctor, get tested, and have a healthy prevention strategy.”
