Interview: Bob Odenkirk Has Finally Come Around to Being a Dramatic Actor…and Maybe an Action Star

Ahead of his new action flick Normal, Bob Odenkirk was recognized with the Precious Gem Award at the Miami Film Festival for his unique career trajectory from comedic actor to action star.

With his background in comedy, Bob Odenkirk has said many times that he’s not a dramatic actor. But after Nobody, Nobody 2, and now Normal (in theaters Friday)…maybe he’s an action star?

“I’m an actor who can do action,” Odenkirk said in front of a sold-out audience at a screening of his new film at the Olympia Theater. “I think I do my own style. My characters are always very vulnerable and tend to get hurt when they get hit. They get weaker which means they have more to push back against.”

Directed by Ben Wheatley, Normal stars Odenkirk as an interim sheriff in a small Minnesota town. When he discovers a dark secret, he soon has the entire townspeople after him (although he has a few secrets of his own).

“I’m An Actor Who Can Do Action”

As “a comedy guy,” Odenkirk said he used to make fun of action flicks.

“Action films elevate life and elevate characters. You have a very bad guy who’s pure evil. We make fun of that in comedy, but now I’m doing it as well. But I’d like to make fun of it again, too. I like to do both. If you’re paying attention, you find out that you’re good at something that’s not the target you were aiming at. I was very good as a comedy writer, but as a performer, I belong in this sort of thing. I don’t know if it’s my earnestness or vulnerable quality I carry with me, but I belong more in drama as a performer.”

During a clip reel ahead of the awards presentation, Odenkirk watched his range of characters through the years, from dancing on the golf course for Mr. Show to angry Hutch Mansell in Nobody. In his post-Better Call Saul era, Odenkirk said he’s seeking out action movies.

“The first one [Nobody] was a crazy notion. I had been doing Better Call Saul for a couple of years, and I knew it played around the world. I thought, what kind of film could I make that could play all around the world? Action does. You can understand the story. I called my manager and I said, ‘What about action? I’m willing to train.’ It takes so long to make a movie that I had years to train.”

A year and a half after he started training, the stunt choreographer asked him to slow down his moves, which is when he knew he had “gotten somewhere.”

“All the moves I do are taken from real fighting but then they exaggerate them. You don’t do them like a real boxer or real karate master. You do them in a bigger wider way and slower so the camera can see it.”

“What About Action? I’m Willing to Train”

Are there any stunts he won’t do? Or is he completely game, like Tom Cruise?

“There are things I can’t do,” said Odenkirk with a laugh. “Tom Cruise isn’t that much younger than me, but he’s in better shape.”

While he was making fun of action movies, Odenkirk said he didn’t work out when he was a comedy writer.

“For 42 years, I didn’t exercise. I ate chicken and made up jokes. I’m a little behind. But because I didn’t use my body, it’s fine.”

And maybe that’s a good thing. He pointed to his brother Steve, a soccer player riddled with knee injuries.

“My body hasn’t been used. I didn’t do anything with it! I sat there with my legs up on a desk.”

His advice to those who don’t work out? Take your time. If you’re like him, you’re just a late bloomer.

“When you get older, if you can think of an excuse like you want to be an action star to motivate yourself to go to the gym, do it.”

Normal is in theaters Friday, April 17.