Is This Hollywood’s Most Unlikely Action Hero?
'Better Call Saul' alum has second career as the anti-Stallone in 'Normal'
Nobody would look at Bob Odenkirk and say, “Make him the next Arnold Schwarzenegger!”‘
The actor’s frame is standard-issue, not bulky. His resume is replete with fine comic performances (“Mr. Show with Bob and David”) and two of the best dramas in recent memory – “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.”
He suffered a serious heart attack in 2021, and he’s in his early 60s.
Yet this Friday, Odenkirk will be taking out the trash in the new action romp “Normal.” Again.
The film casts Odenkirk as a small-town Minnesota sheriff fighting corruption within his ranks. He’s joined by co-stars Henry Winkler and Lena Headey.
It’s Odenkirk’s third action film in the wake of the surprise 2021 hit “Nobody” and last year’s sequel, “Nobody 2.” Those films cast Odenkirk as an Everyman father and dad who hid a secret life as a contract killer.
He didn’t just use a gun or knife. He could scrap with the best of them, including this signature scene set on a bus.
Other stars have taken an action hero detour, but they did so with more obvious qualifications.
Dramatic actor Liam Neeson underwent a similar transformation after his 2008 film “Taken” became a sensation. But Neeson, then in his 50s, was an imposing on-screen presence well north of six feet tall.
Odenkirk lacks that stature.
Pierce Brosnan has similarly embraced action movies in his later years, but he cut his teeth as debonaire spy types in both “Remington Steele” and four James Bond films.
Odenkirk is in uncharted territory, but if “Normal” performs well this weekend, he’d better get used to this new line of work.
“Normal” hits theaters April 17.
It looks fun. At the time, I was aware of Mr. Show but still have never seen an episode. Breaking Bad came along and although he played a weaselly attorney he somehow made the character likeable. Then Better Call Saul happened and cemented my fandom of the guy – an irredeemable character who somehow keeps you hoping for redemption. These action movies he’s doing lately are right up my alley at 57 yrs old, and more incredible he had a heart attack and doing this kind of thing later in life.