Bob Odenkirk has revived his Saul Goodman character for a video celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday – watch below.
The actor played the fast-talking lawyer on four seasons of the landmark series Breaking Bad and for another six years on the acclaimed prequel series Better Call Saul, which concluded in 2022.
Now, he has surprised fans by stepping back into Goodman’s loud suit for a short video set in what appears to be a recreation of the character’s familiar office, complete with wallpaper depicting the US Constitution.
The video has been released in conjunction with the US’ upcoming 250th anniversary celebrations and it sees him enthusiastically reminding viewers of their constitutional rights, arguing that while they were written by “guys in powdered wigs and knee socks”, they actually remain “surprisingly relevant”.
Shared on a YouTube channel by the name of ‘Saul4Democracy’, the character addressed the camera directly to say: “Hi, I’m Saul Goodman. Did you know you have rights? Well, you do. Sure, they’re old timey. They were written by a bunch of guys in powdered wigs and knee socks. Boring, but believe it or not, they’re still surprisingly relevant.”
The video was shared on Bluesky by Better Call Saul co-creator Peter Gould, who confirmed its legitimacy.
Goodman continued: “Your rights include, but are not limited to, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, freedom against unreasonable searches and seizures, et cetera, et cetera. Wow, you lucky so-and-so. Look at you, you got rights coming out the wazoo, all because a whole bunch of good people, 250 years’ worth, sacrificed everything they had for this awesome wallpaper behind me.”
It concludes with Odenkirk saying: “Know your rights, and for the love of Mike, don’t ever give ’em up.” Jonathan Banks then appears in character as Saul’s fixer, Mike Ehrmantraut. “I’m Mike, and I approve this message,” he says.
Last month, Odenkirk reflected on the time he suffered a heart attack while on the set of Better Call Saul in 2021.
“I went down, and Rhea [Seehorn] and Patrick [Fabian] grabbed me and they were screaming, but [the crew members who noticed] thought they were laughing,” the actor recalled. “So there were delays in reacting because we were all so far apart from each other.”
“I was gone. I turned grey,” Odenkirk continued. “Eventually, the on-set medic showed up, and he didn’t know what to do. He’d never done CPR.”