Bob Odenkirk couldn’t have been more perfect for Saul Goodman, but three different actors also played him. Breaking Baduniverse. Very few actors are as inextricably tied to a role as Odenkirk is to Saul; it’s like James Gandolfini with Tony Soprano or Bryan Cranston with Walter White. The first episodes of Saul in Breaking Bad made great use of Odenkirk’s comedic talents, but as the series progressed and the character developed much more – and especially after he received his own spin-off show – this role also introduced the world to Odenkirk’s untapped abilities as an actor. dramatic. .
Between Breaking Bad and Better call Saul, Outside of a few isolated flashbacks, Jimmy McGill was mostly played by Odenkirk alone.. A few younger actors were brought in to briefly play the character at different stages of his life, but Odenkirk was never too far from the spotlight – until a third series was introduced to the Breaking Bad universe. When the franchise debuted a third show, an animated spin-off called Slipping Jimmya different actor with a very different approach came in to play the character.
Sean Giambrone played Saul Goodman in Slippin’ Jimmy
Slippin’ Jimmy goes back to Saul’s childhood
To coincide with the last season of Better call SaulAMC launched a third show within the Breaking Bad universe: a prequel animated series called Slipping Jimmy. Slipping Jimmy dates back to Jimmy’s youthful years in Cicero, Illinoisand chronicles the wild antics he got up to with his best friend and partner in crime, Marco Pasternak, who appeared briefly in Better call Saul. The anthology-style series has everything from a spaghetti western episode to a silent comedy episode to a Exorcist parody episode. It was certainly a fresh premise, but it fell short of other acclaimed franchise entries.
Instead of bringing back Odenkirk, Slipping Jimmy brought Sean Giambrone to play the title character. Giambrone is best known for playing the lead role of Adam Goldberg in the long-running comedy The Goldbergsand he also played other animated voice roles such as Yumyulack Opposites Jr. Solar Opposites and Luan’s boyfriend, Benny, in The noisy house. Slipping Jimmy It’s a drastic change in tone from the other shows in the franchisereplacing gritty, grounded, character-focused drama with wacky, eccentric, absurdist comedy. Unsurprisingly, Slipping Jimmy it was not as well received as its predecessors; it was panned by critics and instantly forgotten.
2 young actors play Jimmy McGill as a child in Better Call Saul
Cole Whitaker played Jimmy as a boy and Blake Bertrand played him as a teenager
As Better call Saul Investigating Jimmy’s past, some other actors were hired to play him in his youth. Cole Whitaker played Jimmy as a boy and Blake Bertrand played him as a teenager. Bertrand played young Jimmy in Season 2 Episode 7, “Inflatable.” The episode begins with a flashback to Jimmy working at his father’s store in 1973. A con artist arrives to steal money from Jimmy’s father and tells Jimmy that there are only wolves and sheep in the world, setting up Jimmy’s transformation into a con artist.
Whitaker appeared in the season 3 finale — season 3, episode 10, “Lantern” — which opens with a flashback of a young Chuck reading The Adventures of Mabel to an even younger Jimmy McGill, as they hang out in a tent in the backyard, lit by a flashlight. The use of a flashlight not only foreshadows the episode’s tragic ending; The flashback also shows that Jimmy and Chuck once had a good relationship before bringing their bitter rivalry to a head in the current story. These were the only two Better call Saul scenes where Jimmy was not played by Odenkirk.
Saul Goodman Recast Proves Slippin’ Jimmy Spinoff Was Never Going to Work
No one but Bob Odenkirk should play Saul Goodman
The fact that producers of Slipping Jimmy had to recast the role of Saul proves that this Breaking Bad spin-off would never work. It’s not like Batman or James Bond, where the role can be played by anyone; The public’s interest in this character is specifically linked to Odenkirk’s performance. Giambrone does his best, but it was a fool’s errand for anyone else to play that role.
The public’s interest in this character is specifically linked to Odenkirk’s performance. Giambrone does his best, but it was a fool’s errand for anyone else to play this role.
Odenkirk couldn’t have voiced Jimmy in his early years, but perhaps that should have been taken as a sign that the cartoon Breaking Bad the spin-off was a bad idea from the start. Better call Saul has already shown the audience everything they needed to see from Jimmy’s childhood to understand his character. Slipping Jimmy put the need for new content ahead of the needs of the story and characters.