BOB ODENKIRK Is Not Your Average Action Movie Star

Summary

Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers: Episode Summary

Episode Title: BOB ODENKIRK Is Not Your Average Action Movie Star
Release Date: August 12, 2025
Host/Guests: Seth Meyers, Josh Meyers, and Guest Bob Odenkirk
Description: Lifelong brothers Seth Meyers and Josh Meyers engage with guests to reminisce about childhood memories, memorable family trips, and other humorous disasters.

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Introduction to Bob Odenkirk's Evolution as an Actor

In this episode, the Meyers brothers welcome acclaimed actor Bob Odenkirk to discuss his transition from comedy to action cinema. The conversation delves into Bob's varied career, highlighting his roles in beloved series like Mr. Show, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul, and his recent foray into action-packed roles exemplified by his performance in the upcoming film Nobody Too.

Notable Quote:
Bob Odenkirk reflects on his career shift, stating, "I sort of took a turn from my comedy roots and played Better Call Saul. He was Saul Goodman and sort of a spin-off from Breaking Bad to amazing shows. And now he's an action star." ([07:35])

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Memorable Family Trips and Personal Anecdotes

The discussion begins with Puji sharing a recent family experience of attending a Diana Ross concert at the Hollywood Bowl. The event was memorable not only for Diana Ross's electrifying performance but also for the family dynamics, including an unexpected encounter with the family's patriarch.

Notable Quote:
Puji describes the concert experience: "...Diana Ross, 81. She was beaming. Like, her smile is infectious. And those songs, those supreme songs are just lights out. She's got a great band... Just brought the house down. It was so much fun." ([01:28])

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Balancing Family Life with a Demanding Career

Bob Odenkirk opens up about the challenges of balancing a high-profile acting career with family life. He shares insights into his time shooting Better Call Saul in Albuquerque, highlighting how location shooting has kept him away from his family for extended periods.

Notable Quote:
Bob discusses the toll of location shooting: "...the last 15 years. I've probably been away five years of it. Yeah, maybe more. Last year I was in Winnipeg for five months. I shot two films back to back. I had a two-week break in the middle where I got to see my family. But they're not coming to Winnipeg." ([20:43])

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The Impact of Acting on Personal Well-being

The conversation turns introspective as Bob and Sufi talk about the psychological impact of taking on intense roles. Bob candidly shares his struggles during the early years of portraying Saul Goodman, emphasizing how the adage "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" didn't initially hold true for him.

Notable Quote:
Bob reflects on personal growth through acting: "...if you do something that you have no preparation for, even if you don't do it right, thousands of people are going to come see it and decide whether you're any good or not... The old adage 'whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger' is not true. It makes you weaker." ([17:44])

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Creating Authentic Action Films: Insights into 'Nobody Too'

Sufi provides an in-depth look into the making of Nobody Too, Bob's latest action movie. He discusses the film's thematic focus on family tension woven into high-stakes action sequences, aiming to make the narrative both relatable and exhilarating for a broad audience.

Notable Quote:
Sufi explains the film's essence: "...if I can please some of the action people, that'll be awesome. That'll be amazing. And then if I can make my friends laugh, those are the two goals... the lack of good movie settings isn't something we're struggling with now." ([36:26])

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Reflections on Family and Upbringing

Bob and Sufi delve into their childhoods, sharing stories about family dynamics, vacations, and upbringing. Sufi recounts his large Catholic family and the humorous yet challenging aspects of growing up with seven siblings, including anecdotes about familial expectations and personal rebellions against religious norms.

Notable Quote:
Sufi shares his departure from faith: "I just said, I don't believe in this. And I think it's disrespectful for me to attend church. I am standing there and I don't agree with this whole thing, so I'm going to stop going." ([31:18])

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Humor Amidst Family Challenges

The episode touches on how humor served as a coping mechanism in families facing challenges. Sufi and Bob recount instances where laughter helped navigate difficult times, including stories from their childhood trips and family interactions.

Notable Quote:
Bob reflects on finding humor in adversity: "I sometimes think things being funny are more memorable than things being good." ([68:32])

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Final Thoughts and Speed Round

As the episode wraps up, the hosts engage in a lighthearted speed round with Bob, asking rapid-fire questions about his vacation preferences, favorite means of transportation, and memorable childhood trips. These segments provide a personal glimpse into Bob's character beyond his professional persona.

Notable Quote:
Sufi humorously recalls a family vacation mishap: "I swore right in his face, like to him to be fucking told you not to walk on those rocks." ([75:21])

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Conclusion

The episode offers a multifaceted view of Bob Odenkirk, showcasing his versatility as an actor and his ability to navigate personal and professional challenges with humor and resilience. Through shared family stories and reflections on his career, listeners gain a deeper appreciation for Bob's journey and the dynamics that shape his performances.

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Key Takeaways:

• Career Evolution: Bob Odenkirk's transition from comedic roles to action star, highlighting his adaptability and commitment to his craft.

• Family Dynamics: Insights into balancing a demanding career with family life, emphasizing the importance of family support and understanding.

• Personal Growth: Honest discussions about the psychological impacts of acting and the realities behind the adages often quoted about resilience.

• Making of 'Nobody Too': Behind-the-scenes look at creating an authentic action film infused with relatable family tensions.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "I sort of took a turn from my comedy roots and played Better Call Saul... And now he's an action star." ([07:35])

• "...Diana Ross, 81. She was beaming... Just brought the house down. It was so much fun." ([01:28])

• "I sort of knew that, but I told myself, it's no big deal. It's just acting." ([14:56])

• "The old adage 'whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger' is not true. It makes you weaker." ([17:44])

• "I swore right in his face, like to him to be fucking told you not to walk on those rocks." ([75:21])

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the essence of the episode, providing listeners and non-listeners alike with a vivid portrayal of the discussions, insights, and heartfelt moments shared by the Meyers brothers and Bob Odenkirk.

Transcript

[Sufi]

Hey, Puji.

[Puji]

Hey, Sufi.

[Bob Odenkirk]

How are you doing?

[Sufi]

I'm good.

[Puji]

I have one little medical beef.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Great. I hope it's not with me.

[Puji]

No, no, no, no, no. So I tweaked my shoulder when I was visiting Mackenzie's hometown, and through seeing a chiropractor, like, three times and getting two massages, which I don't like. But eventually it was like, oh, this is like a nerve thing. So I gotta, like, you know, get an appointment with my primary care doc. Two weeks. Two weeks for a video visit. And I see him, he's like, oh, I'll send you to a specialist. They should be able to see you right away. Two weeks to go see them. And then they see them, and they're like, oh, yeah, you should go physical therapy at this place. You should just, like, swing by, but maybe call and see if they have availability. Six weeks.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Oh, my gosh.

[Josh]

Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

So this. This tweak is gonna take weeks and weeks.

[Puji]

It's the tweak of weeks and weeks.

[Bob Odenkirk]

It's the tweak of weeks and weeks, which is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books. The tweak that took weeks and weeks. And you went to the doctor and you said that it squeaks. And the doctor says it'll be six weeks. And you said, doctor, doctor, can you see that it's tweaked? But the doctor left the room. You see, he had sneaked. I remember it word for word.

[Puji]

Yeah, well, yeah, You've got kids also, so you're probably reading it to them.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Kids at a photographic memory. You. I'm very jealous. You went and saw Diana Ross.

[Puji]

Oh, yeah. Diana Ross, 81.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Wow.

[Puji]

Saw her at the Hollywood bowl.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Puji]

And I sort of didn't know what to expect, but I. You know, a good friend of mine, Nicole Vecchirelli, and her husband pb, we bumped into each other at the bowl last year. So we were like, well, let's go see a show next year when the season rolls around. And so we coordinated and got tickets to this Diana Ross show months ago. And then Mackenzie's father was in town, so Mackenzie was like, I don't think. You know, I can't go and just bail on my dad. So Nikki and PB's daughter Tony joined us. But then we found two tickets two rows in front of us for Mackenzie and her dad. And Diana Ross, 81 looks so good. Just is beaming. Like, her smile is infectious. And those songs, those supreme songs are. Are just lights out. She's got a great band, obviously, like, amazing backup singers, and just yeah, Just brought the house down. It was so much fun.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Dad must have been jealous.

[Puji]

Yeah, I think dad was jealous. I sent a video to, to mom and dad and mom quickly responded with an omg, all caps.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I was worried, based on what we've said about mom and dad recently, that they would respond. That's not my favorite of her songs. Wish this was shot better. Not my favorite of her songs. Yeah, no, I know what you want more than anything is honesty. Yeah.

[Puji]

So, yeah, so that was a great, great, great night out that we had recently. It was my first time at the bowl this year. Which to those of you who haven't been, it's, it's worth it.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Never been. Do you know, I've never been.

[Puji]

Oh, really?

[Bob Odenkirk]

Isn't that crazy?

[Puji]

Yeah, that is crazy.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I'm not a real concert guy though, you know, that's one of the things.

[Puji]

But you can. Yeah, I think you'd like the Bowl.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I was, you know, we, John Oliver and I did one of our Beacon shows this past Sunday and Brooks Whelan always opens for us. Fantastic comedian Brooks, by the way. Brooks Whelan has. I just like want to shout out because this is a travel show. It's on YouTube. He did a. A fantastic standup special called Live in Alaska. He went to Alaska to shoot his standup special and he like toured around to all these little towns where he had to take like seaplanes and stuff. And It's a great 45 minute special, but like the beginning and end of it also is like sort of the travel log of the kind of places and towns he went to. And it's really great. But Brooks noticed that the day after we were there, so, so Monday night the Y Y Y were playing at the Beacon and so he immediately was like, I'm getting tickets and I'm going and I'm so excited and I feel like he's like, you. And then he just sent me pictures and just having the time of his life at a concert.

[Puji]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got, I've got a solo concert tonight. I'm going to go see the Deltron 3030, I think. I don't know, 20th, 25th anniversary.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah, that's fantastic.

[Puji]

Super into it.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I also last night, you know, promote a wonderful, super funny film that our friend Akiva Shaffer directed. Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson, Pam Anderson. I went to the premiere in New York City last night and it's a very old school. It's like a tight under 90 minute movie where you're going to laugh A lot. And I highly, highly recommend it to anyone who's listening.

[Puji]

Yeah, I'll be seeing it opening opening weekend in la.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Mia. We have Bob Odenkirk on the show today.

[Puji]

Bob Odenkirk. I mean, fan forever. It feels like for Mr. Show sort of early. Sort of early. Mixing it up on what, what comedy could be like. We sort of there those old tent pole shows. Like, you know, we had, we had our SNL and you know, certainly for us we were watching Monty Python. But then when Mr. Show sort of came out. Yeah, it was like, oh, other people can do this. And it's like it's a different attitude, a different vibe, a different. Yeah, just sort of take on, on something that we already love.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And it's. I remember our friend Ike was very excited once. Cause he, I feel like on ebay, before it was out on dvd, he bought. Somebody had like recorded it off television. He bought like VHS tapes on eBay. And he was so excited because, yeah, he would just like watch them non stop. And then I feel like two months later they released it on dvd and he realized he probably should have just waited. But you know, Ike's timing isn't great, but he's a great person.

[Puji]

Yeah. And an Emmy nominee, so.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And an Emmy nominee.

[Puji]

Yeah. For his work on the studio.

[Bob Odenkirk]

We should, we should have gone through the list of all our guests this year and, and shouted out how many people got nominated for Emmys because I bet we did pretty well this year.

[Puji]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Bob Odenkirk]

A lot of. Oh, you know, though we do have to because I had her on the show yesterday as well. Dad has officially picked his favorite guest of all time and I'm just wondering if it lines up with our listeners. I will say it felt pretty special during the recording. I was like, this is the, you know, perfect example of what somebody could bring to this podcast.

[Puji]

Yeah. And dad likes it when people stay on trips. Yeah, they like. Interesting, Unique.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yep. And so Chase. Chase. We wonders that is who that is who he's. He. He currently says holds the crown. Yeah.

[Puji]

Best. Best yet.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And if you think you can run with Chase sweet wonders and impress my dad with your trip stories, send them in to speakpipe.com familytrips pod we would very much love say that.

[Puji]

Say that address one more time just.

[Bob Odenkirk]

In case people speak. Pipe.com familytrips yeah.

[Puji]

And again, as Larry Meyer says, the more unique, the more unusual, more detailed stories. But you know, you can't ramble as Larry Myers.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Also, to quote Larry Myers, I think I was the best one on the live podcast and everybody else's stories were too long.

[Puji]

So. Yeah, but then, yeah, I mean, our pal Bob Odenkirk sort of took a turn from his comedy roots and yeah. Played Better Call Saul. He was Saul Goodman and sort of a spin off from Breaking Bad to amazing shows. And then now he's an action star.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And I saw him on Broadway too. Oh, yeah, Glenderos. Glendron. A guy with just. Fascinating guy. And I'm so happy to talk to him. And Pashi, let me just say, because I don't say it often enough. I like talking to you.

[Josh]

Oh, thanks.

[Sufi]

I like talking to you too.

[Puji]

It's weird, I find myself not calling you sometimes because I feel like I'm just gonna see you here and I don't wanna burn anything. Oh, it's true, right? Yeah, it'll be like a weekend we used to call on Sundays and now I'm sort of like, well, we're gonna have a recording tomorrow, so I'll just talk to him then.

[Bob Odenkirk]

It is nice sometimes we have to talk about the logistics of the podcast, but, like, we are not doing any off mic storytelling.

[Puji]

Right? I mean, well, unless there's something that can't be. You know, everything we share isn't for public consumption.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah. Have I. I think I said on the pod, when you texted mom and dad, what did you think of when they said we'd listen to the MC and you said, what do you think? Oh, yeah, I. I did tell you that I wanted to fly to LA and slap the phone out of your hand.

[Sufi]

Well, when they said it was the.

[Puji]

First episode that they've watched on YouTube. Yeah, but with no follow up. Like we watched the live episode, the first one we've watched.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah, no, yeah, they. Then. No. Yeah, they were like, they, they were putting bait on a hook and I was, I was good. Yeah, I was good and let that go. Yeah, yeah. I feel like those people. People have watched on YouTube. I want. I. You know what? I haven't really read the comments, but I hope people talk about what? How nice my calves are.

[Puji]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you just assuming that's in there?

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah, I mean, it's historically. It's historically a bit of a conversation starter.

[Puji]

I mean, so is the sweaty T shirt and stained shorts you were wearing for that nice live performance.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I got family trips all over my shorts. All right, enjoy Bob Odekirk. But first, enjoy Jeff Tweedy.

[Josh]

Family chips with the M Brothers. Family chips with the My.

[Sufi]

Brothers. Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Look at this guy.

[Puji]

I'm sorry, I couldn't have you over.

[Sufi]

Oh, that's all right.

[Puji]

I got a dog. You know, my dog Debbie, she'd be. She'd bark through the entire thing. She'd be so mad at you.

[Sufi]

Hold on a second, guys. My dog has to get surgery.

[Puji]

Oh, no.

[Sufi]

It's all fine. She's gonna be fine.

[Bob Odenkirk]

What are they. What are they doing to her?

[Sufi]

Oh, they took out rotted teeth, and it's not healing properly, so they have to go back in and clean it up.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Put the teeth back in.

[Puji]

That's right.

[Sufi]

Put them back in. They clean them out. They put new nerves in. They got nerves from a baby. You know, it's the Hollywood way.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Oh, yeah, of course.

[Sufi]

Basement of a pizza parlor, baby nerves, chrome. Whatever you need from a baby's body, they take it. They got it.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Puji]

Your dog is.

[Sufi]

Nobody talks about the pizza and how good it is. That's the thing.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Nobody talk.

[Puji]

You're right.

[Sufi]

Nobody talks about the pizza. I've heard. Never heard a Yelp review about the pizza.

[Puji]

Your dog is the sweetest. Although our dogs don't really get along, so anytime we see each other.

[Sufi]

Yes.

[Puji]

We have to keep our distance.

[Sufi]

My dog is a better dog now because she had this training. We sent her away for five weeks. See, she was getting into arguments and. And. And her. The truth is, it's made her life so much better because her life was all tension.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Tension at all times.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Now it isn't. Now she's just chill and she's doing what she's supposed to do. And.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah. This seems like maybe some late in life classes.

[Sufi]

How old are you? Oh, she's 12. Look, she was a sweetest dog. She's the sweetest dog. She's a gentle dog. She's a quiet dog. And it just. Over the years, she's had bad incidents that provoked, I think, this part of her spirit, this bad part of her. And so we kind of let it go because she's not so big that you can't keep her under control. But in the end, it's. I wish we'd done this six years ago. Done.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Is she. I know. Your kids are in their 20s. Your dog is 12. Was she very much a family dog when you got her? Did she belong to the kids as well?

[Sufi]

Yeah, man. I mean, that dog. This dog has done so much for us emotionally, as dogs can do. We had different challenges with mood. How do I talk about this without being any. No specifics at all. There was tension within the family group.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And. And I thought a dog would help My daughter really wanted a dog. And after much searching, we happened upon the exact perfect dog who was calm and friendly and fun and that energy, you know, it's harder when kids get older. It's hard to talk to them. You know, they want to be their own person and they want to be off to themselves. And yet you want to connect to them. And if they're having any kind of issues at all, you know, how do you get them to talk? Well, an animal that's friendly and that everyone loves is just the best. It's something to talk about. It is a some. It is an A being that elicits and evokes love and warmth and. And then there's also this, I want to say person, creature to talk about. And. And it just did everything we could ever dream it could do for the family. And then this wonderful dog was there for me when I had to do better. Call Saul. And you know that that job was incredibly stressful, especially the first three years, because it was, it was out of my wheelhouse. Totally, totally. And I kind of knew that, but I told myself, it's no big deal. It's just acting. I've done a lot of it. I just have more lines. That's it. It's just more lines than you're used to. That's all. But that's not true. That's not true. It's not just more lines. It's the core weight of the show is on you. It's a huge show. It's a lot more lines. It's not a few more lines. Yeah, you talk for. Out of a, you know, 70, 60 page script, you talk for 50 of those pages. You just talk.

[Puji]

Right.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Also, I just want to say, you know, because obviously I'm a huge fan of both shows, but I've gone back and, you know, rewatching Breaking Bad, Saul, even though, you know, three dimensional character, always important to the plot, you were comic relief in a lot of ways. And then all of a sudden you have to be. It's like you went from like a three to like a nine dimensional character. And other people got to be comic relief. And even though, you know, Jimmy was still so funny character, but I get it that you would go in and being like, oh, this, you know, I played this character. How hard could it be to just do more? But my God, it was really.

[Sufi]

I do this all the time. I do things that are, you know, kind of outside my, you know, preparation of my career. And then I tell myself it's not that big a deal. And I insist upon it. And if you ask me, I say, well, I don't even know why it's a big deal. I don't even know why you're talking about it. And then I find myself in the action movie on the Broadway stage, whatever the thing is, and I'm like, I'm a wreck. I'm a wreck. And I'm like, why am I a wreck? Why do I need therapy again? And I get a therapist and I start talking to him and I realize, like, oh, you're doing something that you have no preparation for that if you don't. Even if you don't do it right, thousands of people are going to come see it and decide whether you're any good or not. And you're just keep choosing to do this stuff. I. I said to my therapist, my most recent one, I've only started to feel that that old adage, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger is not true. It's not true. It makes you weaker. You go and get the kicked out of you. You don't come out stronger, you come out weaker. You are beat up. Arguably, you know, six years of Saul made me a much, much stronger actor and a more confident person at acting, for sure. Definitely true. But that took six years. I don't think you could argue that that was true in the first two years. I think I was more beaten up and weakened and unsure of myself after a year and a half of Saul than I was when I started. And. And you have to do a lot of battle before the battle makes you stronger. The. But at first it makes you weaker and then weaker and then weaker again until you're gonna die. You're gonna die.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Well, yeah, that's just a bad adage. That just doesn't.

[Sufi]

These things should be true at all times forever. That's what an adage is. Yeah, that one out.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I. Because I. We've talked about it before. I obviously have a connection to New Mexico because of my wife and her family. And we go back there two weeks a year. Did Was New Mexico at some point because of the amount of years you spent working there. Was that a place that your family would come and have vacations because you lived there?

[Sufi]

No, my daughter would. My daughter. My daughter liked the vibe. She. She. We got this house down there, and I still have it. It's a great house. It's so cool. And we rent it out to other people who are shooting shows there. But it's just great. It's got a great vibe. It was built By a contractor for his family.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And so is it closer to Albuquerque or Santa Fe?

[Sufi]

It's in Albuquerque.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Okay, great.

[Sufi]

And it's got a certain amount of character and quirkiness to it. It's kind of large, expansive. I shared, you may know from the lore of the show that I, we, we lived together. Me, Ray Seehorn, Patrick Fabian. And there was enough room in this house for people like Josh Fadem and guests to stay there too. And they would stay. I had friends who were playing character parts on Better Call Saul. I would say come stay at the house. And they would stay at the house for three days. Two, three days. And it was great fun. You know, we had you go to the kitchen and there's somebody there and you're making food and you're playing music. And we had, it had two living rooms so you could sit in either one and watch whatever you want on tv.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And that's southwestern living. It was the second living room.

[Sufi]

It was, it was, it was a great way to handle that aloneness and that stress of that show.

[Bob Odenkirk]

But there was never like, hey, all the odenkirks are coming down.

[Sufi]

No, no, no. My son could not handle the altitude, so he visited twice and he was sick for the entire time he was there. And so he said, I'm not coming down ever again. My wife came once a year for about three days because she's a big wig in showbiz and she's got work to do and she can't sit around in a house or even sit around on set. What is she doing? She's got to go work. So only my daughter would love to come and, and just hang out for a week or two and, and that was great. But you know, that's another thing that's taken its toll on me over the years is location shooting. You know, I've been away from my family of the last 15 years. I've probably been away five years of it. Yeah, maybe more. You know, last year I was in Winnipeg for five months. I shot two films back to back. I had a two week break in the middle where I got to see my family. But they're not coming to Winnipeg.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah, well, also there. I mean, again, especially since Naomi, your wife, is in show business. They know there's nothing more boring than visiting a film set.

[Sufi]

Oh yeah. And by the way, to do what with me? I wake up at 5:30, I come home at 9:30 and I wake up again the next morning at 5:30 and.

[Puji]

You'Re probably going over lines when you're yeah.

[Sufi]

And then what do I do? I'm going over punches.

[Puji]

Yeah, exactly.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors.

[Puji]

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[Bob Odenkirk]

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[Puji]

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[Bob Odenkirk]

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[Puji]

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[Bob Odenkirk]

No, my phone was in my pocket. But you love your Apple Card, right?

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[Bob Odenkirk]

Subject to credit approval Savings available to Apple Card owners Subject to eligibility Savings at Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank USA member FDIC terms and [e-mail] Here we go. Having been introduced to you, I think my generation, you know, Mr. Show and there's literally three things that you've done in the last 10 years that I would not have been able to game out. Like what you know I've seen you on Broadway in the last year. You know, Better Call Saul was just this incredible drama that you were the lead of. And yet the most shocking is that you were an action movie star and now a franchise.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Because I loved nobody so much, and I can't. It's so. It is both wonderful that there's more, and it's deeply funny to me that you are. And now. Yeah.

[Sufi]

And Seth. Seth. The whole time I'm training. The whole time I'm training. For years, I trained, you know, and I. And I figured they're never to make the movie, but I'm getting free exercise training, which I need, and that's good for me, so I'll take it. And any day now, they'll call and say, well, we're not making that movie, so you can stop. And I'll go, thank you. I got a year of free. I learned about how to move and different exercises you could do, and. And I pushed myself. I. I just learned so much. And. But the whole time I'm training, I'm thinking, they're not going to make it. It's okay. And two, I'm thinking, wait, if they make it. And even if it's just okay, wait till Smiggle sees this. Wait till Conan sees this. Wait till Sandler sees this. Wade Spade sees this. Like, those guys will be like, what is on the TV right now? How did he get in that fucking movie? There's no way. Yeah. And so I'm, like, grinning to myself, thinking, boy, if I pull this off, that'll just be the funniest thing ever. What a prank.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Puji]

I mean, the scene on the bus, really? That was when I was like, oh.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Okay, yeah, it's not a comedy. It's a funny action movie, but it's not a comedy action movie.

[Sufi]

Well, yeah, but, you know, listen, I don't think I could have done a light. Kind of like, I love Jackie Chan, and I love Police Story. That one of his early films. I talk about it a lot. I watch a lot of his early films, but I especially love that film because in our family, we had this difficult chapter in our lives, and it was kind of hard to connect. And that movie was something that we all watch. We watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Police Story, and. And, if you could believe it, the movie Zelig. These are audio films, and the kids love these films, and they could watch them, and we could connect. It was actually very hard to sit together for the length of a movie at this time, and. And we were able to watch these films. So there was a great. I had a great affection for them beyond, you know, just appreciating Jackie's skill and the entertainment value of those films. But, you know, I knew that I couldn't do that. Not only because, you know, I'm not even close to what Jackie Chan's shape he was in and the gymnastic aspects of what he did in those films. But I. I'm already Bob Odenkirk coming in, you know, kind of, you know, storming the gates of. Of genre, action genre. If I act, if I'm too cute or it's too soft, they're going to go like, well, you didn't even try. I mean, you're just trying to protect yourself because you'll be embarrassed if it doesn't work. So you just didn't really do it. You did it, but you didn't really do it. So I couldn't do that. I had to fully commit, lay into it, be harsh, be intense, and obviously potentially be a. Make a huge ass of myself if it didn't work. But I'm able to sell that rage because guess what? Guess who's got real problems.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Well, is the therapist. When you go to your therapist, like, let's not mess with the moneymaker, Bob.

[Sufi]

That's not.

[Puji]

We don't want to take too much.

[Sufi]

We don't want to take the rage away. We don't want to. Yeah, that's not a. That's not going to happen.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I. So let's take it back to Neighborville, because you mentioned hard for you all to sit. Well, you're the second of seven.

[Sufi]

Oh, I'm the second oldest of seven kids. Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Okay, gotcha. And so what's the length of time between the oldest and the youngest?

[Sufi]

I think it's 15 years.

[Puji]

All right, gotcha.

[Sufi]

Which is crazy that there's seven kids in my family because, you know, my dad was never home. Yeah, it's so weird. I mean, he came home seven times, and it's the joke. But we know we became him seven times. But. But really, I mean, I didn't, you know, he was around when I was, like, until I was around five or six, I would see him a fair amount, you know, like almost every day. But then he's there less and less and less. And yet the children kept coming. It's a Catholic family.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And my mom was very, very into Catholicism. She tried to join a convent. When my youngest sister was turned 18, she signed up and had an interview.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And did she not. Did she get turned out the, the.

[Sufi]

Mother superior called her and said, okay, I'm looking at your, what you wrote here and all. And she goes, do you. This is interesting that my mom actually shared this story with me.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

She, the mother superior said, do you believe that you have a calling to be a nun? You know? And my mom said, yes, yes, I do. And then the mother superior says, well, I'm going to tell you something. You already have a calling. You're a mother. You need to do that job. And. And then she went on to say, we've had many women like you come to us and say they want to join the convent, join the order. It's not going to happen. We're not doing it. It doesn't work. You don't. You think it works, but it doesn't work. It's amazing that she did that, and it's amazing that my mom shared that with me, because it's embarrassing.

[Puji]

Well, maybe she needed to justify why she wasn't a nun, that she, she wanted to do this thing.

[Sufi]

Sure didn't need to do it to me because I, I mean, I left the church when I was 16. I went to my mom, I said, hey, I'm so sorry. You know, I had read the Bible, I had made notes in it because I was like, this doesn't make sense. I'm tired of this. It's annoying. It's like, it's such a bummer. But maybe I'm missing something, you know? So I take out the Bible, I'm reading and I'm making notes. I don't tried to get through the whole thing. I didn't, but I got pretty far into it. And then I just said, I just don't believe in this. And I think it's disrespectful for me to attend church. I am standing there and I don't agree with this whole thing, so I'm going to stop going. And I hope you know I respect you and I respect the effort you made. And pretty much every kid pretty much fell away from.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I was going to ask of the seven, did anybody?

[Sufi]

Let's see, I don't think there's a single one that attends Catholic services now. My kids went to Temple Israel of Hollywood, and they were both bar mitzvahed. And my mom loved that. And she came out to LA to attend their bar mitzvahs. She loved it. She loved it.

[Bob Odenkirk]

So was it just that she wanted them to have some spirituality?

[Sufi]

I think so, yeah. And I think that it is. You know, the other kids in my family if they go to church, they go to a lighter Christian scenario, you know?

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And that she. And that she probably hates. She probably hated that compared to, you know, it's that old thing of, like, there's a great book where these two rabbis argue, and they're real people, and they have the. It's letters back and forth. It's an Orthodox rabbi and a Reform rabbi and that Orthodox, which would be my mom. They hate the Reform way more than they hate a Muslim. Right. Of course. Like, way more. Like, I would rather you believe in the Easter Bunny and that's your religion. Then you say you're Jewish and be reformed.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Don't agree with me.

[Puji]

Better to do it differently than to do what I'm doing, but do it wrong.

[Sufi]

Right. Right.

[Puji]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Right. And so. So she had that attitude, and I think she really loved that the kids were in this older version of her own religion, you know, I mean, look, I. I think religion is. You know, it's so weird in. In some ways, I. This is a mucky subject. You want to get into this? No. We should talk about nobody, too, and how much fun you'll have at the theaters. Hey, I want to tell you, nobody, too, really turned out. And, of course, there's a great deal of luck. When any movie turns out, there just is. It doesn't matter how hard you work. Yeah. There are too many moving parts, and for it to come together, you're like, how the hell did that happen? I know. I worked nonstop for a year and a half, and I sweated all night long when I was supposed to be asleep about the logic of this. What it's happening. What are we seeing? Is it working? I know I did all that work, and I know all these other people did all that work. I still don't believe it worked. I can't believe it worked. But, yeah, it did. It came together. And. And not only did it come together, so I had this, like, vision for nobody to. That it could be a more inclusive film. There was something about, look, the fact that you, like. Nobody wants that. And, Josh, I'm assuming you might have liked it, too.

[Puji]

I do. I did.

[Sufi]

So. So, look, I mean, we're people, and most of the people we know, like, probably don't even watch a lot of action movies, especially in comparison to the guys that I work with on these films. They watch everything. Yeah, they. They know every. They know Korean action films from 1950s. They know films you've never heard of and that you'll never see. And if you ever go to, like, Netflix. And you go, action movies. And you see all these movies that Liam Neeson made, and you're like, what? When? Yeah, when did he make that? They watch all of those. Yeah, don't just watch them. They watch and go, oh, I see. Okay. In the third fight in the warehouse. I've never seen. I've. I've never seen anyone throw a wrench at another person's knee. And that's new. You know, they. They are picking up the little details, and they care about it. So. So I make nobody one. I figure if I can please some of the action people, that'll be awesome. That'll be amazing. And then if I can make my friends laugh, those are the two goals, right? And then it plays really well, and people like it and all kinds of people like it. Who? I would never. So many people. I don't like action films, and I love that movie. I don't watch action films. And that's my. One of my favorite movies of last year. I never watch films like that. I've heard it so many times. And mostly from women. Yes. But from all kinds of people. And all around the world. I've done a fair amount of traveling in the last three years, and it doesn't matter where I am. That movie has played and played well and the same story from people. And I just think I had to think a lot about that. What. Why are they connecting to it? Why is it working? And I think my thought was if in the first act of these films, you really, really ground the character so that the person watching goes, that. I mean, that's my family. That's. That's life in my house. You forget the garbage cans.

[Puji]

You.

[Sufi]

Yeah, that's. You really connect with them. You know, it's. It's. You really feel that family tension of. Of life just beating you down, of just schedules and people flying in all directions and trying to connect with your kids, and it's not working, and they're mad at you and you didn't. You're not noticing that they're growing up, and you're just. You're. You're. You. The husband and wife are kind of drifting apart because life is so overfull. You know, if I can just touch base with all of that angst and common, you know, tension, then once we start going into the world of action and they start acting out all their frustrations, and then they get to have this big, magical cinematic bad guy come into their world. And in the case of nobody, too, it's Sharon Stone, which I can't believe I was so thrilled that she said yes. I met her at an awards show and she was very nice to me. And you know how it is, you guys, when people like that know who you are and you're like the best. Why do you know? Yeah, but when you get compliments from people who are established and, and you know, classic film stars, and she was very nice and, and I wrote her a note and I said, I hope you'll consider doing this film. It's a genre movie and you would be asked to be as big as you can be. I. The goal is to have that bad guy at the end, the third act of the Nobody film, be a James Bond villain, you know, so that the regular guy, through these machinations of the movie, gets to blow all his rage at. At something that's somewhat worthy of that rage, you know, a magically bad, over inflated evil human. So she was down for it, as you'll see if you see the movie. She, she went big. And that's what we wanted her to do anyway. All these people who'd seen the movie and liked it and I thought if I could make a movie that really played for, you know, kept that in mind, you know, all the women, all the moms who loved the first film. So there's. We got this great director, he's an Indonesian director, Timo Chiganto. He makes really dark films. I mean, he makes really intense action horror films. And I love that. And I wanted something with a difference, you know, spirit. But I also wanted it to be more inclusive, not less inclusive. I didn't want it to be darker than the first film. And we just got this great balance. We got lucky, man. And we got this editor. A lot of times an editor on a film can just save a movie. Not that it needed saving, but.

[Bob Odenkirk]

She.

[Sufi]

Just whipped this thing into magical shape. And the challenges that we had with stupid things like story, movement and time passage. She fixed them. She fixed them without fixing them. I can't.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I think it's funny, that thing you say about, like, the luck. I remember when I first started, like, going to, like, meetings in Hollywood and you would go into an executive's office and I would see posters of movies that were sort of universally panned. And I remember commenting once to someone, like, I can't. Why would you have that poster up? And someone said, because they worked as hard on that movie as they worked on the movies that were universally loved. And like, it is, it is like a, it's a monument to hard work. Like, there are no, movies never bomb because people were lazy on set.

[Sufi]

Right, Right. I'm gonna. I'm gonna shut the door here because there's people making noise. Yes, it's true. It's true. Every movie was just as hard as the best movie you've ever seen. It's really. It's generally true. Right?

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And it's. The other thing is, I finished those two films and they're cutting them together. The other film is called Normal. It's gonna play tiff the Toronto Film Festival. And it's an action.

[Bob Odenkirk]

No, you did. You went from nobody to normal.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And you literally shot like that. Sounds like the most a guy is lying to his family when it's like, I'm going to Winnipeg, I'm shooting nobody.

[Sufi]

Then I'm shooting Normal.

[Puji]

I'm sure people in Winnipeg are like, come on, man, don't do us like that.

[Sufi]

Oh, no. They are so happy.

[Puji]

I'm sure they are. I'm sure.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Puji]

Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. We are supported by Superpower. You know, I get a annual physical, and last year there was one particular number that was a little bit off, and I called my doc and I was like, hey, what's the deal with this? How do I get this back in the good range? And he was like, well, I think, you know, you'll be fine. Let's just see where it's at next year. But that's not great. I'm ready to do something about it. I'm ready to be more proactive. And that's what led me to Superpower, because Superpower will send a licensed professional to your home or you can visit a nearby lab. And it is one simple blood drop with over 100 biomarkers, way more than what you usually get, which unlocks so much more about your body. Their app includes detailed information on your heart, liver, thyroid, hormones, metabolism, vitamin and mineral levels, and even environmental toxins. So from disease prevention to treating that annoying brain fog, or simply optimizing your gym game, Superpower is the most comprehensive and advanced system out there. I am so excited to be getting an actionable health plan from Superpower based on my results. You know, I'm a vegan, and I know you don't want to hear about it, but maybe there's things that I'm missing and they're going to tell me that there's nutritional guidance that I need to be following that I'm not. Maybe there are lifestyle or behavioral adjustments that I can make to Maybe not be so tired in the middle of the day all the time. Plus, I'm going to be able to get my biological age that I can track over time. Superpower not only gives you an initial plan, but it tracks your results over your lifetime. Each test builds on the last, giving you a full picture of your progress year after year. So stop only reacting to health problems and start proactively improving your health based on real personalized data. Superpower used to cost$499, but right now it's just 1.99. For the full experience, head to superpower.com to learn more and lock in the special $199 price price while it lasts. After you sign up, they'll ask how you heard about them. And please make sure to mention family trips, which really supports the show. Your biology decoded, your blueprint activated with Superpower.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Support, comes from fitbod.

[Sufi]

Hey, bud.

[Puji]

Hey, Sufi.

[Bob Odenkirk]

You know what I like?

[Sufi]

What's up?

[Bob Odenkirk]

I like a customized workout. You know what I mean? I want my workout to be. Be built for old Sufi over here because, you know, don't take this the wrong way, but those workouts that everybody's doing, not enough for me. I gotta be pushed.

[Puji]

I gotta be pushed to the limit. Beyond the limit.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I gotta push it to the limit. And thanks to fitbod, it gives me a custom workout plan. You know, the kind of workout that adapts to my growth, which is constant. Yeah, each workout is challenging. Right now, I'm pretty swole. You know what else? I had James Gunn, director of Superman, on my show Posh, and I basically threw my hat in the ring to be in one of these new superhero movies. And I told him, thanks to fitbod, I can get as jacked as he needs.

[Puji]

Yeah, I believe it. I believe it.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And it's fine tuned by experienced, certified personal trainers to bring best practices in exercise science to you. Anyway, the point is, Bosch, you can level up your workouts with customized fitness plans that work for you and over 1,000 demonstration videos. Get in shape this summer with Fitbod. Join Fitbod today to get your personalized workout plan. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app free for seven days at fitbod. Me Tripp. That's F I T B O D me Tripp. Here we go. How is Winnipeg? Tell us to tell us something about Winnipeg, a place I've never been.

[Sufi]

Winnipeg is an amazing, interesting place. It's very quiet and calm and chill. They could have a few more restaurants. They're getting them. They're getting.

[Puji]

Okay, great.

[Sufi]

There's some great ones, but they could, you know, they could have more and they're. They're getting more. It's an interesting place. It's a bit of a curious place because it's pretty big. 850,000 people live there. It has some really beautiful neighborhoods. There's one in particular that I would walk through. I'd have to drive to go there. And it had these beautiful gardens. I'll see if I can find the name of it. And it has a river running through it. It's sort of a lazy river. And it had a. I guess it had. The population has never dropped. It's only grown. It had a heyday in the early 1900s and there's all these banks. I think it was meant to be a. They're not listing it. I'll find it. It's important for me to share it with you.

[Puji]

The neighborhood that you love, that you never learn the name of.

[Sufi]

Well, I knew I knew how to get there.

[Puji]

Yeah, just find the river.

[Sufi]

I'll just get a map of Winnipeg. That'll get me there. It's kind of like Albuquerque, right? So it's easy. So film wise, it's super easy to use. Like you can take the whole crew across town in the middle of the day and shoot. You could shoot somewhere in the morning and then go across town, park it, the whole circus, and then shoot more. And you can do that and no problem. You won't have any issues with traffic or slowly slowing down and everything's easy to get to. Wellington. Wolseley neighborhood. The Wolseley neighborhood.

[Bob Odenkirk]

All right.

[Sufi]

Go take a walk through the Wolseley neighborhood next time you're in Winnipeg, I promise you. It's got a great park down by the river. It's got a. AAA baseball team. O yeah, I love those.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Is that a. Is that a, a, A Toronto Blue Jays? Triple A?

[Sufi]

It is. Yeah, I think it's Toronto Blue Jays. It's got some great old architecture in a place called the Exchange District, which could double the village. Greenwich Village in New York. Oh, wow. It. It's so. It had these spurts of growth and they built all these buildings so you can. You can duplicate a modern city. You can duplicate. You have these great suburbs. You have these suburbs that look like England. You have this Exchange District. Not only is it like from the early 1900s, like perfect architecture for Greenwich Village in New York, but they. They do that thing that you've seen on backlots. They have those curved streets, you know, on A backlot. A backlot. In Hollywood, it looks, you know, like faux Greenwich Village or whatever, an old, old American city. But you go, there's one thing that's really not right, which is this street turns at the end, and those streets do that, because that's only there. So that when you shoot down that street, that you know that you can't see the real world through the open. You know, streets are straight, generally. Yeah.

[Puji]

So that there aren't palm trees in New York City in your movies, right?

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Well, in Winnipeg, they've got that same thing, but they really, genuinely built the city that way. The streets turn, and it's great. It means you don't have to fake that part of the set. Anyway, I met a lot of great people there. There's a lot of musicians there, a lot of professional musicians. And. Because I think. Because they can afford homes there. And. And also, you may know Neil Young is from there.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And I don't know, I got some good friends there who I still talk to. And I. I don't know. I liked it. I liked it. And the same way I like Albuquerque, which is. It takes a little while to get to know it. You have your favorite places, and the people are awesome. The people are awesome.

[Bob Odenkirk]

That would be a place I'd very much like to go.

[Sufi]

And they all do this. Seth, you like it here, right? What do you think? What do you think?

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

You know the thing, right? You've been to those cities where it's like.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

Where they. It's like you're implying that I shouldn't or that.

[Bob Odenkirk]

All right. Your expectation is that you feel the world. They feel the world at large maybe is undervaluing them.

[Sufi]

They know they're being judged and is not having enough good restaurants. But. But they've.

[Puji]

You know, apparently they've taken it to.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Heart if they were working on it.

[Sufi]

But, you know, that's just not how you live life. I mean, you get your places that you love. That's true. Wherever you go. I mean, how many times New York will drive you crazy with this. That thing of, like. I've never eaten in that restaurant. I've walked by it 50 times, and it looks great. It looks amazing. I bet it's great. But I like my place that I go to.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah. Yeah. My. I. So, I mean, my. When I'm in town and my family's out of town, which happens in the summer, my wife is so mad that I. Cause she, like. Our seamless account is linked. When she sees I'm ordering The same dish from the same Chinese place. She's like, what is wrong with you? I'm like, I found my grail. Like, I look forward to it all day.

[Puji]

Sounds like you need to have a separate grubhub account.

[Bob Odenkirk]

I know. That's really. Yeah.

[Sufi]

No, my wife is the same way. Never the same place twice. She'll say it. And I go, really? Really? You went into that restaurant, they have 40 things on the menu. You had two of them, and you won't go there again. That's not fair. That's not right. And then what she's really mad is that we do go back to that restaurant and I order the same thing.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah. So I would like. Obviously, you've seen a great amount of the world through your career, but, like, as a kid in Naperville with seven siblings, I'm imagining. Is it safe to say you did not travel a lot?

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah, We. We took two trips. We went to the Illinois State Fair, which was fine and, you know, hot and dusty.

[Bob Odenkirk]

You went once or annual trip?

[Sufi]

Once. Once.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Okay.

[Sufi]

And we went one time to the Wisconsin Dells, which is where this kind of our movie is set. Nobody to. Yeah, So a lot of that Wisconsin Dells trip, you guys. The first outline for Nobody 2, Derek Kohlsted came up with was me and Connie Nielsen, the husband and wife, in Italy. And it was like a three page outline. And we're in Italy because we talk about Italy in the first film and where the kids are on at summer vacation in America. And we're in Italy, and somewhere on the middle of page two, my character is on a gondola and he throws back a tarp and it's filled with guns and ammo. And my wife read the outline. Naomi read it, and I read it, and I was smiling. It makes me smile. And she read it and she goes, we get to go to Italy. All right, all right, that could be good. And I'm like, yeah, boy, I'm a real movie star. I get to go to Italy. But the more I thought of it, the more I was like, oh, man, the minute he's on a gondola and he throws a tarp back and it's full of guns, he's Jason Bourne, he's James Bond, and that's not who he is. He doesn't get to go to Italy. He doesn't get to ride on a gondola. He doesn't get to.

[Puji]

Maybe if he goes and stays at the Venetian in Vegas.

[Sufi]

Right, Maybe.

[Bob Odenkirk]

But you. So you talked your way to Winnipeg to shooting Winnipeg for Wisconsin.

[Sufi]

I sure did. And I called Derek.

[Bob Odenkirk]

That's the integrity.

[Sufi]

And Derek's from Wisconsin. The writer.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

I go, derek, this is so great. It was like. I want to say it was a week later, because I really was like, really? You're going to steal this fun of going to Italy and being a movie star from yourself? And I go, it just. It's just not what we're doing here. And I go, what about the Dells? What about they go to the Dells? And the truth is, you guys, I took my kids to the Dells. I went there as a kid, right?

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

I took my kids to the Dells when they were like, 6 and 8.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And it was from L. A?

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Okay, so you went, okay, yeah, because.

[Sufi]

I told my wife, it's great. You're going to love it. And the kids are going to love it. And we did love it. And the problem with shooting at the Dells, besides we didn't get a tax break going to Wisconsin, was it's too nice. It's too big. It's kind of huge. They've got, like, four or five at least, huge water parks, like, massive. Like a feat of engineering. 7th wonder the world shit.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And they've got a huge main drag. And it's just not what I remembered and it's not what I wanted to do. Because part of the fun of this movie and part of that tension thing that I talked to you guys about is he takes his family to this town. He tells them, it's going to be great. You're going to love it. It's huge. The water park is massive. But two things he's getting wrong. One, he was nine when he went.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Right. Right.

[Sufi]

It's not massive. It was massive to him. And it's the only vacation he ever went on, which is similar to my situation. Right. That was an amazing trip. But, yeah. You never went anywhere else.

[Bob Odenkirk]

You.

[Sufi]

I never rode on a plane until I went to. Till I was 21, you know? So the other thing he does that I love, and I'm not sure many people will catch this, but there's a scene that they left in that I had a lot to do with that I love, which is he's bringing these kids to where he went as a kid and he's telling them it's going to be great and it's amazing, and they've got a huge water park, and he's talking to a kid who's 13, the girl, and his son is 18, and he's not Doing the math of like. Well, I was 9. This 18 year old is not going to think that's a big water park. But in his mind it's just this. He's just not recognizing what's happening. And the other thing he does that I love that they left in is he books the hotel rooms and he puts the two kids in the same hotel room. And of course, the minute he gets there, he opens the door and there's these two little beds and there. And the wife goes, they can't share a room. The 18 year old boy and a 13 year old girl and. And he knows he's wrong right away. He knows. He's like, God damn it. Of course they can't share. What was I thinking? I was thinking about when I was a kid and I shared a room here. But you just do that sometimes as a parent. I've done that. I will say the trip to the Dells worked out. They were the right age.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

But I could.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Naomi agree, like, that's a big sale to get somebody from. Okay, got you mosquitoes. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

She can't deal with mosquitoes. And.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And I think there's certain place, New Hampshire, where you grew up, very buggy. Oh yeah, certainly. Certainly the Midwest, very buggy. If you're not used to that.

[Puji]

Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's a whole thing. They're every. They're everywhere and it's.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Puji]

If they're coming for you, they're coming.

[Bob Odenkirk]

For you and they want your blood.

[Sufi]

They want for na. They. If there's one mosquito in the room, it'll come get her.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Do you think? It's like. It's like fresh fish to them. It's like. Oh, you've never been in our part.

[Sufi]

Well, supposedly they can smell certain blood strains.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah. Gotcha.

[Puji]

Any highlights that you remember from your childhood trip to the Dells?

[Sufi]

Oh yeah, I remember the little hotel pool. It was not that big.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Filled it. Was it all seven? Was it seven?

[Sufi]

No, we weren't up to seven at that point. It was. We stopped doing vacations after Gotcha.

[Bob Odenkirk]

All right.

[Sufi]

Four kids. I think four was probably the max. Maybe five. This. The state fair was maybe five. We all fit in the Impala station wagon.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Gotcha.

[Sufi]

Which is a huge station wagon. We all fit in there for that trip. So it probably was four or five. But anyway. I remember sitting in bed. I was probably reading a book, but the door was open to the hotel room. And of course there was like four people sleeping in this bedroom and. But it was daytime And I was sitting there and the sun was beautiful and the pool was full, and it was like vacation. It was great. It was. I mean, I was reading a book, but I swam a lot too. And it was just like everything you love is right here in front of me. I can read a book. I can go out there and jump in that pool. It's sunny, everyone's kind of happy. It was great. And the Dells I went to more than once because I was a Boy Scout. And we would camp in Wisconsin once a month, once every two months. We went there a lot. And we would go to the Dells occasionally, you know, as. Like when I was 13, 14, 15. Although I was only a scout till I was 13, I guess, or 14. So, yeah, so I'd been there. It's. It's a.

[Bob Odenkirk]

What was the Naperville to the Dells Drive? Is that like two.

[Sufi]

No big deal.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Oh, nothing.

[Sufi]

Two and a half hours, maybe.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Maybe it's two.

[Puji]

And when you're there with your scout troop, are you guys just sort of let loose out in the.

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's party time. That's. What do they call it when the. All the Navy guys are walking around? That's fleet week. Yeah, I'm telling you, that's fleet week. That's what it was. And like.

[Puji]

Is it just like arcades and.

[Sufi]

Yeah, it's arcades and churros and. And. Yeah, that's what it is.

[Puji]

Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

It's funny to remember how social arcades were for, you know, kids our age.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Like. And when you think about, like, all the things that have, like, again, like, obviously video games are better than they've ever been, but, like, that was a thing you could actually, like, physically do with people and have, like, a social interaction.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I mean, do. Do arcades. I. They. They exist somewhat. Right.

[Bob Odenkirk]

There's still that, like, Dave and Buster's World, but it's so. I feel like it's. It's very expensive. It's not like a thing where you just like. I mean, again, I. Dating us, but, like, pocket full of quarters. I feel like you have to, like, give your kids, like, 50 bucks.

[Puji]

There was an arcade in LA that just shut down unless they moved. That was sort of, like, cool and fun. There was a great one downtown in Los Angeles called 82, I think, which is when it was the year that was the height of arcade games, and that's why they were called 82. It was a very popular spot. I don't know if it's still There or not. But it's, it's a good night out.

[Sufi]

I remember going to the arcade and not playing, just hanging out.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Sure, yeah.

[Sufi]

You know, I mean, I played a little. I didn't love those kinds of games, but I'd play a little, but just be there.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was a thing, was a nice fun thing to do. Do you, are you somebody? When you were a kid, did you like a water slide?

[Sufi]

Sure, yeah. I love swimming. I love water slides. Yeah, absolutely. We didn't have many and they weren't very impressive. But not like now. Yeah, yeah. The, the advancements in water slide technology. America has led water, which is amazing.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Because water is the same and yet they just. I mean the advancements they made. Yeah.

[Puji]

Space age polymers, I think stepped into the game.

[Sufi]

Einstein died. He was working. I know. The last thing he was working on was a giant water slide.

[Puji]

And it sounds like there weren't a lot of highlights from the state fair. Any particular lowlights or was it just a.

[Sufi]

Yes, there was a funny, funny lowlight that I'll never forget. Get a woman.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Wait, where? In Illinois. Springfield. Illinois.

[Sufi]

It was Springfield. Yes. Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Okay, gotcha.

[Sufi]

And we went to. Yeah, we went to the Lincoln sites and. But the highlight for me was a woman in an auditorium that was not remotely full doing a one woman show with a hat rack. Her in a hat rack with these different hats. And then she would put them on and be like, my name is Angela. I am very particular about my, you know, diet. She was doing, you know, hat characters.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Oh, wow.

[Sufi]

And it was like, it sounds like.

[Puji]

A Mr. Show sketch.

[Sufi]

Oh, man. Well, I did a thing, I did a thing in my one man show that was one of the great. That Tom Giannis and I wrote. And it was, I would come out and I would say, hey, you guys, this has been fun. I've been doing a lot of written material. I'm going to improvise for you. I love improv. I'm really good at it. I have a box of hats here. I don't know what's in there. I haven't looked in. But I'm going to pull them out one at a time and create characters right here, right in front of your eyes. So if you're up for it, look out, here we go. And then it's all the same baseball hat. There's, there's four baseball hats, identical. And I, I play different characters. I mean, I'm different positions. I'm the catcher, I'm the pitcher, then I'm the catcher. Then I'm the shortstop. And by the time I get to the shortstop, I have to go like, hey, pitch it right in there. Yeah, give it to him. Give him some heat. I'm the shortstop. And then my character reaches in and he gets a fireman's helmet. And he looks at it. He doesn't know what to do with it, and throws it away. And then he gets one more baseball hat. And I forget. I forget the final joke.

[Bob Odenkirk]

You being at a state fair and seeing a woman with a hat rack. If they made a biopic about you, that would be one of the scenes in the beginning where you'd be like, what is. What's the moment where they go on their path?

[Sufi]

So can you believe Inspired that my career.

[Bob Odenkirk]

She did you really. I mean, I think, like, it's so funny. Like, I think people think, like, if kids love theater, they should go see good theater. But, like, if kids love comedy, they should go see bad theater.

[Sufi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, make fun of it.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And to riff on it. Yeah. What about you guys? Did you guys go on any family trips when you were kids?

[Bob Odenkirk]

We did. I mean, we drove a lot to go see, you know, grandparents. We had some in Pittsburgh. We had some in Massachusetts when we were living in Michigan. And then we were, like. We would go to Florida. But it is funny because I think that I. That, like, book and pool is sort of my dream. And it is a good reminder that you. It doesn't really have to be fancy as a kid. Just having the freedom to, you know, be able to jump at the water and then maybe go have some time by yourself is pretty special.

[Sufi]

Yeah. What was the best vacation you guys went on as kids? The one you remember fondly with a.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Well, we always say that the worst one, like, there was one. We remember the place called Molasses Pond where my mom got bit by a bug and almost had her arm amputated.

[Puji]

Her arms swelled up like Popeye.

[Bob Odenkirk]

But it's so funny because, like, we were, like, the four of us, like, we did laugh a lot when things went bad.

[Puji]

Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

And so that. I don't know. I sometimes think things being funny are more memorable than things being good.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we. We certainly had a lot of laughs in our house. So my dad was this really erratic guy who had alcohol problems, but he just was, like, shut down. You know, he, like, was. He couldn't talk about much. And I think he was a smart guy. And he was funny, too. He would make wisecracks. He also would share sort of Salesman jokes and. Which I always thought, that's corny, man. And he, he loved Hee Haw and he loved. He loved the Benny Hill Show. So that was the height of his sense of humor. But he did make good wisecracks that were kind of mean spirited. He had an angry, sarcastic, riffing energy that occasionally was awesome.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Did your other siblings have that? Was that sort of the. I don't know. Was that the currency?

[Sufi]

Yeah. I mean, my mom was funnier than my dad though. She was really funny. She was. It's that Midwestern, you know, self deprecating and not just self deprecating, other deprecating. Deprecating.

[Puji]

Deprecation of others.

[Sufi]

Of everything.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Everything except religion.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sufi]

I gotta tell you guys something. This is so funny. So Smigel and I wrote the, the. The super fans, you know, the Bears guys, right. And it's Robert's idea and his. Robert's structure. And I just could pitch jokes on that because I grew up in Chicago. And we. It was this, this. The characters were successful enough that they asked us to write a film and we had a good time riffing out a huge, sprawling 155 page screenplay that we never went any further than that, but we got paid to do that. And the opening scene was so great. And it was. The super fans are in church. It's Sunday morning and they're in their suits and they've got earwigs in one ear. And they're listening to the pre game for the Bears game. And as they're looking up at the stained glass in their local parish, it's turning from saints into Walter Payton or. You know what I mean? Or Ditka. And the. And you reveal that the priest doing his sermon also has an earwig in. He's also listening to the game and it's kind of him up and then he rushes through the end. Rushes, rushes to get it done. And as they run out, they run out of the church, they run to their cars, they rip off their suits and. And they have all their gear underneath, all their fan gear underneath. So I thought it was a great opening. I thought, you know, there wasn't much of the comedy that I wrote that I could share with my mom because she just. It was harsh. You know, a lot of Mr. Show stuff is harsh. Guys. I don't know what your parents attitude towards your career is, but I remember my mom calling me when I was on snl and I never asked her to watch it or anything when I was a writer. There she goes. Bob, I Can't watch that show. And I go, what? And she goes, I tried, but I can't watch that. And I go, oh, you don't have to. That's not for you. It's not for you. You don't have to watch it. I never asked her to watch it anyway. I go, mom, you're going to love this. It's in church. The guys aren't listening. They're listening to the. To the pregame show. They can't wait for 10. Even the priests can't wait for 10. Church ends. Why did I think she would like this? And as they leave, they run out, they tear their clothes off, they've got their fan gear underneath. You know, real. It's just like real people, you know, people are doing that in church. You know, they. They're waiting for it to end, especially the guys, you know, I thought you'd think that was funny. And she goes, yeah, yeah, that's funny. But do you. Do you think it would be funnier if they were Protestant? Can you believe that?

[Puji]

I mean, talk about protecting the shield.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Great.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

That's really great.

[Sufi]

Yeah, that's right.

[Puji]

That's amazing.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Oh, my God.

[Puji]

This has been fantastic. Thank you so much. We're so excited. For nobody, too. Yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

We're gonna ask you. Josh is gonna speed round you.

[Puji]

All right, here we go, Bob. You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational?

[Sufi]

Adventurous.

[Puji]

What is your favorite means of transportation?

[Sufi]

I'm gonna say, why is this a revelation? A private jet?

[Puji]

Yeah, that could be pretty nice if you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional. Other than your own family, what family would you like to take a vacation with?

[Sufi]

Real or fictional? Well, my favorite sitcom of all time is called the Royal Family. Oh, yeah.

[Bob Odenkirk]

It's a British.

[Sufi]

Yeah, British show, spelled R O Y L E. I think it's more. It's a really. I think it's a masterpiece. It's. It's a half hour comedy that is about human dynamics in a way that you can't believe how smart and subtle it is and how funny it is. So I'd go with that. Bunch of crazy maniacs. Love it.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Great.

[Sufi]

Just laugh at them. But also, I like telling people about that show.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Yeah.

[Puji]

If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be?

[Sufi]

My wife.

[Puji]

Lovely. I think I know the answer to this one. But you're from Naperville. Would you recommend Naperville as a vacation destination?

[Sufi]

No. Yeah. Yeah. It's a great place. Sure. I wouldn't go there on vacation.

[Puji]

Okay. And Seth has our final questions.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Have you been to the Grand Canyon, Bob?

[Sufi]

I have.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Was it worth Was.

[Sufi]

It's the first time I swore in front of my kids.

[Puji]

Because you are so.

[Sufi]

Because my son almost fell over the edge. Because they don't have a railing up. They don't have a railing.

[Puji]

It'd be a huge rail here.

[Sufi]

What I'm saying, you have kids, you want to take them to the Grand Canyon. Keep in mind there's no railing on the walkway. The nice walkway. And if your son is walking on the rocks like this.

[Puji]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

On the side of the walkway.

[Bob Odenkirk]

How old did they make it before the first time you swore in front of him? How old was he when you swore?

[Sufi]

Oh, he was probably eight.

[Puji]

Wow.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Oh, my God. Well done.

[Puji]

Yeah, I never would have paid you for making it that long.

[Sufi]

I swore right in his face, like to him to be fucking told you not to walk on those rocks.

[Puji]

Well, I'm sure it holding off those eight years made Josh.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Both Josh and my dad used. Swore at my. My oldest son when he was what, six?

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah, really?

[Puji]

Well, he's being a fucking dick.

[Sufi]

So.

[Bob Odenkirk]

He pushed his. He pushed his brother off a rock. And so two my, you know, two. So my. My middles, uncle and. And grandfather were. Were looking out for him. But yeah, I'll tell you, man, my. My oldest still dines out on it like it's the greatest trauma of his life.

[Sufi]

Oh, really? Wow.

[Bob Odenkirk]

He's always like. Sometimes I think back to that and I'm like, in my head. I'm like, shut the up in my head.

[Puji]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get it out of your head. Get it. Get it out of your lips and right into his face space.

[Bob Odenkirk]

Thank you, Bob. Congrats on Nobody too.

[Sufi]

I can't wait to see it.

[Bob Odenkirk]

It's always the best to see you.

[Puji]

Thanks, buddy. Take.

[Josh]

Up in Naperville. Mom was in the church. Bob thought scouts were better. He'd hang around with his troop down at the Dells, playing arcade games, riding water slides as well, strutting around with all his childhood friends. Now he's all grown up.

[Puji]

And also he's got friends in Winnipeg.

[Josh]

Chicago to New York to Hollywood and towns that are more quirky. He worked with Gilligan Salted man. He's got a killer bat in Albuquerque. And he's got friends in Winnipeg. Sam down in Springfield, went to the state fair, walked into a theater.

[Puji]

That's where he saw a woman with some hats.

[Josh]

Oh, it was weird. And wonderful. It was a one, one woman show. She had a bunch of hats up on a rack. She put one on and then off she would go. That crazy woman with the hats. Woman, woman with the hats. One more Walmart with your hand, Sam.

[Sufi]

Of.