Why Bob Odenkirk Is Ready to “Get His Ass Handed to Him” Again

Bob Odenkirk is ready to, as he puts it, “get his ass handed to him.” The Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul star is reteaming with Derek Kolstad, screenwriter on 2021’s Nobody, on a new action film, Normal, which is among the hottest projects being shopped to buyers at the European Film Market in chilly Berlin this week (by WME Independent).

Ben Wheatley (Meg 2: The Trench, Free Fire) is on board to direct the film, which will star Odenkirk as Ulysses, a temporary sheriff in the sleepy rust belt town of Normal who gets caught up in a deep criminal conspiracy. Kolstad, who also penned the John Wick franchise, will produce together with Odenkirk and Normal producer Marc Provissiero, with Josh Adler from Circle of Confusion as executive producer.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

• 'Who Do I Belong To' Director Talks Magical Realism, Family Tensions in ISIS Drama

• 'The Boy and Heron' Producer on Why Hayao Miyazaki Came Out of Retirement

• Barry Keoghan to Star in Film From 'Chernobyl' Director Johan Renck About Saddam Hussein's Final Days (Exclusive)

Nobody transformed Odenkirk into an unlikely action star, playing Hutch Mansell, a humdrum family man with a secret past as a professional assassin. When his family is targeted by a crime lord, Hutch finds his old skills come in handy, though his middle-aged body isn’t quite up to the task. One of the film’s most memorable sequences has Odenkirk as Hutch getting pummeled by gang of youths in a bus.

“A lot of action movies, where the guys are too handsome and built, it’s hard for the audience to buy into the idea that they’re in danger,” says Odenkrik. “I don’t have that problem. Audiences genuinely see me and go, ‘Oh, jeez, this guy is screwed.’ ”

Directed by Ilya Naishuller, Nobody was a bonafide indie hit, grossing just under $30 million for Universal Pictures domestically and more than $57 million worldwide and killing it in the home entertainment market. If Berlin buyers go for the Odenkirk-Kolstad reunion, Normal should being shooting in “deepest, darkest Canada” (i.e., Winnipeg) this October.

Odenkirk and Kolstad spoke with THR ahead of Berlin about how Normal will be “a love letter to British crime thrillers,” taking artistic inspiration from Emmy snubs and who would win in the John Wick-Hutch Mansell showdown.

You guys first worked together on Nobody. What was it about that experience that made you want to jump on the wagon again with this project?

Bob Odenkirk Well, it went pretty well, didn’t it? Derek is the most collaborative screenwriter I’ve ever worked with. His willingness to hear a note from anybody at any point in the process is amazing. He listens to everybody and when he says “best idea wins,” he really means it. I’m going to guess it has to do with his personality, but also from getting beat up for years [in this industry]. Making Nobody was just a great experience, everyone really gave their all on that one, and it turned out so well. I think part of that is we complement each other so well. I think Derek appreciates my observations about a script or a story and I certainly see and respect and love his unbelievable gifts as a writer. You know, whenever somebody would call [Breaking Bad] creator Vince Gilligan a genius, I would always feel like they stole a little bit of credit from him, because I know how hard he works. I’m not going to do the same thing with Derek. He may be gifted, but he works really really hard to get there.

Derek Kolstad We pitched everybody on Nobody — everybody and their dogs, their cats, their moms and dads. One of my favorite memories of that shoot was my first day on set. They were shooting the bus fight scene. It was in Winnipeg and freezing. I got on set and saw the bus and a body in the middle of the road. I heard them shout “cut!” and the body got up. And it was Bob! He’s the star. He didn’t have to do that, lie in the middle of the road in sub-zero weather while they get the shot. And Bob looks at me, comes over, gives me a big bear hug and says: “Can you believe we get to do this for a living?” I had this thing [Normal] in the wings for a while and I showed it to Bob: “Dude, let’s do this next.” And he was like, “Fuck yeah!’

Odenkirk When they presented the idea [for Normal] to me, it just had this quality to it I don’t think I’ve seen in an action movie in forever. I’m going to call it suspense mystery. You could argue that the Bourne films, especially the early ones, have that element, where he’s trying to explore and solve a mystery, the mystery of his own past. There’s that sort of dimension in this story, something that Derek expanded on, which I think was the reason Ben Wheatley came on board.

I’ve only seen a small synopsis of the new film, but it looks like it will be very much in the Nobody wheelhouse.

Odenkirk That’s because the synopsis is so brief, and obviously we don’t want to give anything away. But the first thing I said [to Derek] was, this has an M. Night Shyamalan-kind of level of suspense and mystery. There’s a sustained sequence of figuring out what really is going on, including some major red herrings.

Derek, what are you doing differently with this script?

Kolstad What I would say is Normal has everything you might be familiar with from Nobody or the John Wick films because that’s what I am — I fucking love those kinds of movies. But if I were to describe Normal, I’d say it was a love letter to Hitchcock and the British crime thrillers I grew up with as a kid, it has the more grounded elements of films from the 1970s. Bob plays Ulysses, an interim sheriff, which I always describe as the substitute teacher of the sheriff’s department. When the real sheriff suddenly dies, he’s brought in take over for a few weeks. Now a lot of small towns like this in the rust belt are mostly empty, storefronts on Main Street are boarded up. But this one is doing quite well. There’s something a little bit off. We see hints and nudges and suggestions throughout that nothing is as it seems. Then, when there’s a bank robbery, all the town’s nasty little secrets spill out and Bob finds himself looking down the barrel.

How did you land on Ben Wheatley as a director and what do you think he’ll bring to the project?

Kolstad I’d been introduced to him years ago after he’d done a couple of small horror films, and we just kind of geeked out on the structure of those kinds of movies, these Brit crime thrillers. And what Ben brings is, he’s not just a director, he’s a writer, he’s an editor, he’s a DP. His notes are about what this film should sound like, how it should look, should feel, how it should smell! That, ultimately, is helping us pour the foundation before the first day shooting.

Odenkirk I think Ben’s going to bring mood and character and a sensitivity to the directing. Action films often times don’t need sensitivity. They can be shot in a textbook way, and that’s fine if that’s what you’re asking from them. This one is going to be elevated by someone who cares about character on the level that Ben does, which you can see in a movie of his like Free Fire or so many others, which are so much about character. This film has a slow burn to it, and that’s an attraction for him — to be able to gently, carefully unpeel the character of all the people in this town, one by one.

Bob, you’ve seem to have created
a whole career out of making losers heroic.

Odenkirk Saul was such a great role for me, because as damaged as he was, he tried to turn all that pain — and sadly, resentment — he had into action. Too often that actually backfired on him. But I loved playing a person who carried their pain around but didn’t completely succumb to it and instead used it as fuel. I think Ulysses is the same kind of guy. I like playing a guy like that and I think I do it well. I’m not in any way handsome or imposing physically. I probably look like I’m thinking all the time. Because I am. It’s a curse. Overthinking is what they call it now in all the self-help books. You can see it on my face. That’s a good thing for these characters who carry around a past and use their damage to drive themselves to fix things or be better.

Is there is a special challenge in doing an action movie with a guy who — and I don’t want to be
mean here — doesn’t have the gym body of a 22-year-old?

Odenkirk I think it’s an advantage. A lot of action movies, where the guys are too handsome and built, it’s hard for the audience to buy into the idea that they’re in danger. I don’t have that problem. Audiences genuinely see me and go, “Oh, jeez, this guy is screwed. He’s going to get his ass handed to him.” He doesn’t get to win by sheer muscle because he doesn’t have that. He gets to win through tenacity and cleverness.

Who would win a fight between John Wick and [Nobody protagonist] Hutch Mansell?

Kolstad It’d never get to a fight. They would show up, look each other in the eye and say, “Let’s go get a beer.”

No spoilers about the film, but is there a chance the evil conspiracy in Normal is being driven by Emmy voters? They’ve robbed Bob many, many times in the past.

Odenkirk Well, I never went to acting school, but if you talk about motivation, using your past to inspire you, I can tell you I’ll be imagining all those enemies in Normal as Emmy voters coming to get me.

Best of The Hollywood Reporter

• Most Anticipated Movie Releases of 2024

• ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy Cast, Then and Now

• Eight Actors Who Have Played Willy Wonka in Films and on Broadway