Bob Odenkirk may be best known for his acting work as fan favorite Saul Goodman in “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” but he’s just released a project that he’s calling the most important thing he’s ever done.
His latest book, “Zilot & Other Important Rhymes,” is a children’s book he’s releasing with his daughter Erin Odenkirk, who did the illustrations.
“On Stage” host Frank DiLella caught up with the Odenkirks to hear more.
Frank DiLella: “Bob, Erin. Congratulations on the new book, 'Zilot & Other Important Rhymes.' This was a family affair, which I really love. How did this project come to be?”
Bob Odenkirk: “Well, when the kids were little, we read a lot of books to them before bedtime. We would read four or five books every night. And even in the afternoon for nap. And after a few years of that, I was like, I’m a writer, right? So I want to make stuff and I want my kids to believe they can be writers one day or actors or anything. And so I wanted them to write a poem, you know, well, after we read our books.”
Erin Odenkirk: “And then when the pandemic hit, I came home from college. I had been studying at Pratt and I had to vacate the premises. And so I was just in my room and I had finished classes and it was summer. And I think he felt kind of bad for me. And he came knocking on my door and he was like, Let’s try, you know, I’ll rewrite a few of these. You do a few drawings, we’ll see where it goes. And it just kind of snowballed into this big project.”
Bob Odenkirk: “I would say to any parent better than a photograph you have of you and the kid, better than a video you could make of you and your children, writing something with your kids, writing down exactly what they say, and then including it in the story or poem is a way to jump through time later and remember being with them as a little kid and writing these things. And you can really remember the vibe of what it was like to be with that person as a child.”
Frank DiLella: “Are there more collaborations in you with your father?”
Erin Odenkirk: “Potentially? We might. We might take a little break from each other. No, I mean, I would love to work with him again. I think he has told me that he feels he needs to set me free a little bit and let me go do my own thing. But honestly, we work great together and we had so much fun and not to get too personal, but ever since the heart attack he had two years ago, like an experience like this is something that I know meant a lot. And like to imagine reading this to my kids one day is like very, very important to me and special to me, and to create more things like that as a family together that like stand up to time has become, you know, super important to me.”
“Zilot & Other Important Rhymes” is out on bookshelves now.