Bob Odenkirk has often found himself wanting his character, Jimmy McGill, to be a “good guy” in Better Call Saul. At the start of the Breaking Bad prequel, Jimmy has yet to become his crooked alter-ego, Saul Goodman, the attorney who would represent Walter White AKA Heisenberg. Jimmy is just a small-time attorney struggling to make a name for himself and escape his past as the former scam artist, “Slippin’ Jimmy.”
Jimmy has done some questionable things to achieve his goals throughout 5 seasons, from tampering with legal documents to manipulating sweet old ladies. For each of these cons, Better Call Saul paints Jimmy as a supportive partner and loving brother (until he’s not). Fans of the show would never call Jimmy heartless, but his growing involvement with Albuquerque’s criminal underworld certainly doesn’t warrant the label of “good.”
In an edition of THR's Actor Roundtable, Odenkirk spoke on how playing Jimmy/Saul for over a decade, in both Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, has changed him. Odenkirk said the toughest part was going from Saul to Jimmy. Where one character is set in his ways, the other is immature and ambivalent. The actor often finds himself starting to become a champion for Jimmy, wanting him to make the healthiest choices:
The idea of calling [creators] Peter [Gould] and Vince [Gilligan] — and I've done this and it's embarrassing — and saying, "Can he just be a good guy or can he make a better choice?" You start to like the guy, and you want him to learn the right lessons from his experience, but that's not the story that they are telling.
Odenkirk's comments are completely understandable, considering he portrays Jimmy/Saul with empathy. His performance makes the audience feel for Jimmy, even when he's making frustrating choices. It's also an acting dilemma specific to Odenkirk, as very few have gone back to do an entire prequel series about a character they've already played for a number of years. Additionally, it shows just how impressive Better Call Saul is, since it would be easy for Jimmy/Saul's storylines to feel predictable instead of exciting.
Jimmy/Saul is somehow still a sympathetic character even in season 5, after doing some especially terrible things. Audiences continue to emphasize with Jimmy because Odenkirk still plays him as a human being capable of love. He's a cautionary character like Walter White; it’s their increasingly selfish and shortsighted actions that lead to symbolic transformations into Heisenberg and Saul Goodman. In the case of Better Call Saul, viewers already know who Jimmy becomes, but that likely won’t make Odenkirk any less conflicted heading into the show’s sixth and final season.
Source: THR