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Bob Odenkirk talks Conan, Boston dining, and working with Emerson alum Henry Winkler on ‘Normal’
After an East Coast premiere in Cambridge, “Normal” hits theaters April 17. We caught up with Odenkirk and screenwriter Derek Kolstad.
Some 35 years ago, two young comedy writers, Bob Odenkirk and some kid from Brookline, Conan O’Brien, shared an office at “Saturday Night Live.”
“We had the greatest time together, except he made me laugh so much I didn’t get any writing done. Nobody made me laugh at SNL as hard as Conan,” Odenkirk, 63, tells me in a recent phone interview.
“I didn’t help very much — but I did get a free show every day, all day, from laughing.”
Odenkirk later wrote on the first season of NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”
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Now he’s having fun with a different writer.
In fact, it was partly the comedy aspect of noir mystery/action thriller “Normal” — written by Derek Kolstad (“John Wick”) — that drew Odenkirk to the project, he tells me.
The two were in Cambridge recently for the East Coast premiere of “Normal” at the Boston Underground Film Festival.
For the record, afterwards they dined at Alden & Harlow and “had everything they served. It was amazing,” Odenkirk says.
“It was excellent,” adds Kolstad, who has family in Canton.
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Directed by Ben Wheatley, the film also stars Emerson alum / upcoming Emerson commencement speaker Henry Winkler and Lena Headey (Cersei from “Game Of Thrones”).
Odenkirk told the Brattle crowd: “This is a movie that is happy to be a movie. If you’ve liked [1955’s] ‘Bad Day at Black Rock’ or …”
“’Final Destination,’” Kolstad added.
“If you’re anywhere in that range,” Odenkirk said to laughs. “There’s something for you in ‘Normal.’”
And honestly, that mash-up is accurate.
Think “Fargo” meets “Hot Fuzz” with an M. Night Shyamalan twist, and that “wait — what’s really going on in this town?”-feel of “Black Rock” or “Stepford Wives.”
The film’s recipe — part crime/mystery, part comedy, a whole lot of action with splashes of horror — yields pure popcorn fun.
Odenkirk plays Sheriff Ulysses, who takes up a post in the seemingly quaint town of Normal, Minnesota. When a botched bank robbery inadvertently exposes Normal’s dark secret, Ulysses discovers that Normal and its mayor (Winkler) aren’t who they seem … Then things get wild.
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After his Conan days, Odenkirk built a cult following with “Mr. Show” (or “Mr. Show with Bob and David”) with David Cross. and eventually broke big as shady dial-a-lawyer Saul Goodman on “Breaking Bad” and hit spin-off “Better Call Saul.”
He’d more recently turned to action, collaborating with screenwriter Kolstad on the 2021 Ilya Naishuller-directed action/thriller “Nobody” and 2025 sequel “Nobody 2,” directed by Timo Tjahjanto.
The two put their heads together to come up with “Normal.”
I called Odenkirk and Kolstad, 52, ahead of the national premiere April 17. Catch the film at a number of local theaters, including a few Boston screenings April 16.
Boston.com: Overall, what was your vision here for “Normal” when you set out? It reminds me of “Fargo” meets Jason Bourne meets M. Night Shyamalan. As it went on, I kept feeling so many different influences.
Derek: I love [crime thriller/Western] “Bad Day at Black Rock” with Spencer Tracy; I love “Hot Fuzz” [directed] by Edgar Wright, and, of course, “The Stepford Wives.” This notion of [the viewer] introduced to a setting where obviously, going into it, something’s amiss.
We wanted to play it for the smirk, yet at the same time give the character dimensionality, have real stakes and real risks.
Bob: It’s funny you mentioned M. Night Shyamalan because when I first read the outline, I said “This opening chapter — that’s M. Night Shyamalan-vibe.” It’s so cool that you brought that up, because now I’m going to namecheck that in every interview.
[laughs] I love that.
Bob: Lauren, did you also get a horror film vibe, with some of the kills?
Yes, and that’s what I loved about it — it’s such an interesting genre-blend. It reminded me of a dozen different movies at various points. What was a highlight for you, watching the final cut?
Bob: For me, it was the gradual shape-shifting of the tone as it went from comedy to mystery into action and then into horror.
Exactly.
Bob: I’m not a big student of horror films, so I don’t really know these reference points, but Ben and Derek were on the same page as far as what they call “the kills.”
So tell me a bit about how this film came together. Derek, you said you wrote the treatment during “Nobody.”
Derek: Later, Bob emailed me, saying, “What are we doing next?” I sent him three [ideas], one was “Normal.” He said, “Oh, I kind of remember that.” I sent him the treatment, and we sat down. Bob came in to really hone character, and then I went off to the races.
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Once we had a script, we thought: Do we take it to a studio, or do it independently? We thought: Let’s do it independently. We met with a number of directors, but Ben Wheatley, within 30 seconds, Bob, Mark, and I were texting going, “I love this guy.”
Bob, what drew you to this role?
Bob: A lot of action stories don’t really spend a lot of time with a tone that we were able to pursue here, which reminds me a lot of small-town America — the humor and the suffocation [laughs] of it. It had this chapter that most action films don’t.
Additionally, it’s been my dream to play a character who’s my age — that’s been a hard thing to pursue. Derek had written, in Ulysses, a character who had seen a lot of life, had seen himself make bad choices. I like the guy. And like that there was a chapter of comedy to it.
There’s a Boston connection with Henry Winkler, who studied drama here at Emerson. I’ve interviewed him before, and he’s just so warm. What was he like to work with?
Derek: A joy. He’s an absolute joy, man. He’s funny, because within 30 seconds of showing up on set, you could see his smile growing, and understanding what we were trying to do. He had a blast.
[laughs] I can picture that. He’s got a great smile.
Bob: It was great to put Henry in this role. He was not the kind of person or presence I thought we’d go for, but the minute he was suggested, it was like: Wow, that could be so fantastic.
Because — I don’t want to give spoilers — but Henry Winkler is not who you would expect. And Henry’s a real actor. He wants to act, he wants to play different tones, but he just doesn’t get it offered to him much. So he was thrilled. He does a stellar job.
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It sounds like the Brattle crowd loved it.
Bob: Oh, this movie plays so well with a crowd — all those kills in the second half, all that tension that’s built up in the first half, and then sh— really starts going — it’s been amazing to see [in theaters] how much group-emotion is choreographed by the filmmaker.
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Derek: My favorite part watching with an audience is two-fold. One, it’s when people enjoy a scene that, for us, was a behind-the-scenes production nightmare. Like getting a moose, man. Not an easy thing in Canada.
Bob: Not easy.
[laughs]
Derek: The other thing is finding yourself — after watching this movie so many times — still chuckling with the audience and having a big dumb grin on your face. It’s been a joy, man.
Watch the full trailer here:
Interview has been edited and condensed.
Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.
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