Bob Odenkirk on his son Nathan’s COVID-19 battle: ‘It was pretty bad and it was worse than the flu’

Two-time Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk revealed his 21-year-old son Nathan has recovered from the coronavirus ‘a couple weeks’ after he caught the fast-spreading respiratory illness.

‘It was talked about that young people don’t get hit very hard. Since then we’ve learned that’s very much a case-by-case basis,’ the 57-year-old SNL veteran said on Thursday’s The Late Late Show.

‘My only concern was Nate had dealt with asthma for a good chunk of his life. So I worried that would be an extra complication. In the end, it was pretty bad and it was worse than the flu. And according to him, the pain in his throat was the worst thing of all, but I think also the fatigue.  

‘And it lasted longer than the flu. But I’d say he got out pretty easily obviously compared to other people…It got scarier the longer it went and the further we got from it, I became aware that we got very lucky.’

The Oberlan College student – who’s an aspiring comedian – joined his famous father on the August 13th episode Jimmy Kimmel Live where he was interning.

Bob confessed he ‘loves’ being in quarantine with Nate, his 19-year-old daughter Erin, and his wife of 23 years, producer Naomi Yomtov.

‘We are very lucky to have a nice home that’s big enough for us,’ Odenkirk said, thanking everyone for sheltering in place. 

‘I think a lot about the homes I lived in before I did well enough, and how hard it would be to shelter-in-place in some of the basement apartments that I lived in. That must be very hard for people.’

The fifth season finale of Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould’s 2002-set Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul – titled ‘Something Unforgivable’ – airs Monday night on AMC.

In it, the three-time Golden Globe nominee pulls triple duty as con-artist Jimmy McGill, corrupt Albuquerque attorney Saul Goodman, and Nebraska Cinnabon manager Gene Takavic (who are all the same person).

In January, AMC renewed Better Call Saul for a sixth (and final) 13-episode season, but it’s unclear when it will go into production due to the COVID-19 crisis.