Bob Odenkirk calls Matt Foley sketch with Chris Farley the ‘most fun I had in show business’
In between bites of spicy wings on “Hot Ones,” the Saturday Night Live alum looks back at his time at Chicago’s Second City with the late Farley.
During an appearance on “Hot Ones” Thursday, the Emmy-winning actor and Saturday Night Live vet looked back at his time at Chicago’s Second City with the late Chris Farley. It was at the comedy troupe that Odenkirk first conceived of the character of Matt Foley, an eccentric motivational speaker who resides in a van down by the river, popularized by Farley on SNL.
Before the character’s TV debut, however, Farley regularly played Foley in Second City sketches opposite Odenkirk, who called the performances with Farley the most fun he’s had in show business.
Recalling the fabled origins of the character’s evolution from high school coach to motivational speaker, Odenkirk recounted, “My daughter once asked me, ‘What was the most fun you’ve had in showbiz?’ and I said, I did this sketch with Chris Farley. I played the dad in the sketch and we did it seven times a week at Second City.”
“Every time I did that was the most fun I had in show business,” he added.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, Chris Farley, David Spade, Christina Applegate, 1975-; AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 11: Bob Odenkirk visits the IMDb Portrait Studio at SXSW 2023 on March 11, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Corey Nickols/Getty Images for IMDb)
Chris Farley as Matt Foley on ‘SNL’; Bob Odenkirk
| Credit: Everett; Corey Nickols/Getty
Odenkirk said he recognized his late pal’s potential as a performer “when I got within 100 feet of him for the first time.”
Farley, who died in 1997 at age 33 from a drug overdose, worked as a cast member on SNL between 1990 and 1995, while Odenkirk worked as a writer between 1987 and 1991. Though Odenkirk began his career in comedy, his foray into dramas, including Breaking Bad and prequel series Better Call Saul, have earned him further acclaim and accolades. As it turns out, it was longtime pal Farley that emboldened Odenkirk to take on more serious roles.
“I was on stage with Chris Farley and Jill Talley at Second City and we were improvising a scene, and Chris was so funny,” Odenkirk recalled last year during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers. “Chris and I are acting and I think, ‘I should be in a drama. That’s what I should do.’ And I really had that crazy thought. I think I was just loving his presence so much and he was so wonderful and I thought, ‘I can’t compete with that. So put me in a drama and I’ll be so funny.'”
Watch Odenkirk’s “Hot Ones” segment above.
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