‘Better Call Saul’ ‘s Rhea Seehorn Was Grateful for ‘One More Day’ with Bob Odenkirk After Heart Attack
Saul #Saul
Rhea Seehorn is opening up about the experience of watching her friend and co-star Bob Odenkirk suffer a surprising heart attack.
Seehorn, 50, attended the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, where she told PEOPLE and EW’s Red Carpet Live pre-show co-hosts Janine Rubenstein and Jeremy Parsons that she and Odenkirk, 59, had been very close throughout the shooting of Better Call Saul.
The two of them, along with costar Patrick Fabian, all lived together for much of the shooting, she recalled.
Though Seehorn said she was “thankful” for their “closeness and our friendship for a myriad of reasons,” she also explained that their friendship was the primary reason as to why she and Fabian, 57, were with Odenkirk at the moment something went wrong.
Seehorn said they were enjoying some downtime together on set when the scary moment unfolded.
“He basically looked like he was fainting and then we realized that something was very wrong and we dove to catch him before he hit the concrete floor and then realized it was very, very bad and started yelling for help,” she recalled.
Rhea Seehorn and Bob Odenkirk. Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; Momodu Mansaray/Gett
“We were always very close, but the best thing I could say was we’ve all had somebody that’s passed and you just wish you had one more day, one more time to smile or laugh or appreciate them and you don’t get it,” she continued.
She said the next day, they were both able to visit Odenkirk in the ICU after he woke up.
“When he woke up the next morning, his amazing wife Naomi and his kids were nice enough to let Patrick and I come to the ICU right away and, so we had that moment, it was like, ‘Oh my god, this oh, I get another day!'”
Patrick Fabian, Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn and Steven Michael Quezada. Jesse Grant/Getty
Odenkirk was rushed to a hospital last July after collapsing on the New Mexico set of his acclaimed Breaking Bad spin-off, during which he was filming the upcoming sixth and final season. Shortly after, Odenkirk’s rep told PEOPLE that the actor was in stable condition.
He previously detailed the incident, telling The New York Times, “I went to play the Cubs game and ride my workout bike, and I just went down. Rhea said I started turning bluish-gray right away.”
Set health safety supervisor Rosa Estrada and assistant director Angie Meyer began administering CPR and shocked Odenkirk with an automated defibrillator three times to get his heart rhythm back. The Nobody actor later received heart stents in two places.
Odenkirk learned that he had plaque buildup in his heart in 2018, but said he received conflicting medical advice on treating it. The cardiac event last July occurred when “one of those pieces of plaque broke up.”
The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul premiered April 18 on AMC, and recently wrapped on Aug. 15.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards are being broadcast live on NBC from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.