Bob Odenkirk and RZA Answer the Web's Most Searched Questions

You knew you were gonna be a rapper at nine, huh?

Yeah, I wrote my first lyric at 8.

A lot of profanity, but not profanity in words,

just in ideas.

I was talking about a woman with big, you know.

Yeah. Yeah.

[upbeat music]

Hey, this is Bob Odenkirk.

Yeah, this is Bobby Diggs, A.K.A. the RZA.

[upbeat music]

And we're doing the Wired complete interview.

Auto.

It's Autocomplete.

Check that out.

Autocomplete, thank you.

[Bob chuckles softly]

You do a board, RZA.

Okay, so bong-bong.

Here we have, What RZA...

[paper rips]

Okay.

Oh man, what a bad peel!

This is, you know what I mean?

This is Autocomplete and we're going to complete it!

There we go.

What was RSA's first rap name?

My first rap name is pretty embarrassing.

I was actually called Baby D,

because I was the youngest of the Diggs brothers.

And so I just had a name, Baby D.

Did your brothers rap?

No, my brothers didn't rap.

My brother, Divine, DJed.

I was nine years old.

So I was like, I'm Baby D and the baby Diggs.

[RZA chuckles]

I probably started writing comedy sketches around nine.

Wow.

Which is what I did for most of my career,

write comedy short pieces.

And I remember getting my mom's typewriter

'cause I thought that was more professional

and writing a pretend commercial for toothpaste.

[Bob chuckles]

[RZA] That's crazy.

Well, that kind of confirms for me, Bob,

is that the artistic nature of who we are,

it shows up early in life.

We're lucky to have that.

Next one, here we go.

What is the RZA's real name?

Real is a big word, but you know, 'cause RZA is real.

But my mother named me, Robert Fitzgerald Diggs.

Here's the next one, ladies and gentlemen.

What did RZA study?

I studied many different philosophies and religions.

I started off, of course, as a Christian Baptist.

I got the chance to come across Islam at an early age,

come across the teachings of Buddhism at an early age,

martial arts, and Kung Fu,

and then that led to Japanese sword play.

And I just continued to study.

Knowledge is the foundation of all things.

And I continue to add to my knowledge

and from a hip hop lyricist, I made it to be a actor.

How about that?

What is RZA new movie?

I won't say that it's RZA's new movie,

It's my buddy, Bob Odenkirk's new movie,

but it's called, Nobody, a'aight?

And it's the bomb-bomb, okay?

And I'm in it as well.

And it's a blast and you're gonna enjoy it

and I'm not selling you something.

You know man, I'm telling you something.

Can I do a page?

Yeah, let's see what you got there.

Okay, is Bob Odenkirk a lawyer?

No, are you kidding me?

[crew member laughs in background]

No.

But I mean, God bless the lawyers.

We need lawyers and we need people in politics.

We need everybody to do everything as well as they can.

Is Bob Odenkirk colorblind?

Yeah, I'm kinda colorblind.

It's sad.

My wife always ridicules me for it,

but I think I have trouble with orange and red and pink

and stuff in that range.

Is Bob Odenkirk a Canadian?

No, I'm not.

I love Canada.

I loved going there.

We shot Nobody in Winnipeg and it was the perfect city.

It was a perfect city.

Beautiful city.

Is Bob Odenkirk on Cameo?

No, I don't really...

That sounds like too much work.

Is Bob Odenkirk related to Kevin Costner?

No, but I have pretended to be him in comedy sketches.

[RZA laughs]

Is Bob Odenkirk related to Steve Oedekerk?

I probably am!

[RZA laughs]

Steve Oedekerk is a comedy writer

and he's written some great movies.

He was a chum of Jim Carey's for years.

They worked together.

They probably still are friends.

And he's a really nice guy.

I met him one time and he looks like he could be my brother

but we're probably distant cousins.

Is RZA a Scrabble word?

It should be, okay?

[Bob chuckles]

I don't know if it is, but I would put it on the board

and see what happens.

It's legit!

Yeah, it's legitimate.

You made it legit.

Is RZA a genius?

That, I can't answer.

I leave that to the people.

But I do got a cousin named The Genius.

He's part of the Wu-Tang Clan.

They call him the GZA.

Is RZA and GZA related?

Well, there you go.

Yeah, GZA's my cousin and he's the one

that introduced me to hip hop.

It's RZA related to SZA?

No, I'm not related to SZA.

She's a beautiful young lady

that I had a chance to meet early in her career.

And I did some music with her.

Is RZA in the Mandalorian?

No, just because I got a big forehead,

don't mean I'm in the Mandalorian

[Bob laughs]

as one of those aliens, a'aight?

Don't do that to me.

Nor Star Trek.

Is RZA still alive?

Alive and well.

Bong-bong.

Okay, I'll do this.

What is Bob Odenkirk doing now?

It's pandemic-time folks, I'm not doing much.

I'm writing all kinds of different TV shows

things that make me smile, writing some stuff with my kids.

A kids book of poetry and drawings with my daughter.

And I wrote a really silly audible podcast with my son.

What is Bob Odenkirk known for?

Well, I'm going to be known for Nobody

'cause it's a cool movie and if you like action,

you're going to see a lot of it.

What is Bob Odenkirk like?

I'm kind of intense.

I go hard at stuff and a little hard to talk to,

'cause I'm preoccupied in my mind all the time.

But that's true of a lot of writer-type people.

I started as a writer and that's really where my head is at.

I can't do define Bob better than Bob,

but I would say he's intense!

I got that from my dad.

My dad who was not my favorite person on earth,

but he had this intensity that came

[Bob snaps his fingers]

so fast!

I use it for acting.

He used it to torture the people around him,

[RZA laughs]

but I feel like I did inherit that

and I try to use it for good.

Yeah, and I would just say,

I noticed that that laser beam focus.

To get into something, you got to narrow yourself

and hold that intensity.

As a fellow artist, I see that in you, man.

I seen it and enjoyed to play with you with it, actually.

Thank you, man.

Thank you.

What is Bob Odenkirk's Nobody training?

I trained for two years

with my good friend, Daniel Bernhardt.

You know him from all kinds of performances on screen.

He's a great action stunt actor.

You might also know him from the big fight

in Atomic Blonde that he has with Charlize Theron,

in the apartment.

What did Bob Odenkirk write?

I wrote for Saturday Night Live,

I wrote for my own show, Mr. Show.

I wrote the sketch that everybody loves

that Chris Farley did called, The Motivational Speaker,

I wrote that for him at Second City.

I write a lot of comedy and now I've been writing drama.

Coming from Second City, did you start in Chicago?

Yeah.

Wow, that's crazy.

That's the foundation right there!

I'm like, you know--

Yeah, yeah.

A lot of great people there.

And I was surrounded by great, funny people

and a great attitude towards it all,

which is that the work is what mattered.

You live in a city like Chicago, and you start there

you don't think quite so much about making it big.

You just think about being good

at what you're doing and doing something new and fresh.

I'm a fan of the show of the history of it.

So I didn't put one and one together, but now I got it.

So thanks for that, for helping us in that world.

And I'm gonna pick this one up here.

This is a does.

This is going to be dangerous, okay?

Does RSA play chess?

Yes.

That's an easy one, I like that.

Easy one.

Does RSA have a PhD?

In hip hop, okay?

They don't...

You can't get that in school.

You just gotta live it.

So I have a PhD from the school of street knowledge.

[RSA chuckles]

Does RZA watch anime?

Yes, I love anime.

I would actually mention some anime names,

but we won't go through the clearance process of all that.

Does RZA have tattoos?

I didn't believe in tattoos,

but I do have one tattoo on my left arm.

It's the Wu-Tang W, with my name engraved in it,

because I would give my left arm for Wu-Tang Clan.

Does RZA know martial arts?

I think we all know martial arts,

because it's just a form of repetition

and practicing your art.

So whether you're doing it in a kung fu style,

karate style, sword style, or just acting,

there's a martial art to it.

You know what I mean?

So I feel that all artists are martial artists

at some capacity.

That's cool.

It's a discipline that you use your mind

and body together to do something

and to get deep into something.

And I do think acting can be like that.

Can be like a martial art, for sure.

How old is Bob Odenkirk?

I'm 50...

Oh, Bob Odenkirk's son!

My son's 22.

I'm 58.

How old is Bob Odenkirk?

I'm 58!

How tall is Bob Odenkirk?

5' 10.

How nice is Bob Odenkirk?

I try to be a nice guy!

[RZA laughs]

I really make an effort, because I think I was...

I wasn't the nicest guy when I was younger.

I was kind of, like I said, I was locked in my head

and it makes you kind of distracted

and you can come off as rude or disconnected.

And I wish I hadn't done that.

I think every single person you meet,

you try to give them some attention

and try to recognize where they're at.

I know you're my big brother here,

but that's natural because I was the same way.

You know, you go back and listen

to my first album, 36 Chambers,

I was against the world.

I didn't care who you were, what you were.

It's just an attitude that happens in life, I think.

I think people are gonna feel it at some point in life.

And if you could evolve past it,

but still maintain it, that's a beautiful thing.

That goes to what you said, that's the intensity,

but you're a nice guy.

An intense, nice guy!

How about that?

Yeah.

[everyone laughs softly]

I think you're right, man!

Somehow you gotta retain your perspective,

your point of view as an individual

and a critical perspective.

But you have to become more sympathetic to the condition,

the human condition as you go.

How did Bob Odenkirk meet RZA?

On this movie!

I was very thrilled to hear

that RZA would participate and play my brother.

And it was a joy to work with you Bobby,

and to watch him work

'cause you've done this way more than I have.

You know your way around an action set

and you look great in this film and I can't thank you enough

for being a part of it.

I know I said that.

I'll keep saying it.

Well Bob, it's mutual brother, it's mutual.

Bobby is a really unique person in it,

and the real deal when it comes to being

an artist and a person who's living in the moment.

A lot of people who, if you'd been in Wu-Tang Clan,

all you would do is celebrate the days of yore.

And he's always onto something new

in a very serious, committed way.

And it's an inspiration.

I see you as a Renaissance man and a serious one,

not a dilettante, but a person who approaches each thing

with solemnity and seriousness.

Thank you, brother.

Thank you.

I'm not good at compliments.

I tell you that, I'm over here.

[RZA makes shuddering noise and laughs]

And what I did load today from you though,

is something that was beautiful.

When you said that you wrote your comedy skit

at the age of nine.

As an artist, I've been looking to other artists

and see what common denominators that we have,

because hearing what you said,

it helps me continue that philosophy.

You know, I talked to all my buddies in art

and I will always hear something like,

Wait, that was, I...

The same thing, 'cause something's in common.

So that was a great revelation for me.

So thanks for sharing that.

You got it, man.

It's great talking to you.

Great seeing you again.

Respect, guys.

[upbeat tone]