Michael McKean talks ‘Better Call Saul,’ electromagnetic hypersensitivity

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TORONTO – As is the case with every character in a Vince Gilligan production, there’s a lot more to “Better Call Saul” shut-in Chuck McGill than his debilitating condition, says Michael McKean.

The veteran actor was loathe to even tease at what might be in store for his tortured character on the “Breaking Bad” spin-off, but suggested viewers will get a glimpse of what the man was like in his prime.

“I do think that he loves his brother, I do think he’s a guy with a great heart, but he’s also a guy who is longing to get back to the way it was when he was a master of the universe,” McKean said Tuesday from New York.

“As far as we know he’s a good man. But nobody is just one thing.”

The most recent episode laid bare the complicated relationship between Chuck and his little brother Jimmy, played by Bob Odenkirk, when Chuck’s electromagnetic hypersensitivity lands him in hospital and forces Jimmy to consider bringing in psychiatric help.

Since tackling the role, McKean says sufferers who identify with Chuck’s complaints — that electricity causes them a variety of physical aches and pains — have reached out to him through Twitter.

He doesn’t doubt that some people feel real pain from being close to electronics.

“I believe in electro-hypersensitivity, I think it’s a genuine thing — just like there are some people who feel cold more (or) there are some people who are more sensitive to sound,” said the veteran actor, whose memorable roles include turns on “Laverne and Shirley,” “This is Spinal Tap,” and “Best in Show.”

“Our bodies are full of mysteries so I think that there are people who have this affliction. As far as what percentage is psychosomatic, listen, we don’t really know.”

McKean said he loves playing opposite the versatile Odenkirk, who he worked with only once before, way back on “Mr. Show.”

But if McKean hadn’t been cast to play Chuck, the role very likely would have gone to Ed Begley, Jr.

McKean said the “St. Elsewhere” star learned he got the role before he did.

“Ed is the one that actually called me and said, ‘Congratulations you got this one,'” he said, surmising that Begley had been the show’s second choice.

“You never have just one guy because he might say ‘No’ or he might hold you up for a zillion dollars a week and Ed and I have always been the last, we’ve been the last two left. We’ve always been the last two in the office. Four or five times.
It’s usually pilots.

“So sometimes he’ll get it, and sometimes I’ll get it and as we both put it at the time, ‘Well, at least it’s all in the family.'”

“Better Call Saul” airs Mondays on AMC.

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