‘Better Call Saul’ Season 6: Patrick Fabian’s Costar Trained Him for the Boxing Match Scene
Howard Hamlin is fed up with Jimmy in Better Call Saul Season 6. In episode 5, Howard caught on to the fact that Jimmy has been trying to destroy his reputation. Howard then lured Jimmy to a gym, where he suggested that the pair hash things out in a boxing match. Even though a choreographer planned the scene, Howard actor Patrick Fabian still needed to prepare for the boxing match. One of his Better Call Saul costars was kind enough to help him out.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 5.]
Howard and Jimmy go toe to toe in ‘Better Call Saul’ Season 6 Episode 5
In Better Call Saul Season 6 Jimmy and Kim have been trying to destroy Howard’s reputation so that the Sandpiper case will be settled faster. They planted “drugs” in Howard’s locker where Cliff Main would see them and staged a scene to make it seem like Howard pushed a sex worker out of his car.
Cliff confronts Howard about his seemingly odd behavior in episode 5, and Howard quickly realizes the truth. He lures Jimmy to a gym, making him think that a client wants to meet there. Jimmy finds Howard standing in front of a boxing ring. Howard says, “I’m tired of this. Aren’t you? It’s exhausting. Let’s punch it out.” Jimmy is reluctant at first, but eventually agrees and the pair take to the ring.
Patrick Fabian had help from his ‘Better Call Saul’ co-star
Of course, the boxing scene in Better Call Saul Season 6 involved plenty of safety precautions. Still, the actors needed to prepare for the physically exhausting scene. “All fights are choreographed very much, to an inch of their lives. They have to be,” Fabian told Collider. “In this, Melissa Bernstein, who directed it, she also knew visually what she wanted frame by frame basically. Between her and the fight choreographer, they figured out what was good.”
Fabian also revealed that he had some help from a co-star to prepare for the scene. “Luis Moncada, [who plays] one of the Salamanca brothers, was my trainer. So he trained me, and when I say train, we worked at boxing for a little bit, and then we worked on what it was like to pretend box, how to box for the camera, which is a different animal.”
Howard ultimately knocks Jimmy to the ground by the end of the fight. “You’ve mistaken my kindness for weakness,” he tells Jimmy. “I’d like to think that tonight made a difference. I’d like to think that this ends it. Probably not.”
Patrick Fabian had to remind Bob Odenkirk to lose the fight
As it turns out, Bob Odenkirk had a little trouble keeping in mind that his character is the one to lose the fight. “Bob, of course, was off of doing Nobody, the action film, so he had plenty of experience, but of course, I had to keep reminding him, ‘Hey, Bob, you don’t win this one,'” Fabian told Collider.
“I know it rankled him just a little bit. But he made that great choice for Jimmy because Jimmy’s not taking this serious. Jimmy’s also not in shape about this. If you’ve ever boxed before, if you’ve gone for like a minute in the ring, you get gassed. You’re exhausted, so it really plots out well that by the end Jimmy cheats, steps on my foot to pound on me, which ultimately leads to his demise because he opens himself up to a big, fat shot.”
New episodes of Better Call Saul air Mondays at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.
