Happy Sad Confused - Jeff Bridges

Episode Date: June 17, 2022

Jeff Bridges is back from the brink and he's got quite the story to tell. On this, his first visit to the podcast, the Oscar winner recounts his battle with lymphoma AND covid, and how the last years have changed him. Of course Josh and Jeff also go down memory lane to discuss Jeff's dad, Lloyd, his turns in THE BIG LEBOWSKI, STARMAN, TUCKER, THE FISHER KING, & more. Don't forget to check out the Happy Sad Confused patreon here! We've got exclusive episodes of GAME NIGHT, video versions of the podcast, and more! For all of your media headlines remember to subscribe to The Wakeup newsletter here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Today on Happy, Sad, Confused, Jeff Bridges, back from Bouts with COVID and Lymphoma with a new series, The Old Man. Hey guys, I'm Josh Horowitz, and welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Yes, if it weren't enough to have the great Jeff Bridges on the podcast for the first time this week,

um we're getting him at a remarkable time in his life and career as you may have heard jeff bridges has been through a lot the last couple of years and this conversation uh maybe gets more into the personal life than usual but how can you ignore the stuff that he's had to deal with um it's a remarkable story and he's uh i mean he's one of my favorite actors so this this was a really unique opportunity. As I mentioned in my conversation with him, I've been chasing Jeff for years. So to get him and to get him now after what he's been through is a really special thing to me. So I think you guys are going to enjoy this chat. What I'm referring to, if you don't know it, is that Jeff contracted lymphoma a while back during the pandemic. And obviously that was a road to go

through, had a really sizable tumor that was found to be inside of him. He'll tell the story himself. But in brief, just on the other side of that and getting through that and seemingly getting on the good side of that, he contracted COVID. And, you know, his immune system was shot, thanks to his treatment for lymphoma. And what we know now, we didn't know at the time, was we almost lost Jeff Bridges to COVID as you know we lost way way too many people to well he has rebounded miraculously and he is not only back but he's back with a great new piece of work he was ironically in the middle of a production on a show called the old man of all things about a guy that's kind of lost his step and dealing with a lot of kind of mortality

issues. And sure enough, this is the project that he came back to and finished. And it's a great new series on FX. I've seen the first, I think, four episodes, four of seven. It's kind of a Jeff Bridges you haven't seen before in action mode. He's a like an ex-operative who's definitely got some skeletons in his closet and finds himself in the middle of some high drama, high action, and it's a really cool show. It also features great supporting turns from Amy Brennaman and John Lithgow, but at the center of it, come on, Jeff Bridges, who just holds the screen like few actors do.

I've long been obsessed with his work. Certainly the movies I grew up with in the 80s and 90s, and we touch on everything from Starman and Tucker and, of course, Big Lebowski in this conversation. we could have spent hours more because he's he's lived quite the life and it's it's he comes from this great lineage too we had to touch on that i loved his father's work the great lloyd bridges um you know if you haven't seen his work from all the way back in high noon all the way up to the last years of his life when he was doing um you know hot shots and he was a a really joyous performer and he's

clearly uh passed that on to his son's bow and jeff so you'll hear it i mean you've seen Jeff Bridges both on and off screen. He is just a delight and just a warm presence. And it was a real special thing to spend this time with him for the podcast. So I know you guys are going to enjoy it. Other stuff to mention in brief, I do want to mention, I think by the time you listen to this, my conversation with Mr. Chris Evans will probably be out in the world that I did for MTV News, a fun virtual chat. It's been a while since I've had kind of like an extensive chat with Chris. you know he in all the marvel shenanigans that it was hard to get like significant time with him he was always like paired with people um so you know i got a decent chuck of time to catch up with him

for the new movie light year the new pixar movie which is super fun um and uh we kind of touched on a lot of things i really i'm really proud of this one um i'll put it up of course on my social media on joshua horowitz on twitter and instagram but it'll be on mtv news's youtube page the extended version. And it's got, we kind of go deep, but we also have a lot of fun. And it was really fun to catch up with someone I know many of you probably are interested in. I mean, who doesn't love Chris Evans? He's the internet's boyfriend, one of a few out there. So yeah, that I'll plug. What else can I mention? Well, I'll mention Patreon as always, because if you love listening to Jeff Bridges, why not watch Jeff Bridges? Virtually all of the conversations.

that I do for Happy Say I Confused are shot on camera, and we offer them up to the Patreon family. So go to patreon.com slash Happy Say I Confused. There are dozens upon dozens of conversations you can watch, including Game Night episodes, the traditional Happy Say I Confused episodes, a second look, which we've been doing recently. We did the recent episode for Loki, which a lot of you guys really dug, and there'll be more of those. Always fun stuff cooking on the Patreon page. So wanted to mention that. Okay, let's get to the main event, which is, you know, again, a very special one.

We've had such a great run lately with first-time guests that I've been chasing forever, the Gary Oldmans of the world, the Jeff Bridges of the world. So it's a real privilege to say you're about to enjoy the first of many, I hope, visits from the one and only Mr. Jeff Bridges. I'd be thrilled to talk to you under any circumstances, but given the context of the last couple of years, I'm just, I'm, it makes me very happy to see you so well. How you doing today, man? Good, man. I especially got a smile on my face because you're wearing, I can see your Flynn shirt, man.

I couldn't resist. I figured, and I don't expect you to remember this, but I send greetings from Adam Harrow. It's my brother who co-wrote. Tron Legacy, of course. Oh, my gosh, perfect. So that's how you got this shirt, man. I bought this with my hard-earned money, but I'm supporting the cause. It wasn't swag, but no, your own money.

I'll have you know that one of the happiest photos I think my brother ever took was when he and his writing partner visited you at your home, and I think you insisted on having them. Don't you love that? Wear the helmet, I think. That's why I say, before we start, guys, this is a month. Now, your brother must have gotten one of my books, didn't me? Of course.

Of course. Of course. Yeah. Well, man, a lot to talk about. Let's just, I mean, I don't want to dwell. Look, it doesn't get any more personal than the stuff that you've kind of gone through the last couple years. But I think it's important to contextualize just because it goes hand in hand with this, this amazing new show. You've been on quite the journey, man.

So talk to me a little bit about what I don't even know where to begin. I mean, so you were in production out on this show and you got the one-two punch of a lifetime. Give me whatever you feel comfortable with sharing of what the journey was in the beginning. Well, the word I keep using is dream, you know, and it feels so dreamlike because three years ago we started this wonderful TV show

and then the pandemic broke out, COVID, and we had a break. And I was going to go up to Montana with my wife. And I'm doing some exercises on the, I feel something in my stomach that feels odd. It feels like a bone where a bone shouldn't be kind of thing. My wife says, you have to get that checked. I said, no, it doesn't hurt.

Go to Montana for three months. Have a wonderful time. No pain or anything like that. My legs itched and I had night sweats. I thought that was because it was kind of hot at night. It turns out both of those are symptoms of this lymphoma that I had. Then I come back, ready to get back to work in a couple of weeks. I said, well, you know, I better get this thing checked out before I get back to work.

And it turns out I have a 9 by 12 inch mass in my stomach, man. lymphoma and so they went there and they couldn't figure out what kind of lymphoma it was fast growing slow growing and i still don't think they completely know and uh and you don't operate on these things you do chemo you know right something that large i would imagine yeah so i'm doing my chemo and uh you still can't figure it out they're trying to find out what the con you know the right cocktail is. And one of the wonderful things about the medical profession is that they're all connected. They listen to each other's opinions and they take the, I wish our politics, you know, can work that way. But they're all on board to save the patient, you know.

Yeah, yeah. Imagine that. Yeah. Yeah. It's so great. And they, you know, finally, you know, finally found this cocktail that made the thing shrink. in chemo, and I was so excited, came home, January 6th, turned on the TV and saw the whole insurrection going on, and then opened a letter from the treatment place saying that I had been exposed to COVID. What a day, man, you know. Yeah, you're the only person that got worse news than January 6th on January 6th on January. Oh, God, it was so wild. And sure enough, I had the COVID, I got COVID, and the COVID proved to make my cancer seem like nothing. Yeah.

Because my immune system from the chemo was just totally stripped. Yeah. And man, that COVID hit me like a ton of bricks and the breathing, you know, I couldn't, oh, I was, you know, very, very tough. And my wife got COVID along. We shared an ambulance to the hospital. Oh, my gosh. She was there for five days. I was there for like, you know, six weeks, something like that.

And by all accounts, I mean, I mean, did you say your goodbyes? It sounds like you were really that you, like they were telling you. Oh, yeah, I was, yeah. I didn't, I wasn't saying goodbyes. But I was kind of prepping myself, you know, the doctors say. And you've got to fight. And I couldn't understand what that meant. I was in surrender mode, you know, because we're all going to die, you know.

And I said, oh, this might be it. And I'm trying to dig the experience as best I can, you know. What an insane journey. I mean, there's so much in there, that story you just told. I mean, first, like, just on the lymphoma, I mean, you must have experienced, look, you've been lauded throughout your career and justifiably so. Oscar and Lifetime Achievement Awards, but like it must have been surreal for you

because I remember the outpouring of love that I saw when people saw that you were ill. Was it a little surreal? Was it like watching your own funeral from a block? That's what I say. I mentioned the word, how dreamlike it was. And it wasn't necessarily only a nightmare. There were certainly wonderful aspects

to facing your mortality like that. You know, it's a bit like a man. marriage or having children, you know, people can tell you about it, but until you experience it, you don't know what it's like. And like you mentioned, receiving all of that love and affection coming at me, it's wonderful. But also, your ability to kind of receive it and reciprocate, that gets uh you know exacerbated it's just everything become so rich and oh amazing and then that that feeling kind of lingers and it forms the rest of your life you know does does it give you more peace in a way going forward knowing that you've kind of like you know what it's like to

to be at the brink and that you know it's it is what it is i mean you can find some peace in that i mean i don't know i i i guess so yeah i guess i don't know it's still so it's so mysterious and surprising still you know it's not it's certainly not like oh i now i now i know you know it's not like you crack the code no yeah yeah i crack the code yeah it's nothing like that but um it's interesting working with on my movie on this old man show yeah We were fortunate enough to have Christopher Huddleston, who is a CIA fellow on board. And one of the things that he turned us on to was stoicism. And I knew a little bit about that philosophy.

I consider myself more Buddhist kind of leaning. It's interesting how those two philosophies, what they have in common and what the kind of differences are. But one of the things that is so much a part of stoicism, reading a book recently called the title was, The Obstacle is the Way. You know, it's like this very thing that you're trying to avoid. No, that's the gift.

Yeah. That's your class at this point in your life. And so get into it because you're enrolled, man. This is it. This is what you got, you know. It's fascinating to look at, look, that this series, which I've been lucky enough to watch the first four episodes and I really dug, look, it's in the title. It's about a man facing mortality in a way.

He's lost a step. He's lost a loved one to dementia. He's, you know, on the other side of a career as a CIA operative. And it's so fascinating because this is arguably maybe the most physical role of your career. and it comes now? I mean, talk to me a little bit about getting back on set, Jeff. And you're like, I've seen these, like, action scenes. You're, like, kicking ass, and you're just, like, in the middle of it.

And you just, like, almost died twice. Yeah, oh, exactly, yeah. Well, I've always enjoyed, you know, doing stunts and fights and all that. It's a lot of fun to figure out those things that make it look as real as possible, you know. lure the audience in that way. I asked, we had terrific coordinators, Henry Kinjee and

Tim Connolly. And I remember asking Tim because I hadn't done any kind of fight scenes like this for a while. I said, what's the state of the art fight scene? And he said, well, I don't

want to be immodest, but in my opinion, it's one that I worked on. I worked with the actors, and there were many stunt guys involved, but I worked with the actors on it. I said, what was that? And he said, the Atomic Blonde. Oh, right. You ever see that?

I know exactly the sequence he's talking about. The fight scene on the staircase. It's probably not an actual one or, it's crazy. Yeah, yeah. Yes, but the way, but the elude, because movies are all about making an elute, you know, it's like to pull it off a magic trick for the one, first time. You know, and things can be so innovative and stuff that have never been tried before.

So I said, oh, I'm in good hands here with these guys. And so we had a lot of fun, you know, doing these fight scenes. Yeah, there is a- There's an extensive one in one of the early episodes. That is, I don't know if it's an actual one or not, but it's just keeps going and going. It goes on. It keeps going and going, yeah. I also love, like, on the flip side,

I was going to say on the flip side, this is maybe a little more mundane, but it impresses me. Maybe it's just as a non-actor saying this, but, like, look, your naturalism as an actor has always been very impressive. But, like, there's a scene where you're literally cooking a meal while you're telling a story.

And it's just like, I don't know, that's like a lot of left brain, right brain stuff going on and maybe the action of, like, the physical action helps you get through a scene. I mean, do you like, Do you like kind of like having stuff to chew on, like, physically in a scene? Does that help you get through to tell a story in a way? No. A little both, you know, it's, again, the obstacle is the way, you know, the challenge of those, you know, props.

You know, you figure out how to say all these lines and then the guy says, no, but in this scene, you've got this prop you've got to do, you know, and then all of a sudden you're, like you say, left brain, right brain, maybe it has something to do with that. Yeah. So I was, you know, again, whenever you have an expert that you can go to and talk about it. So it turns out that my daughter, Jesse, is a, you know, went to court and blue to study, you know, cooking. And she's, you know, really a wonderful cook. So I asked her how to do that stuff. And so I, you know, I worked with her on that to, you know, know how to chop an onion properly and all these things. and so that you know she helped me with that well that was no go ahead sorry you know what's that

no no continue sorry it didn't mean to interrupt go for it no no i was just uh you know but you know props are always uh you know there's there's stuff you got to deal with and and practice with and uh you know this thing that keeps coming in mind it's a magic trick you know we're pulling off a magic trick to make it, just bring the audience in. This is, you know, as real as possible. Well, it's like it's life. I mean, in life, you don't just stand there with your hands on your sides while talking to each other.

We're doing shit all the time. Yeah, right, exactly. Did I see, you talk about family. Did I see one of your nephews in this, in the series as well? Did I see one of Bose kids? Yes, Jordan, right, absolutely. Yeah, that was wonderful. playing with George. Whenever I get to play with a member of our family, it's, you know,

some of my best experience has been working with my dad and Bo too. You know, this was great. But Jordan, that was wonderful. He was terrific actor. I want to talk a little bit about your dad if you'll indulge me. I was such a fan of his work throughout his career. And I mean, you know, I grew up with like his third act. And I loved, you know, I grew up with like those when he suddenly became like the great like deadpan comic performer of my youth. Airplane and hot shots, et cetera. Yeah. Brilliant.

And look, I've heard you talk about him before, and look, obviously, your first experiences were on set of sea hunt, et cetera. You later worked with him, and I want to get to that in a bit. But first, I know you've talked about lessons learned, and I'm curious, when you look back now, is the greatest lesson from dad less about craft and more about just the fun that he experienced, the joy that he experienced as an actor?

Yeah. It's really hard to separate the two because he studied with a guy named Michael Chekhov. And it's, you know, his approach was so much about love and support. that's the way what he learned about you know supporting your fellow players and and enjoy you know and both love and joy that's they tend to relax you you know when you feel you're in an environment that's loving and joyful yeah you can go oh okay because there's so much opportunity for anxiety and you know fear of failure and everything you know when you're acting you know am i going to be able to laugh and cry on this cue am i going to be able to not drop the prop and get all frustrated and they got the time and you only have so much time to do the thing you know all that stuff but when you realize hey you know we're getting to you know play with all these wonderful guys you know

and we're going to make something cool. And, you know, and, you know, he would save that stuff, but watching him in action, you know, I got to play with him as, you know, in two movies as an adult, and Tucker, man, blown away. And in both those experiences, it was so great, man, to, you know, when he'd come on set and he would just be who, was and that kind of joy that he expressed it would be contagious it'd kind of go through the

company and say oh yeah this is kind of fun what we're doing oh yeah that's right i forgot you know that's so yeah i'm speaking about forgetting something my mother who was probably the best actress of the family they met at UCLA in the drama department but my mother and i'm going off to work as a kid and now my wife will say the same thing because we forget these things that we learn, you know. My mom would say, remember, Jeff, Jeff, remember, come here. I say, what? She says, remember, have fun.

And don't take it too seriously. I go, oh, yeah, I forgot. Thank you. And now Sue will say that my wife will say that same thing. And we forget sometimes, you know. It's funny. Yeah, you mentioned Tucker. I don't know what this says about me as a young man.

I think it was 12 when Tucker was coming out. And it was like the most exciting movie to me. I don't know what was wrong with me in a way. He was Francis Ford Coppola, you, Martin Landau. I mean, it's such an amazing cast. I'm curious, because that was the first time as an adult you were working with your dad. Did it change working with him as a peer? Was there some kind of a difference in the relationship?

It was so exciting. You know, it's funny when you do these interviews and you get it to be as old as I am, you're repeating yourself. These are stories that are part of my life. But these stories are triggered by what you say. And I've got to tell this story. Maybe I even told it to you. That's okay.

I'll listen to Tucker stories all day long. So we're rehearsing for Tucker, you know, and Francis Coppola, a wonderful director. You know, first week we're just kind of getting to know each other and hang out a bit. And the second week, Francis assembles all of us, cast and crew, and says, Okay, now this week, we're going to shoot the whole movie on this little video camera I have here.

Vittorio Storaro, our cinematographer, will be shooting it. He's going to use that wheelbarrel for Dolly with. And you costume people, you know, look at these curtains. They'd make good wedding dresses, you know. And are you actors? Get your lines as best you can because we're only going to do each scene one time. And it was a sense of, you know, the little. rascals. Right. Let's put on a show. It was kind of like, let's make a show. Come on. Yeah. And it was that

kind of fun kid energy. And we would do this whole thing. We shot it all in sequence. And what we didn't know that to and from work, Francis and his Citro in there, he would have a little editing bay. And he cut what we shot together. And he presented it. to us and said now here's our movie we've already done it we're just going to polish it up and i learned later that prior to that he would shoot the storyboard like a movie you know he would it was quite extensive storyboards and then it would take two hours to actually show this storyboard and then as we completed these rehearsing videos he would replace the storyboard with that and then as we shot the actual movie those scenes would replace the

amazing just iterative just always it was always a whole thing yeah for an actor it was so wonderful to have that video because we could refer to where we were our character you know wasn't the story so often you shoot out a sequence and it's hard to tell the story yeah but to get the the you know the linear telling of the story really, really helped. And then, you know, working with my dad. So it was like play and pretend on that level with my dad. And we were jamming, man.

I mean, you know. With the most beautiful production design and cinematography. It's just like all the tools and to play. And me, by Francis, who is a specialist at low-tech special effects, you know, you look at Dracula, you know, the amazing work in that. And he was doing all of these special effects in Tucker, coming up with these things, just fucking around. Yeah.

Yeah, why not? Oh, yeah, yeah. And, you know, you think of Orson Wells, that kind of, you know, the citizen came. Yeah, the innovation of youth. Yeah. Yeah. But Francis, he still had that. I mean, he certainly wasn't in his 20s, but he still had that excitement.

And then working with my dad and, you know, sharing different ideas, hey, what about that? I'll do this. Yeah. just like you're a kid man the best a few more things if you'll indulge me there's I mean there are a thousand movies I could ask you about but a few that hit me hard as a kid star man was such a beautiful performance and like the gentlest of john carpenter films and you know when I look back at it you and Karen Allen both just wonderful in it and like it's a daring kind of performance from you it's like a performance or like you could look like a fool kind of like you're like

you really have to, like, play it very innocent and the voice and the cadence. And did you feel like you were out on a limb on Starman or what? Yeah, I'm trying to think back on that. I remember going into the interview, you know, John, you know, to see we're going to work together. Yeah. And I pitched you my idea of. that this being was kind of, you know, impersonating a human being, you know, so he would see, you know, he would see somebody like this, right? And he would say, oh, that's how they go. So he would, there would be no, he wouldn't understand that that's to do that with. So, but he's, oh, the hand, you know, that, you know, that, that kind of thing. and jump like that and then I was a young father at the time so I was looking at my girls

and how you know childlike that aspect of you know learning how to walk and you know and then I work with a wonderful dancer why can I can't why can I think of his name maybe it'll come to me in a second uh can I can't think of his name maybe it'll come to me in a second uh can I think of his But I thought, you know, sometimes I'll go through my phone book when I'm preparing for a role and look at different people that I know that could influence this guy, you know. And so Starman, it's like, who in my phone book would I not be that surprised if I find out he was actually a movie? Amazing. Russell, Russell Clark. That was.

Okay, there it was. So it's interesting movements. And so I thought, well, I'm going to get with Russell. and see if we can work on just that beginning scene where I'm, you know, just be coming into his body for the first time and what's that light, you know, early on. And so we, you know, worked on that,

and I would often rehearse that in my office, nude, you know, because I knew to have to be nude. And I remember my wife coming in. and seeing me, you know, in the corner, you know, vibrating. You're an actor prepared. I was going to say, to live with an actor. You just got to put up with the stuff. Oh, God. Oh, my God.

But he helped me, you know, study. And I figured if I could get that thing, then it would just be a matter of becoming more and more human and relaxing. It's a great performance and a great film. That movie has one of my favorite lines, you know, what I love most about you humans is when things are at their worst you're at your at your best and that's yeah i believe that that's again it goes with that stoicism you know the object the obstacle is the way you know when it gets tough yeah that's where we got to get our

shit together and think of all of the the spiritual philosophic you know everything we know let's get it together you know and i certainly hope that that philosophy permeates a little bit in these times when they're there are the obstacles are pretty daunting exactly and and uh you know we've got to look and see what our part is in that yeah each of us has something to give uh towards making a difference and creating the kind of world we want to live in and see have our kids live in uh i don't know if it was kismid or fate but on my way back to my apartment today i walked by radio man jeff oh you come on oh you're in new york i'm in new york yeah yeah and you thought it was robin or no i think like it was robin robin was on my mind and fisher king was on my mind and i and i remember i mean i remember

that that film i love and your performances jack is is is so great but i but i think of robin and i think of i had the privilege of moderating the giver press conference in new york and i remember it was it was the morning after Robin had passed and you were so kind to offer up some really you know sweet remembrances at a time that you know was shocking for all of us and I'm just curious when you look at Fisher King

now does it have a different resonance than prior to Robin's passing well I guess in a way yeah God but you mentioned radio man. Remember when we're making

the Fisher King and Radio Man I think it might have been, yeah, that was probably the first time I met him. And let me just contextualize for the onset, it doesn't know. Radio Man's been around for 30 plus years in New York. And maybe you can, maybe you can show a

shot of Radio Man and shot of Robin and see him together. And basically, yes, Robin in Fisher King looks like Radio Man. Oh, yeah, because I thought that that's who Robin based his character on. No, no, that's Not true at all. And he would show up,

he basically shows up to sets. Somehow he knows where everything is being shot. He knows more about where everything is shot than the production company, you know. Yeah. And that time that Robin passed away and we were there promoting the giver. And I just found out about Robin.

My heart was, okay. And here comes radio man. And I said, it's Robin. It's a joke. you and it wasn't it was radio but radio men love robin as well so we hugged and connected and robin what a cat man the best the best um lobowski always comes up as it justifiably should one thing i love about your career and your life is like you know some actors would kind of run away from how big that became for their career but i feel like you've embraced it you've

like and why not it's so proud it's such a great movie gosh do you do you do you do you have a favorite wine? Do you have a favorite scene? Everybody has like a favorite moment in that film. What's the one that jumps out at you? I mean, uh, well, that movie is, it has morphed into so many different things in my life. You know, one of my, uh, spiritual teachers are a dear friend Bernie Glassman. I'm sitting with him at a dinner party, just met him for the first time. And he leads over and he says, you know, I'm a big fan of the Bowsky. You know, he says, it's full of Zen co-ons. I say, what are you talking about?

He's, well, the dude abides. That's very buddistic, you know. And I say, yeah, he says, what else? He says, well, you know, shut the fuck up, Donnie. There's another co-on. Or that's just like your opinion man. And he says, let's write a book about all the co-ons. So we ended up writing a book called the dude and the Zen man.

and my favorite and so as I kind of studied the movie on that level because Bernie, when we were doing true grit with the Coins, Bernie visited the said and he asked him, you guys into Buddhism or Zend? No, no, no. We don't know

any of that shit. And I remember doing Lobowski. We never talked about anything like that at all. But Bernie's favorite co-hon from the Big Lobowski, and I think it's mind too is that's just like your opinion man you know that really if we can only consider

these truths that we have take so much stock in that they're just these opinions man and we can just see them that way i think you know we would certainly not take ourselves as seriously as we might and be able to be open to other guys's ideas but you know god it's i mean i love you know to Turro Lake in the ball, you know, that I'd love that. I mean, that's the thing about the movie is it just boom, boom, every scene. Relantless, every scene. I was just watching the other day. The scene where you are, where Ben Gazzara, Jackie Trehorn, you're sketching to see what he's

been drawing is just a perfect joke. It's just every, you know, I don't like to watch too many of my movies on TV. You know, I've watched a little bit and then switch the channel. but with Lubbowski, I just get hooked, man. I get hooked. You were at the forefront of Marvel, and you were, of course, in Iron Man, and they really traded on your gregarious persona,

because how could this guy be an asshole, a jerk? He's sweet Jeff Bridges. But I'm curious, like, it feels like everyone, knowing it stays dead in this universe, except for apparently you. Has there ever been any talk? Well, no, of course. I mean, in the script,

one of the things that lured me into the project you begin with is that they opened Obadiah, no, what was he called? Obadiah Stain. Yeah, but what's his soup? Oh, Ironmonger? Yeah, Iron Monger, yeah. He opens Obadiah's Iron Munger suit

after he's fallen into this thing, and it's empty. So he's out, but in the, but they didn't get in the movie they don't do it but you know like you say it's a comic book maybe i'll come back who knows i mean it's time it's time um we opened by by talking a little bit of tron it's close to my heart for i mean even if my brother hadn't written the sequel i would love tron um talk to me a little bit about just returning to that was that that must have been a trip just to like after all those years and in that way and now we see joe kazinsky ruling the planet with this amazing top gun movie that guy has the goods

So great, Joe. Yeah, I think the sequel was his first movie, I think. I mean, he had done commercials and stuff. Yeah. But I was always amazed. I've had wonderful experiences and luck with first-time directors, you know. And you mentioned Orson Wells. He don't get much better than Citizen Kane.

That was his first movie in his 20s, man. Oh, God. And Joe, it was just like falling off along for Joe. He was so relaxed. and again, bringing joy and love into the situation. Everybody just could bring their best to that experience. I love working with him. And he was, I think, smart and wise to bring Stephen Lisberger into the party, too.

So Stephen was very much a part of it at all. And that was Stephen's, the original trauma, I think it was Stephen's first movie. It's its grand tradition, apparently. Yeah, and that was just bizarre, you know what I mean, doing that thing. And nothing had been done like that at all. I remember as a child for what, I mean, with all the bells and whistles, the thing that my brother and I always would quote to each other was your wine reading of, now that is a big door.

For whatever reason, that made us happy. Right, there you go. I think Ryan Reynolds and his one, that free guy, that movie, is kind of taken, getting sucked into a computer to the next level. I thought that was wonderful. The influence. It's so funny how the first film influenced so much, but then Tron Legacy, which bizarrely didn't get the third film, despite a really strong box office. But like we see the influence of that film. Yeah. Music, production design, so much in so many films in the decades since. And Joe Kaczynski, you know, we talked about, you know, a third installment. Right. When they could, you never know what's going to happen. Yeah. So there are, as with any actor who is so much in demand, there's always this long list of like the ones that supposedly they almost did. Would you indulge me? I have a list. Tell me if any of these jog your memory.

If there's anything semi-true here, okay? I'll just rattle them off. That you were up for Christopher Walken's role in Deer Hunter. That you auditioned for Apocalypse now. That you turned down Snake Pliskin in Escape from New York. How about that first round? Any of these? What was the first one you said? It was a Chris Walken's rolling

Yeah, yeah, that one That was true Because I had done Michael Chaminos Thunderbolts, of course, in Whitefoot, yeah Lightfoot, and and my agent screwed up that offer and just So I left the agent

And it didn't work out But you know, Chris Walkin and Deerhaar is Pretty incredible Pretty good John Carpenter escaped from New York Was there any I don't think so And the other one

Apocalypse now No I don't think so But you know again I'm an old guy No no no worries Here's one more Super random one And I've heard so many actors

Like on the list for this Did you ever hear a whisper Of you being up for Tim Burton's Batman? No I don't think so Okay Could you imagine yourself Back in the day

In a bat suit? Batman Who knows? Maybe. I don't know. You never know. Yeah. What's going to pull you in? I've made some weird ones. You know, we mentioned Fisher King. I think the weirdest movie that I've ever been in. And I think it's the weirdest movie that Terry Gilliam, which is the same quite a bit. I know you're going to say, Tideland, right?

Yeah, that was bizarre. I played a carcass, you know, for most of the movie. But that was, you know, fascinating experience. Say what you want about Terry. He will go there. He will go far. As we kind of like, Karin towards the end here, I want to go back to the beginning.

Because I think back to, you know, we talked about you and your dad. And, you know, we haven't really talked about the early part of your career. But I was fascinated to look like,

I don't know whether it was luck or talent or what, but like I look at the first few major film roles you were in and we've been talking about these major directors. I mean, let me just rattle a few of these off. 71,

Bogdanovich. Last Picture Show, 72, Fat City, John Houston, 73, Ice Man Comic, John Frankenheimer. And you mentioned Chimino, the following year in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. Like, when you think back to that period in your life, I mean, you were the son of like a revered actor. Did you feel like you were standing on your own two feet immediately? Or did it take you time to kind of feel like I was, you were your own guy? I missed the whole acting thing, you know, so much my, both of my parents. were eager for me to become an actor.

They loved acting so much. But what kid wants to do what their parents wanted to do, man? I mean, I had other things I wanted to do. And I wasn't sure. I think I had maybe had done 10 films before I realized that, oh, yeah, I could do this. I enjoy this. And this could be part of my path here.

God, you know, you were riddling off these directors, and I keep thinking of other incredible directors. Bob Benton, you know, in his first, he was a first-time guy, you know. Steve Clovis with Baker Boys. Sure. Great, great experiences, Hal Ashby. Bo did his first movie. I ended up doing his last movie.

Oh, wow. My experience was kind of hard. because they didn't respect his methods and they that was eight million ways to die do i have not right yeah it was andy garcia's uh first movie we had a wonderful time making it but then they fired hell and didn't let him edit the film you know this is the award winning master you know i've been so lucky but working with these guys do you do you find that you know so is the only thing that you've shot post all of this madness that we talked about in your life is was completing the old man have you been on set since then again is is the old is the old man the only thing

you've completed or shot since your your journey through covid and lymphoma yeah so did did you find on set like i don't know were you wondering if you would have a different attitude a different approach like i mean again this kind of life altering event must permeate every aspect of your life yeah were you the same actor do you feel like you're the same guy do you have the same hunger for or what? I have, I think I have a love, hate relationship with, a lot of my acting, but probably life in general. I mean, I'm even being, you know, there's things I just don't like, I don't know, but,

you know, getting hip to this idea when we were talking about, the obstacle is the way, you know, the very thing that you're afraid of, am I going to be able to come up with the goods going back, you know? Those are all, those are classes that were, you know, this is what life has to offer, you know. And one of the things that I discovered in my illness in the hospital is receive the gifts that life is giving you. You know, who wants cancer and COVID, you know, I do, yeah, it turns out I kind of do because it's giving me stuff that I would never be privy to without that experience, you know. And all of life is like that. I believe that we're dealt with these, you know, fears and these challenges and how are we going to address it?

Well, this is, this is the, so that very oblo, you know, whatever is hindering the task, that's it. And just get in there and work with the small things. And you'll find that love is there underneath all of that stuff, man. You know, you have a problem. You go to your director and say, I'm feeling this. Oh, good. Well, this is a, oh, thanks. I help, man.

Thank you. I have a concern about this thing with this actor, you know, talk to, you know, John Lithgow, you know, who's someone I admire so much. Or Amy Brennam and, you know, I'm feeling this. He goes, oh, yeah, I know I get so anxious too. And it's just, you know. Those are the best ones. The ones that can acknowledge that it's, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I was just watching one of my favorite comedians, Sarah Silverman. She's so great. And she loves, you know, Mr. Rogers, you know. She's talking about, you know, whatever is mentionable is manageable. You know, I love that. Well, I just want to acknowledge that beyond just the acting, the way you've carried your wife and, like, look,

I know you're strong environmentalists. That's important in my family. worked so hard to help and hunger and I appreciate that like you know you have you clearly have the right perspective and I know you love all the arts your photography I have some of your your photo books that you've sent press over the years I love it all and if you can't tell your work is meant so much to me and I know you you you must know that by now that that I'm I'm like many in that respect um the time today has been awesome congratulations on the old man Jeff.

Thank you so much. And I'm thrilled that, you know, the timing was right. I mean, I've been, you should know, Gene has been very patient with me over the years. I've been begging her for time with you since I've been doing the podcast. And I feel like this is, this is meant to be in the right way. So thanks again, Jeff, for the time. It's been wonderful hanging with you, Josh, and give your brother my best, too, I will.

I will. Stay well, man. Thank you. All right. You too. and so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person.

I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. Hey, Michael. Hey, Tom. You want to tell him? Or you want me to tell him? No, no, no. I got there. People out there, people, lean in, get close, get close.

Listen, here's the deal. We have big news. We got monumental news. We got snack-tacular news. After a brief hiatus, my good friend, Michael Ian Black, and I are coming back. My good friend, Tom Kavanaugh and I, are coming back to do what we do best. What we were put on this earth to do. To pick a snack.

To eat a snack. And to rate a snack. Intifically. Emotionally? Spiritually. Mates his back. Mike and Tom eat snacks is back. A podcast for anyone with a mouth.

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