Happy Sad Confused - Jeff Bridges, Vol. II

Episode Date: September 23, 2024

The dude abides. And we will always abide the great Jeff Bridges! He returns to Happy Sad Confused to chat about the attitude that's gotten him through a long windy acting career plus he and Josh reminisce about everything from TRON and THE BIG LEWBOWSKI to his series, THE OLD MAN. Subscribe here⁠ to the new Happy Sad Confused clips channel so you don't miss any of the best bits of Josh's conversations! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! BetterHelp -- Go to BetterHelp.com/HSC for 10% off UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS! Andrew Garfield 10/4 -- tickets here! 10th Anniversary event with David Harbour, Sam Heughan, Jack Quaid, and more! 10/12 -- tickets here! Anna Kendrick 10/22 -- tickets here! Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes, video versions of the podcast, and more! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd go into one of our trailers and call writer friends and say, Here's what happens. He goes here, you got any ideas, that kind of thing. I remember being so frustrated as an actor. I'd like to be prepared on my line. And I finally made this little adjustment that made all the difference. Well, what was it?

It was just Jeff. You're talking about anxiety. He said, Jeff, relax. You're making a $200 million student film. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. I'm Josh Horowitz, and today on Happy, Sad, Confused, what can I say?

This guy needs no introduction. He's back on the podcast, and this time in person, the old man is back and the old man is in the house. The old legend is in the house with Jeff Bridges. All right, Josh, good to see it again, man.

Congrats on the return of the old man's excellent show. This is not a day of work for me. If I get to reminisce with Jeff Bridges about his amazing life and career, this is the good stuff. So thank you, thank you, thank you. So Dad's show, C Hunt, lasted four seasons.

That shit. 155 episodes. Do we have 155 episodes of the old man in you? I hope so. We'll see. We'll see. Talk to me a little bit about, I'm curious, like, so this is the second season of the show. Way back when, even 10, 15 years ago, what was your attitude about TV?

Has it changed in recent years? Oh, big time. Well, you mentioned my dad with Seahot, and he did several TV series after that. Yeah. And being a kid and, you know, watching. and what he went through, hard work, of course, to prepare for, you know, for, you know, it's tough because it keeps coming at you, you know. It's relentless, yeah.

And I remember how disappointed he was in that there didn't seem to be the attention to detail, and of course the financing wasn't as, you know, rich in making a TV show. So I inherited some of that. But then you started to see the great work that came out, you know, Succession and, you know, all of the wonderful TV shows. And I said, I'm going to give this a try. And I'm so glad because it's no different than making movies. Although, I mean, there are a couple distinct differences.

One is you don't know the end point. Well, very good point, Josh. It's like very lifelike. That's true. You don't know. You have a general idea, but you don't know. Specifically, not specifically, generally. Yeah, and like life in our show, lots of twists in turn.

Definitely. When you think you know what's going down and that ain't necessarily so. Well, and also, I mean, look, and I don't know how much you read at the start, if it was a pilot, it was a couple episodes. But again, you don't know. Is it going to sustain that? Where are the character going? So it's a big, you know, degree of trust you have to put in your showrun or your writers. Yes, John Steinberg.

I'm in good hands but I go through the same thing as the viewers go through they don't know what's going to happen earlier I go through the same kind of process with John I say what's going to because I'm always saying to him

so what happened and he goes I'm not sure quick and then he goes and I say you're kidding me wow okay I do wonder actually from an acting perspective is it even almost is it helpful to know what's to come for a character or does that get in your head?

Well, it's very, very different. Normally in a movie, you know where you're going, so you have a target and you can lay Easter eggs, whatever they call it, early on that are going to pay off. That's not the case here. But it's fascinating to watch things that you didn't think would pay off, you know, that you've said earlier.

And then you go back and see it and say, oh, wow, He was, you know. Yeah, I'm a genius. I didn't even know I was laying my own Easter ice. Very interesting. Well, I think people are generally good actors, and we, and, you know, I'm playing an ex-C-I-A guy. Those spies and so forth, they've got to be the best actors in the world because they're acting. Their wife is on the line.

They're acting for their lives. But we all do a bit of acting, you know, pretend we're one way and we're not. Yes, the best. version of ourselves to the outside world. That's right, yeah. I mean, and I would imagine, yeah, for you on a day-to-day basis, that's real too, because people see you out and about and they want the Jeff Bridges of their dreams that they see on the screen, and that must be, that's a lot of pressure to quit on you.

It's, well, it's interesting, you know, you fall into it, you know. I mean, there are aspects, for instance, that I share with the dude, right, but people can project that. And I can do the dude. You can toggle it off if you need to. All right. How much dude do I give him? How am I feeling today?

Yeah, no, I hear you. I was saying before when you sat down, it's also such a treat. There's such a great ensemble of actors around you and this. And yeah, any new season that starts with just kind of like you and Lethgo, just like lots of screen time together. Oh, yeah. Two of the best beards in the business. Great facial hair and great acting ability.

You've got some nice hairs going, man. Wow, to be complimented. on that big high praise. But, I mean, do you guys approach the work in a similar way? Very much, yeah. We have a lot in common, you know, both from showbiz families. Sure.

I feel like you were the one person that could have been in Buccaroo Bonsai way back when. Oh, there you go, right, right. Jeff could have been, if Peter Weller wasn't available, Jeff Rogers could have been a good Buccaro Banzai. Or I think, you know, John was hoping to be a fabulous baker boy, No kidding.

In your role? No, is Bow's role? Well, we can't deny that. That's too important. Yeah. So this season, we want to tease folks a little bit. It does begin with you and John's character in pursuit, trying to retrieve. Well, it picks up right where season one left off with us heading out on an airport, you know, to go to Afghanistan and find our girl.

And season two, season one really, you know, You know, set the characters, let you know who these folks were. And now the story really takes off with season two. And, you know, all the stakes are, you know, higher and more to us in turns and surprises. And thank goodness, there are dogs back. The dogs are back. Yeah, I was wondering, is that, is that a, you know, what's in us? What do they call it?

When you give away something. Oh, a spoiler, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, but. No, this is too important. No, they decide it, yeah, leave that. are back. Are you good working with animals? You must have had a lot of different experiences over the years.

Animals and kids, yeah, they give you acting lessons, you know. Right, there's no false notes. No, it's so beautiful. Yeah. Does King Kong count as an animal or I guess that's an animatronic? That's a whole other thing, man. Give me one D. Lerentis story, anecdote. That guy was a character.

I wish I'd been around to interview that guy. Because he feels like he was old-school producer. Well, two things pop up. You know, as you mentioned, these movies, you know, different things popping in my mind. I remember he called me into his office, and he said, Jeffie, that's what he used to go. Jeffie.

There's two words, Jeffie. Kong a two. He had it all. And then I proceeded to pitch him my idea for Kong, too. which they looked at me kind of how they look at you when you're pitching a joke for Saturday Night Live

and that implacable oh yeah that's funny but my idea was at the end of Kong 2 when he falls off the trade towers in our version of the movie he smashes on the ground and he turns out to be

exactly what he is a machine it was just a machine And you end there, and then Kong 2, my version, was that Charles Groden's character would buy the carcass and take it around. Of course, now there are aliens involved, and the whole question about, what do you mean it was a machine? What is the meaning of that?

Did they just look at me? No, Jeffie. What might have been? That was a side note. We'll get to other aspects in the career. But I'm curious, we were talking about television. you a TV watcher? I mean, what's a, what's a, what's a binge watch? What's an obsession for Jack at home? You know, I mentioned succession. I thought that was those guys. What a wonderful

show that was. I was a big fan of Penn 15. Oh, yeah. I watched the beginning. I need to get back to it very funny, very sweet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those, you know, both of those, those women just did some remarkable stuff. I was just talking about a show. Did you see Mr. In Between? I don't even know. That's kind of a rare thing, but that's an FX, a Hulu show. I liked that.

Baby reindeer, you must have seen that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was terrific. So many good things. There's just so much now, you know, coming at you on all fronts, movies, music. It's a very different world that way. It is. From the three-channel TV universe, et cetera, way back home.

I mean, when I was a kid, music, you know. You've got your radio station, and, you know, Beatles, Dylan, you know, everybody was listening to the same stuff. But now, how about some of my guys that I like musically these days, Wolfpack? Do you know Wolfpack? I know. I think they sold out Madison Square Garden too nice. They have no record deal or anything. Just word them out. Blake Mills. Do you know Blake Mills at all? He's wonderful. Okay. You don't know. Yeah, yeah.

It's funny. So I... What are you listening to music and movie-wise? So I am one of these weird people. You're gonna... Your opinion of me is gonna drop. Okay. I love movies.

I love TV. My music taste is like movie soundtracks. It's like scores. It's like Goldsmith and John Williams. You know, you mentioned that. Oh man, we've got Tibon, Burnett, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's so, you know, wonderful.

And that relationship obviously goes way back. Yeah, yeah. I watched your speech a few months back here in New York City. You got a wonderful The Chaplain Award here. Oh, yes. And I was really struck by kind of the themes that you kind of revolved your speech around. It was luck, love, and fear. And I want to talk about the fear part because this is just a constant conversation I have with actors

about the imposter syndrome, the self-doubt. And I think it's fascinating to hear someone like, you. talk about that and whether that still remains when you start a job. Oh, yeah. And you'd think it would, after you've done it so long, you still got that, but I do, I do. What it brings to mind is something that my mother used to send me off to work with, and she could feel how anxious I was. And my wife says the same thing, she learned from my mom.

My mom would say, Jeff, Jeff, come here. Remember, have fun, and don't take it too seriously. I said, oh, gosh, that's great advice. Yeah. Does that pop into your brain in the middle of a tense moment when you're... Oh, yeah, it's so interesting. And that's why, you know, it's so wonderful. You mentioned our cast, you know, John Lithgow, Amy Brennam,

and Ali Shah, Kat, all of these are all wonderful actors who approach it the same, approach acting in a similar way. You know, there's some actors will say, please just call me by my character's name. And I'd rather not hang out with you. Let's do all our stuff. And that gets a great result. Very good.

But all of the actors on this show, we're going to be the opposite. That kind of experience. Don't we want to enjoy it? That's the thing, you know, and you hang out with someone and you find out, oh, you're just like me, you're scared and frightened and want to do justice to the material, me too, and then it helps you relax and out of that relaxation. I feel the best work. I mean, I always feel about your work, if you'll allow me to be quite complimentary, that there is literally never a false note I see in a Jeff Bridges performance. You're in one of those handful of actors, and I think of like Gene Hackman and just like these people that, like, Whatever, and you can be in a Tron movie, it can be in a Western, somehow you can make it all feel so naturalistic

And I'm curious like as you look at your career and how you've kind of navigated it How much of that is studied? How much of that is natural ability? I mean do you do you have a sense of sort of why what your secret sauce is to making anything feel authentic and real and true? Hmm, what is it? Well I mean, do you have a guiding principle in a coaching the work? Well, in a way, you know, a lot of it is finding the tone. Yeah. You know, so everybody in the movie is in the same world, you know.

And the director and the writer, you know, helps in that in a big way and the other actors, you know. But to find that, it takes a while sometimes to find that groove, you know. But that's something I kind of try for, yeah. So I guess the double-edged sword of being the guy and the old man is you are the guy, you are the old man, but then you're also like, wait, I'm the old man? Like, what happened? How did we get here in life? Oh, that's true. But now, as you say, the old Joe Gray, who's also in the show wonderful to work with.

He sort of trumps the whole show as far as who's the old man. Yeah, what a treat to see him. But he was wonderful to work with. And yeah, you're right. It happens so damn fast, man. What was your... It picks up speed. Yeah, like, you know, 30 years ago, 40 years, like, what was your idea of what this age

would be versus what it is now for you? So, yeah, yeah, very, very different, you know. Like you mentioned about the anxiety, you know, I asked me, oh, you'll get you... But I remember the big turning point for me in my acting career when I decided, oh, I think I can do this. Because my father and my mom, unlike a lot of... show biz parents they really encouraged all their kids to go into it and as a kid who wants to do what their parents want them to do man so i resisted quite deep you know for quite a while i had maybe done 10 movies uh before i decided oh i guess i can do this you know this is something and that

point came when i was working with uh frederick march and lee marvin you know robert ryan these old masters and a movie called Iceman cometh but the great eugene o'neill play and it was eight weeks rehearsal and then we shot for two so it was eight weeks hanging out with these old guys and saw they were just as anxious as i was and they wanted to do justice to the material and uh and they what they had that i did they said yeah that doesn't go away me you just got to make friends with that And in a way, those times in life that are your most, you know, filled with anxiety and fear, those are actually the goal. That's when you're right up against your edge and you get to practice.

What do you do now, Jeff? What's your thing, you know? No, I mean, it's the same on both sides of it, man. I've been doing this for a long time, and it's those nerves, those butterflies, right before any conversation I have that I think keeps me sharply. You see, the same thing happens to you. And what are you going to do? And you know, uh...

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Choose from our world of destinations if you can. Air Canada. Nice travels. We're not alone in this. People have been doing this same thing for a long time in this anxiety trip. People have been doing it. And there's books written about it. And there's different approaches, different strategies that can help.

But isn't it funny, too, because we also hear always about relaxation and how an actor needs to kind of feel like totally relaxing in the moment. So it is riding that weird line between. Total chill. Yeah, relaxing your tension. Exactly. That's your next book. Yeah. There you go.

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rediscover your curiosity with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash H-S-C today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash H-S-C. Lithgow has said, like, this is, like, the best part of his career. He's, like, never had the kind of... Say that again? John Lithgow said that this has been, like, the best part of his career. Oh, yeah.

Like that the run of roles he's had the last 10 years has been more rewarding than ever. You know, I could look at the last 10, 15 years of your career and argue maybe the same thing. Has it felt like that for you? Yeah. Looking back, not while it's going on, I don't have that same thing, the anxiety, you know. Yeah. And my MO, as far as, a lot of it as life goes, is resisting. I resist, you know.

life will give you marvelous opportunities. And I have a very hard time coming to the party. So your instinct is to say no. Even a great script, it's like, yeah, yeah. I know what it means. You know, it means time away from my family, away from all these other things I'm interested in doing. And then like what happened with the old man,

then you meet the creators, And you, they, you know, you catch their dream, you know what I mean. Yeah, totally. And that's, you know, a wonderful case. And most often, you know, I'm very happy with holding out and then being, you know, being swept away. You know, that's great. And then I'm in, you know, a thousand percent. So if you'll indulge me, like going back a bit, like, and looking at, like, when I look back at your career,

and here's a period I'm fascinated by, kind of like, arguably. like the prime for any actor leading man is like when they're like in their early 40s and those kind of like quintessential leading man roles and when I look at the kind of stuff that you were gravitating towards back in that time like between the ages of 42 and 44 you did Fisher King American Heart the Vanishing like you're playing a serial killer you're playing a washed up guy like you're playing yeah like these really dark really fascinating roles it always seemed like you had a very interesting push and pull between kind of classic leading man and character roles. Well, a lot of that had to do with my father, who you mentioned Sea Hunt, that show that

he had in the early 60s. And he pulled that character off, Mike Melson, so well that people thought he was a skin diver, and those were the kind of scripts that he was getting, and it was very frustrating for him, I saw that. So I really went out of my way not to develop a strong persona and hopefully pleasantly confused the audience so they could project the different characters. Remember a show I did with my dad called Blown Away? And before he was cast, I talked to the producer and there was the character of my uncle.

And then I said, gee, I know an actor. good actor he looks a little similar to me he might be good to play my uncle who i said lloyd bridges he laughed he goes yeah your dad is wonderful but he's really thought of more of as a comic i said what are you talking about you watched the last three years of his work or the air airplane you know so i can see how frustrating so to be able to go from uh you know the dude to the president of the United States and that that was a you know that was a good you know move where it felt like oh yeah that's something to do well I think and that's what I think of when I think of Lebowski which obviously always comes up I love it

for a number of reasons but what when I think back to that it was also just like a different look for you than I'd ever seen it was like to see like an actor let go of his vanity yeah and be like the schlub in a bathroom and allow himself to be that oh yeah was so invigorating for an audience to see like you just like go for it, 150%. Did you, did that feel in the moment what it's become? Like, did you have a sense of the opportunity of that? I was surprised when it first came out, it didn't do very well.

You know, it had kind of more of a hit in Europe and then splash back over here. But yeah, we thought it was, you know, funny. And those guys, you know, they're masters, man. They look, make it look so easy, right? When you're in the middle of like a Busby- Berkeley musical That must be like you've been transported to another time and place and world in the best possible way. Oh, it's just so much fun.

And I have these little photo books, you know, so I can look at my book for Lubowski and puts me right back in that moment. Do you remember what your parents made of Lubowski? They, well, my mom, she prefers me to play the president. Yeah, I think they admire the film making. I mentioned these photo books, my wife and I, Sue, she's a professional photographer. She gave me a wide-lux camera on our wedding day. It's a panning steel camera, very unusual format. And that camera has been defunct for about 30 years now.

And my wife and I are bringing the camera back, we're rebuilding it. We got in cahoots with some German people, Karras and Marvon. And we're making the WideLux. So I'm just going to do a little pitch here. No, I love it. You don't mind. You can go to WideLux X, and there's two X's at the end, all lowercase.com. You can find out more about what we're up to.

But I'm very excited about that. I have a few of your photo books. You published some of them in the official form and unofficial form. and they're all, it's gorgeous. It's a great document from a different perspective of many, many, many of the old ones. Have you done it for The Old Man? I've taken pictures.

I haven't made it an official book. Maybe this next season, I'll do that. Amazing. Another one that we've talked about before is Iron Man, because as people might not remember, when you did Marvel, nobody knew what they had. Oh, that was their first show, man.

And the war about that, and everyone's very open, is that that script was like being worked on every day in the trail or like, do you remember that? Like, did it feel like, like, how the hell are they going to make something great on this? They were so lucky to have John Favro as our director and Downey, of course, you know, I mean, he was so terrific to work with. But we had a thing of two-week rehearsal and we really reworked the script and, you know, honed it before we were going to go. The day before, the Marvel folks said, oh, no, no, this can't be the way it is. And we had to write the scenes that we were doing that day just that morning. We'd go into one of our trailers and, you know, call a lighter friend and say,

here's what happens. He goes here. You got any ideas? That kind of thing. Is that a miracle when you see it come out? You're like, oh, my God, they somehow put it together? Well, I remember being so frustrated. as an actor, I'd like to be prepared and on my line.

And I finally made this little adjustment that made all the different. What was this? It was just Jeff. You're talking about anxiety. He said, Jeff, relax. You're making a $200 million student film with these great guys. Have fun and just relax, man. Listen to mom. Exactly.

And they were so, you know, to have, you know, Robert Downey Jr. He was so brilliant in that and Favro, you know. Do you think about how you're going to deliver a line specifically before a scene? Because I think back to one of the iconic lines that you deliver in that film screaming, Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave with a box of scraps, which just explodes with poor Peter Billingsley. Oh yeah, Peter was who he had produced one of the producers. Right. So like before you walk into that scene, do you know you're going to do it in that way?

Well, you know, I like to, you know, us actors, we do a painting of the thing and then give it to the editors and the directors and they cut your painting up and make a collage out of it and put it in different orders, you know. So they're different versions of that? Well, I try to give them, because I know that that's the, you know, the process. I try to give them, it's like when you're taking pictures, you bracket your exposures, right? Right. You say, I'm going to shoot this, you're under-exposed.

And I try to do that with. that with, so there's maybe scenes where I didn't quite blow up that was, or blew up more and whatever, you know, so when they, you know, in the editing room, they have a choice. I'm glad they made that choice because it totally works. Yeah, I like that. I said this to you the last time you were on the podcast, I'd still, look, in this multiverse were alternate versions, like I would just like one more appearance from Jeff in the MCU. They've never had that conversation.

What's this? MCU, what's that? No, that's the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sorry, I'm using nerd, I'm using nerd, you know, when I read the script. In the script, Obadiah Stain falls in that big vat at the end. And the script that I read and agreed to do, they pulled my suit out and they opened it, and I'm not there. But they did...

You're not shooting that scene? I thought this was a three-picture deal guy. Exactly. But who knows, you know, it's all science fiction. I could maybe pop up again. Well, you know, Downey's back despite dying. I know, and he's playing a bad... He's playing a bad guy.

He's playing the bad guy. I love that. Yeah. I caught up, this is a little random, but I caught up a couple weeks ago with Winona Ryder, and I was talking to her about her amazing career, and she had this lovely reminiscence of auditioning for fearless and saying how sweet you were, she was devastated because she held you in such high esteem. You're kissing, right? Exactly. You were just like, you're too, you're like my daughter.

It feels weird. I can't remember, I mean, I can't remember the specifics of that much. of that moment. But I think it was something like it just didn't feel right in the improv. We were probably doing it with Peter We're the director of that thing and somehow, I don't

know, it didn't work out. It wasn't a makeout scene. No, no, no. We are, I guess, as retired from directing, sadly, but what was he, I mean, what are your remembrances of that? What a special piece of work. So incredible. When your investors, customers,

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so your business can stay unfazed. Learn more at SAP.com slash uncertainty. Oh, this is it, the day you finally ask for that big promotion. You're in front of your mirror with your Starbucks coffee. Be confident. Assertive. Remember eye contact. But also, remember to blink. Smile, but not too much. That's weird. What if you aren't any good at your job? What if they demo you instead? Okay. Don't be silly. You're smart. You're driven. You're going to be late if you keep talking to the mirror. This promotion is yours. Go get him. Starbucks. It's never just coffee. He scored every day by score. I mean, he had music playing every day.

that really served to bring the cast and the crew together. This, you know, we all had the same music to listen to. And then when we went to dailies, you know, what we shot the day, he would score that with a boom box and play that. And he was very, very inclusive, you know. I remember one of his first pieces of direction was, we're flying this plane together. I need you as my co-pilot, you know.

He was wonderful, wonderful to work with. work with the breadth of the kind of work he did that he could do the master and commander and witness it's like you could do any genre and just make it true and powerful did that affect your attitude about flying being in fearless oh well what was the book I read the fear the fearful skies or what's the normal term that would it were flying no well no there was a book or there was a there was a thing about fly the friendly skies. Oh, of course, that's right.

I think it was called the Unfriendly Skies. And it told, yeah, it was written by a pilot that told you, you know, oh, I don't want to get into it now, but that helped. It is maybe the most harrowing depiction of a flight gone wrong, maybe in a film. One of the interesting things about what Peter did, he, the flight, you know, the show It was basically using the, it was in Iowa, I think it was a big crash in a cornfield. It was at Idaho, I think it was Iowa.

And he invited the cast and crew to hang out with some survivors of that crash. And it was so fascinating to learn that it wasn't the cliche of, oh, you know. Right. Every one guy, they knew they were going down for 45 minutes. Oh, God, they can't. And it wasn't panicking. It was just, you know, the guy said, just love filled the cabin there. And everybody said, this is us.

We're going to, you know, completely a different feeling, you know. That's fascinating. Yeah. We are very much in the final sprint to election day. And face it, between debates, polling releases, even court appearances. It can feel exhausting, even impossible to keep up with. I'm Brad Milkey. I'm the host of Start Here, the Daily Podcast from ABC News. And every morning my team and I get you caught up on the day's news in a quick, straightforward way that's easy to understand with just enough context so you can listen, get it, and go on with your day. So, kickstart your morning. Start Smart with Start Here and ABC News because staying informed shouldn't feel overwhelming. We mentioned Lobowski.

Is part of you happy that, like, the Coens are not obviously sequel guys, but are you kind of happy that's kind of like frozen in time that clearly they're never going to come back to the dude? Yeah, I know, and it's all set up. Mods, Prager's, you know, really the little Labowski, you know, I can't help, but on some of these movies, think about what the life would be. You've got to think whoever owns the rights to that has set the cones whatever you want,

because that movie that was, they would never do it. I don't think so. Yeah, I don't think so. Are you in touch with them? It's been a minute since you guys have collaborated. I see, we bumped up, well, yeah, we did, you know, what, a true grit together, another great experience. And we bump into each other every once in a while. Yeah, I'm hoping they come back together to direct together.

Me too. Me too. Tron, which again always comes up. But give me a sense of like, you do the original Tron. How out of left field did that feel? Did that feel like, is this going to come together? Is anybody going to understand this? Oh, it was so bizarre. It was so bizarre.

In a way, you know, things that are that off the wall and that haven't been done, it's kind of safer in a way because there's nothing to compare it to. True. It's there. And this one, I mean, it's there. I mean, when I remember from doing it, I was shot 70-millimeter black and white, hand-tinted by a bunch of ladies in Korea, I think.

We had black duvetine was the set with white adhesive tape on the thing. Everybody was encouraged to wear colorful clothes because it was all black. Our suits were all black and white, but you'd go outside after days of white. working and being in that just black and white atmosphere. And boom, color would just rush into you. Wonderful. So you pop up.

It sounds like it's a pretty small role. It's basically a cameo in the new Tron movie Tron area. Fun to come back in. Oh, yeah. We're talking about method acting. From what I gather, Jared is pretty in character, generally speaking. Was that interesting to see Jared Leto, like, fully committed? Yeah, he's wonderful to work with.

We had a great time, you know, a lot of fun working. together. It does occur to me. There's all this talk about, like, AI, et cetera. Now, there's probably no one more scanned in the Metaverse than Jeff Bridges, your face, your body. Maybe so. Someone has that.

Yeah. Does that scare you a little bit that like 150 years from now they can recreate you? Oh, it's the new thing. You know, when I have a gig, it will be leasing my image. You know, I can say, yeah, you can't use that. I thought, I mean, they, I got scanned and I'm in the computer. for when we did Tron 2, what was it called, Legacy. Yeah.

And I was particularly fond of that recreation of myself. I thought I looked more like Bill Maher than myself. To go back and look. That's amazing. Well, the technology's improved since then, clearly. That was, again, just, I mean, see what Kaczynski's done too. That was his first film. Joe Kaczynski.

Yeah, his first film making. Talk about it. And he was like falling off a log for him. He was just so wonderful to work with. And you worked with him again, didn't you? Only the Brave? Yeah, Only the Brave, yeah. So is that, I mean, yeah, when I look at your career,

there are a lot of frequent return collaborators. I like that, yeah. Is there anyone that you'd like to return to give a one more go-to? Oh my gosh. It all kind of blends. Yeah, you know, everybody, I haven't had a bad, you know, bad apple and the whole bunch. It was the old man, you know,

it was something I was concerned about, is that you've got different directors and different cinematographers. How is it going to feel consistent? But everybody is just top-notch, you know. Well, you started those first couple episodes was John Watts. Yeah.

He set the bar very high. Yeah, yeah. And he's one of the producers, you know. And so casting, you know, that's about 99% of the... whole thing not just the actors but the directors the DPs the Gaffers all these guys and they put the team that they put together for the old man just the execution on all fronts you know it's a kind of a cumulative effect but when

you've got all you know operating on you know everything's cooking on all cylinders it really comes together well you talk about kind of like that initial kind of reluctance like it takes a minute to you to for you to commit to say like yeah I'm gonna get out of the house and do this yeah But then once you're on set, it changes, there's a gear shift. Yeah, that is, yeah, that is. Wait, well, why was I denying myself? Why was I so reluctant?

Yeah, well, I know why. I know what it takes, you know. Yeah, it takes a lot of stuff. It has, and also, I guess we'll see you a little bit in the Neutron movie, but we haven't seen you in a film in a minute. And obviously we talked about the health issues. You went through COVID, et cetera. I'm sure that factors into it.

But I need me some Jeff Bridges on the big screen again. It makes me, okay, I hear you, and I will see if I can make that happen for you. Don't do it for me, do it for yourself. There you go, I will, but it was a good suggestion, you know. Is there a director that's gotten away? We've talked about all these amazing folks, the Cones, Peter Weir, Hal Ashby, amazing. But like, you know, Tarantino, Spielberg, PTA, what happened? Like, what's happened?

Why have they not, why have we not seen the collaboration? Yeah, I've, you know, have you come close in any of those? I've worked with great directors. There's one that's coming to my mind as we talk, is Scott Cooper, the guy who directed. Yeah, Crazy Heart, of course. And he's such an amazing director. It's wonderful to watch the movies

that he's, you know, he's made since Crazy Heart. I've had wonderful luck with first-time directors. Right. Really incredible. You're going to be, is it true, you're going to be collaborating with Terry Gilliam again? Well, that's what Terry said. I haven't heard really too many, you know,

we've chatted about it on the phone, the phone but I do you know it's I I don't know anything if it's official or not I think he wants you to play gone apparently I love working with Terry you know you know I'll be there but you know I haven't read the script I don't think but he's putting the cart before the horse a little bit but Terry wow what an artist yeah he he's I've had the privilege of having to him for the podcast isn't he something oh my god did you ever see our movie Tidland of course that is a wild no one saw it it's Yeah, and very low budget.

Terry likes you know, but it was like... Every Terry Gillian film, even the ones that maybe don't succeed on some level are worth your time because they are so unique. Yeah, exactly. Was, wait, was Fisher King the first time you guys collaborated? And arguably that was kind of almost his most, even to call that mainstream, is insane because that's a very bizarre movie. But, yeah, I mean, did you feel kinship with him and Robinette?

No, very much. Oh, man, Robin. Oh, my gosh. So incredible. I was, you know, a little anxious, you know, part of my anxiety, the hook that you, you know, why am I, then you find the kind of hooks to hang your anxiety on? One for me was, oh, Robin, he's, you know, I've got these long speeches, and I think he's going to be messing with me, trying to make me laugh.

That wasn't the case at all, just the opposite. This is tangential just because you brought it up, but did you base that character at all on shock jocks of the time? Sure. Howard Stern, Don, I miss those kind of folks. Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. What was the tagline?

Well, excuse me. Well, yeah, excuse me. And I got to where Stephen Bridgewater, it was a shock jock, who Terry had this great idea to get me together with this fella. Yeah. And for a couple of weeks, he taught me. how to do a show, and I would do two-hour shows, you know, for a long time, and Terry would have callers to call in, you know, out there, and they would call in. We did a whole thing and learned a lot about it. You can still do it. Someone serious X-M, give Jeff Bridges his own

channel. You could program your own music, I'm sure. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it must be kind of fun what you'd do with this thing. How long have you been doing it at that? This is the 10th year of happy said confuse my podcast man does it go fast does it seem like how it's insane that it's gone by so far but i mean part of the pleasure is getting to see folks again and that's right and every conversation every career every life is different it's it's like people say like you get tired of it like no every day is a new yeah you still get frightened you anxiety is still there believe me remember uh robert ryan saying to me i said god you're still frail he said oh i'd really be frightened if i wasn't frightened that, you know.

100% percent. You know. We're going to end with the happy second fuse profoundly random questions for you. All right. Let's see. Are you a dog or cat person? Well, I am both. I love my wife is allergic to cat, so I can't have a cat, but I have a dog.

I have a cavapoo. Cavalier King Charles Poodle. I love it. I became a dog owner in recent years. We've got a pit mix, Lucy, and she is the sweetest. She is the sweetest. Don't be frightened. She is the sweetest animal on earth.

I love her. Yeah, dogs are incredible. What do you collect, if anything? I want to collect. Well. If you want to Casa Bridges, what would I see a lot of? What would I? Paintings of dear friends, music of dear friends,

sculptures. I like to do ceramics. What are the, you know, I've got a couple of souvenirs from the movies, you know. Do you have a favorite keepsake from the movie? I've got the original Tron helmet. It was a hockey helmet, you know, painted white with some black tape that's all, you know. Just wear that around the house if you're bored one day? Yeah, there you go.

Do you know, the wallpaper on your phone, the background on your phone? Is anything special? I see. I'm not really an iPhone guy at all. No. Do you have one or you're just not really? I carry one and occasionally will call out, but I don't like the idea of having a leash. Probably for the best.

Yeah, it probably keeps you sane. Do you ever get mistaken for another actor? Oh yeah. Who's the last actor you were mistaken for? Kurt, Russell, we get it sometimes, you know. It's the great beard collection. Yeah, and I can see that. What's the worst note a director has ever given you?

I have an idea. Because it's no, it should be a yes and situation. Yeah, just the hand. Oh no. Who would dare do that to Jeff Bridges? Has that happened recently? Not recently. Not recently.

My goodness. Oh, my God. What drives you crazy on set besides the hand? What's your pet peeve on set? Oh. Oh. Well, time, you know, you have a big scene coming up. We're losing the light.

We've got to have a lunch break. I got to go to the bathroom, man. But really? Okay, okay. Let's see. Use it as they say. Okay. You know, that kind of thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. In the spirit of happy, sad, confused, who's an actor that always makes you happy? You see them on screen. Oh, well. John, I'm not cast in the show at the old man. It's just a pleasure to work with Amy, you know, all of those guys. Oh, yeah, yeah, it's just they put smiles on my face.

Yeah. You know, it's great. Is there a movie that makes you sad generally? It's your go-to? Well, John's movie's one of my favorite, but I'm having an old man moment. Is it a garp or? No, no, no, no. Terms of Endearment, man.

What about those kids in that hospital scene? When Shirley starts to scream for her daughter? Once, you know how you, one of these interviews, they asked me, do a, do us, what scene would you like to do from another actor? actor and I did get her the shot that is my favorite scene but those kids in that hospital scene saying goodbye that one kid who's oh god oh James L. Brooks that's another one you should have worked with come on yes yeah yeah Jonathan Demi I was wanted to work with him yeah food that makes you confused what food you don't get it you see it on the menu oh why would my would my

Why are we even talking about this food? What is this? Well, the one that came to mine was uni. Sure. The orchardsy or something. Yeah, and sometimes it can be so great, and sometimes it can be so bad. And I see it on the menu and I'm confused whether I should go for it or not. Right.

Right. It's the consistency. It's the smell. Oh, it's got to be fresh. Yeah, no. You don't want the day old. No, no. That's your PSA.

That's right. That's right. Jeff, as I said, this is not a day of work for me. This has been such a true, true honor and pleasure. You are always welcome to chat. Congratulations. The new season of The Old Man is fantastic. We talked about the amazing ensemble.

It is twisty. It is turning. It is riveting television. Check it out. Catch up on the first season if you haven't. And Jeff, thank you. Gave me just enough dude today. Just like 10% dude.

Yeah, good. Nice man. All right. Nice hanging, Josh. Thanks, man. 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. The Old West is an iconic period of American history and full of legendary figures whose names still resonate today. Like Jesse James, Billy the King. Kid and Butch and Sundance, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, Batmasterson, and Bass Reeves, Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, the Texas Rangers, and many more. Hear all their stories on the Legends of the Old West podcast. We'll take you to Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge City, to the plains, mountains, and deserts for battles between the U.S. Army and Native American warriors, to dark corners for the disaster of the Donner Party, and shining

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