The Dude Becomes ‘The Old Man’: A Conversation With Jeff Bridges (2024)

If you’ve long wanted to see Jeff Bridges make the jump to TV, then he’s finally ready to abide.

The last time that the Oscar winner appeared in multiple episodes of a small-screen project, he was 13 and the show was named after his father. Now 60 years removed from The Lloyd Bridges Show, the younger Bridges—ironically, or fittingly—is preparing for his first lead TV role with the release of FX’s new thriller The Old Man.

The adaptation of Thomas Perry’s 2017 novel follows former CIA operative Dan Chase, who has spent the past couple decades living off the grid. But an attempt on his life puts him back on the radar, forcing him to go on the run. As he evades FBI power player Harold Harper (John Lithgow) and Harper’s protégé Angela Adams (Alia Shawkat), Chase searches for the truth that will free him and his daughter (who is heard but not seen in early episodes) while also confronting his past—which unfolds in flashbacks that feature a young Chase as played by another Coen brothers veteran, Bill Heck (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs).

But even the show’s plot pales in comparison to the story of The Old Man’s production. First announced in 2019, the series was well underway when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, only for filming to resume shortly after then be stopped again when Bridges announced he was diagnosed with lymphoma in October 2020. He says he was “pretty close to dying” upon contracting COVID while undergoing chemotherapy. Thankfully, almost a year later, the beloved actor announced that his cancer was in remission, allowing him to complete the project.

With The Old Man premiering Thursday, we talked to Bridges about feeling like he’s been through a “dream,” bonding with his canine costars, and being thankful that he’s not The Old Man’s oldest man.

Vanity Fair: It’s been a long road to get to this point.

Jeff Bridges: Oh, man.

The show was announced three years ago, and then obviously there was a pandemic, and then you had some health issues.

Whew!

What’s this journey been like, to get to this moment where you’re finally sending The Old Man out into the world?

The word “dream” comes to mind. It’s like a dream, man. Like you say, we started it three years ago. I can’t imagine, it just seems so bizarre. We broke for the pandemic, and I got sick, and we came back and finished it two years later. Coming back to the same cast and so many of the same crew, it was like you had a dream, or you had a weekend. Not only a nightmare, but filled with amazing epiphanies during the whole thing. And here we are, talking to you, continuing to dream.

This book was released in 2017, only two years before word came that you were starring in the adaptation. So when did The Old Man get on your radar, and what was it about this story and this character that drew you in?

My friend Tim Stack recommended this book maybe five years ago, and I didn’t read it at that time. And then when the script came, I said to my wife, “This title seems so familiar.” She says, “That’s the book that Tim was telling you about,” and I said, “You’re kidding.” I read the script and that was interesting. And I read the book and that was interesting. I slowly started to be drawn deeper into this project. And then I said, “Well, I better meet the guys.” I’m always quite resistant about meeting the creators because it’s very easy for me to get sucked in—their dreams can be contagious. But I decided that I’d meet with them or let it go.

So I met with [producers] John Steinberg, Warren Littlefield, and Dan Shotz, and I said, oh, these guys would be cool to get in cahoots with. I think casting is so important, not only with the actors, but the whole team that’s assembled, starting certainly with the writer and the producers and the directors. So those guys lured me into their dream, man. I got into it. [Laughs.] And I’m so happy I did.

When they call you up and say, “Hey, we want you to be the titular character in a show called The Old Man,” is there a moment where you’re like, “Wait, what the heck?”

[Laughs.] Well, it turns out that I’m not the only old man. I mean, Lithgow, I think he might have a couple of days on me. Same with Joel Grey, who was also in this show. So it was a bit like The Big Lebowski; I’m not the Big Lebowski in Big Lebowski, but it kind of follows my story. In this one, I’m just one of the old men. But I classify!

You’re playing a character forced to both confront and reflect on his past. As you’re channeling that kind of performance, is that something that seeps into your own life?

Like you mentioned, what drew me to this project certainly was who was involved, the writing, but also this theme of consequences in our lives. It’s cause and effect. We’ve got all our comeuppance and the chickens that come to roost, and that’s one of the themes in this one. I think we could all relate to that.

This is your first TV lead role, and you haven’t done multiple episodes of a series since your father’s 1962 anthology drama, The Lloyd Bridges Show. Were you conscious about that when you initially stepped on The Old Man set?

Yeah, I was concerned, man. Years ago it was quite a differentiation between movies and TV as far as the quality and the time that it took to make the thing. My father, Lloyd Bridges, had done, I think, seven TV series, and I saw how hard he had to work. He was all about quality, and to get that he had to bust his ass working. I do that in movies, but I was concerned [in TV] that we’d be too rushed or whatever. But then you started to see all these wonderful TV shows and the quality that they were coming up with, and I said, well, I think it’s worth an experiment. I like to experiment in my life, and this was certainly a thing that warranted that.

It’s hard not to think about the health issues you faced while making The Old Man. There are some scary folks hunting him, but did you almost feel like time itself is Chase’s primary opponent?

Yeah, man. I mean, I don’t know if it’s old age or COVID, but my memory, man. How is your memory these days? Do you forget stuff?

Definitely.

Have you had COVID?

Twice, actually.

Oh, you had it twice? So have you noticed any difference in your memory because of that?

A little bit, I think.

Memory is such a bizarre, bizarre thing, and, like that character, I’m concerned with my memory too. It’s tough.

A major part of the series is set in the past, with Bill Heck playing the younger version of Chase. Did you and Bill collaborate or chat at all about your versions of this character, or did you leave it to each other and hope that there was some common thread?

A bit of both. I didn’t want him to have the pressure of having to do an impersonation of me or something like that. I think we look similar, and I think that really works for the show. I love what Bill is doing, and I’ve admired him. We’ve both worked with the Coen brothers; he was in Buster Scruggs and did a great job in that, and he’s doing a great job in this one.

While a lot of actors build their own backstory, if one isn’t fully provided, you had the chance to see exactly how a pivotal time in Chase’s life played out. Was that an asset for you? Or was there anything else that helped in your research?

Yeah, I think so. If you ever get a real guy on the set who has been through a bit of what your character’s been, that’s always a blessing. And we had Christopher Huddleston, who was this CIA fellow, and he went through a lot of similar things. He was so helpful to lead me through some of the concerns and some of the feelings that this guy might be going through.

Your character was once a very good fighter, but it’s also been a long time since he was using these particular skills. What was it like to put together your big fight sequences?

That's an interesting dynamic, and it was fun to choreograph those things. We’re talking about you’re blessed if you have a real guy on there, and we certainly had some state-of-the-art stunt guys, Henry Kingi and Tim Connolly. I remember asking Tim, “What do you consider the state-of-the-art fight scene?” Because I had done a lot of fight scenes in my movies, and I always enjoyed doing it and working with the stunt guy. And he said, “I don’t want to seem immodest, but, just to give you my opinion, it was one that I worked on and helped train the actors.” I said, “What was that?” He said, “Atomic Blonde.” Did you see the fight scene in that?

Yes, on the stairwell!

I had never seen that film, and I said, my, God—the way they made it all look like one shot and made the cuts and just really took the audience on a ride. So I said, well, I’m in good hands here.

Early on, your main costars are a pair of dogs. I would ask how that went, but clearly it was a great experience since you were inspired to get your own puppy.

Again, the casting. Now, those two dogs are actually like five or six dogs. Each one plays a role that’s their specialty. Like other actors, I rehearsed with these guys. Sarah Clifford, who was the trainer for our show, really helped me get to know these dogs. And while we were on our break, she gave me a beautiful blanket with my favorite dog, Freya, on there. So while I was ill, I could look at Freya and say, “Oh, yeah, I’m coming back, Freya. We’ll see each other.”

Having finally made the big jump to TV, what’s left that you feel like you want to do or need to do?

There are a lot of little projects that I can’t even talk about. In one sense, I thought, maybe I’ll retire, slow down, but my mind just won’t have it. I keep coming up with thoughts, like, Oh, it would be cool to make that come out of the oven somehow. I’m working on some music with one of my dear friends, T Bone Burnett, who is doing the music for The Old Man, and we’ve got some irons in the fire.

There’s insane competition when it comes to television, much more than the last time you were on.

It’s so different! Oh, man, how do you keep up? You don’t keep up. You just watch what you watch and you try to hear from your friends what they’re digging.

Okay, so what is Jeff Bridges digging?

Are you hip to PEN15?

Love PEN15!

God, didn’t [Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle] just do something remarkable! mean, 30, 40 years old playing 13? Come on! That is just amazing, and [they] pulled it off so brilliantly. And then they wrote it, developed it, directed it, put so much into it. I just love that their mom is in it.

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