As
I’m sure any schmoe out there will probably agree, THE BIG
LEBOWSKI’s The Dude is one of the greatest characters ever put to
screen. This is due almost entirely to the amazing (and hilarious)
work of Jeff Bridges. The man is, simply put, an acting genius. And
in SURF’S UP, he manages to bring the same laidback mentality to his
character Big Z (a wise surfing penguin that’s a little on the heavy
side). In terms of personality, think of him like a PG version of
The Dude. You can see what I mean when the movie opens this Friday,
June 8. Just be sure to bring your bathing suit.
Lame
jokes aside, I actually did need my bathing suit, because
Sony
flew me down to a special press outing in none other than Oahu,
Hawaii. You read that right –
Hawaii
! They put me up in the super-classy Sheraton Moana Surfrider hotel
right alongside the
Waikiki
Beach
, giving me ample time to soak in some rays and get crushed by
waves. The next morning, it was time for us press folk to head off
to the Kahala resort, where we met up with the talented team behind
SURF’S UP and chowed down on a quality breakfast.
Jeff
Bridges was exactly like I hoped he’d be, apparently enjoying the
relaxed
Hawaii
setting and sporting a big gruffy beard for his work on the upcoming
IRON
MAN.
That was actually one of the main topics of discussion, as was finding out about the interesting details behind his hobbies and home life
(since his family includes many famous faces). While there, he could
not have been more courteous and friendly. He was also one of the
more interesting actors to whom I’ve ever had the privilege of talking,
as passions extend far beyond just working in films. Read on to find
out more.
Jeff
Bridges
We
see some parallels to The Dude here.
[Laughs]
Well, The Dude does weed. Big Z’s into clams.
What
about the character appealed to you most?
Gee,
you know, what really got me on board was this whole surfing aspect
of things and how well they pulled the water element of this film
off. I said, “They’re going to do a surfing movie, how are the
waves going to look? Is it going to be almost like a
photograph?” Then they started to show me some of the footage
they had worked on. Being a surfer myself, it was a thrill to be
able to be a part of bringing to the audience what that feels like
to be locked in the tube.
What’s
the feeling you get from catching a wave?
I
suppose it’s different at each level. I’m a pretty basic surfer. I
stopped surfing 30 years ago and I’m taking it up in the last 5
years again. I used to surf in high school all the time and it was
pretty great. Now I’m kind of back to getting my balance back and
getting my turns down. So it’s kind of challenging for me and I’m
worried about hurting myself, my back and so forth. I’m in the
process of taking it a step at a time these days to make sure I can
surf tomorrow. But it’s a wonderful feeling whether you catch a wave
or not. It’s a bit like fishing. You’re out there, you’re part of
nature, you’re sitting in ocean, looking at the land. Most other
times, it’s the other way around. You’re sitting out and looking at
the ocean. There’s something about it that gives you a different
perspective on life. It’s a wonderful metaphor, catching a wave, for
how you can look at other challenges in your life.
Did
your renewed interest in surfing come about from this movie?
No,
no. I started getting interested before that, but it kind of all
dovetailed together. It was fun to be a part of this one.
What’s
your take on voice recording, this disembodied kind of acting?
Well,
it didn’t feel like that. When we did it, I had done animated
films in the past and that was kind of a lonely experience where you
sit in the booth and you’ve got your sides. You’re reading the
stuff and imagining what the other person is saying, or doing the
scene to their playback. They’re not in the room. But in this
instance, the characters were often all there in the same room. I
did a lot of work with Shia [LaBeouf], who’s a wonderful
improviser. We were really encouraged by the directors to do that as
much as we cared to, and we did a lot of it. There were cameras set
up in the room that were capturing our movements and our expressions
and that was all going to help the animators. So it was a lot of
fun. It didn’t feel as lonesome and clinical. It was really a fun
experience. Pretty loose.
Do
you feel like you’re losing some of your tools as an actor when
you work on an animated film?
Yeah,
but there’s always things like that in making movies where you –
little parameters that you have to fit in. That’s part of the game
of it. An analogy I could make, just like you’re playing football,
you’ve got to stay in the lines. You can’t just go over there,
go up in the stands. Everything gets narrower and narrower, and
sometimes you just have to use the tools that you’re allowed to
use. That’s part of the game. In this case, it wasn’t about
wardrobe or makeup or any of that stuff, so you use what you have.
Has
surfing ever been adequately represented in movies, such as in
‘Point Break?’
Well,
I remember, probably the best are the documentaries, the old surf
films. I just did narration for a wonderful documentary called
‘Chasing the Lotus.’ That’s a lot of B-roll from all of the old surf
films. They interviewed some of these great old surfers and you
really get a sense of what surfing’s all about. Documentaries I
think probably more than the fictitious versions of it. I think a
lot of my friends were in [Point Break]. They did good work I think.
They all were surfers so they added a certain authenticity to it.
Did
you enjoy working with Shia LaBeouf in the recording room?
I
had done animated films in the past and that was kind of a lonely
experience where you sit in the booth and you’ve got your sides
[script pages] and you’re reading the stuff and imagining what the
other person is saying, or doing the scene to their playback,
they’re not in the room. But in this instance, the characters were
often all there in the same room. I did a lot of work with Shia
who’s a wonderful improviser. We were really encouraged by the
directors to do that as much as we cared to and we did a lot of it.
There were cameras set up in the room that were capturing our
movements and our expressions and that was all going to help the
animators. So it was a lot of fun. It didn’t feel as lonesome and
clinical. It was really a fun experience. Pretty loose.
Did
you have any influence concerning the look of your ‘Surf’s Up’
character Big Z?
Not
too much. I told [the filmmakers], I said, “Gee, Big Z is kind
of a fat penguin. Can you give him a little more tone?”
[Laughs] He said, “No, that’s going against the story.” I
didn’t have too much to say about his look or anything like that. I
got a kick out of it. It was kind of funny.
Do
you see young actors who have potential like Cody Maverick does in
surfing and want to mentor them?
Sure,
well, when we were making the movie, there was a bit of that. You
could transpose surfing for acting in a sense that Shia and I are
both actors and did it since we were kids. We would play together.
There’s a lot of play in acting, like when you were a kid and you
used to pretend and that sort of thing. Not that it doesn’t have to
be serious but there’s an element of play to it. That goes for
surfing and goes for acting so yeah, certainly I think playing with
Shia there was a lot of that same kind of sense. Not so much
teaching somebody because he’s a wonderful improviser and there’s a
great willingness that he has to play, to maybe be the fool or not.
So we got to surf together, we got to play together. It was a lot of
fun.
You
sing the Uke song at the end of the film, only it’s called an “Ook”.
How was that?
Oh,
great. I heard that they were putting that song in but I hadn’t
heard it yet. That’s funny. When I was recording it, one of my
friends said, “You know, it’s not a Yuke-elele, it’s an
ook-elele.” So I went off, they had the mic on and recorded it.
I didn’t know they were going to do that. That’s me playing and that
song was written by perhaps my oldest friend, a guy named John
Goodwin. We go back to the fourth grade together, we’ve been making
music and art and playing together all these years. He’s very good.
He’s got a song in quite a few of my movies actually.
This
movie is about keeping the joy in what you do. How have you
maintained that in acting?
Yeah,
well, different things come to mind when you say that. My mom would
often say, “Remember, don’t take it too seriously.” I say,
“Oh yeah, thanks.” My wife, whenever I’d go off to work
and I’d be kind of anxious, she’ll say, “Remember, have
fun.” “Oh, I forgot, thanks for the reminder.”
Because sometimes we do forget. We take it all too seriously and
there’s a lot of joy to be had wherever you are. Tap in and kind of
get out of your way and there it is.
Did
you have a similar relationship with your brother Beau?
Me
being Cody, Beau being Big Z? Not really, no. Beau was eight years
older than I am and my dad was working a lot in those days so it was
kind of like a surrogate father. He taught me all the sports. He was
always small for his age, I was always big for my age. But he was an
excellent athlete and he was scouted by the Dodgers. He played on
the UCLA basketball team with Walt Hazzard and Wooden and all that.
Since I was bigger for my age, he would teach me all the sports
stuff and kind of vicariously have me go out and [represent him] or
whatever.
I
enjoyed it for a while. It was fun to be close with him, but I
didn’t get into the competitive side of it. He has a wonderful way
– my father had this, too – of getting great joy out of competition.
Maybe it’s just that I’m so competitive that I don’t like to
even get in there. I don’t like to lose. Maybe that’s it, I
don’t know. But Beau and my dad would love to compete at like tennis
and all that stuff.”
Do
your kids have any interest in acting?
You
know, I don’t know. Unlike my father, I didn’t make it as
available to them as he did with us. And I’m kind of, not that my
dad was a stage parent or anything but he just enjoyed it so much
and he wanted to turn his kids on to it. And he was right. I’ve
enjoyed it myself and have had a wonderful life because of it. But I
went through a period where it was awkward for me. Whenever you’re
the child of a famous person, you get judged in odd ways because of
that. Then I remember when I first started my acting, I thought,
“Oh, I just got this job because of who my father is,” a
lot of nepotism stuff. I’m a product of nepotism, I’ve got to
say. I don’t think I would have gotten into it if my father wasn’t
so enthusiastic.
Anyway,
I chose to not do that with my kids and I’m kind of regretting
that a little bit now because now they’re in their 20s and
they’re at that crossroads where they’re starting to ask
themselves, “Well, what am I going to do?” And I’d say,
“Do you ever think about acting? You’ve got it in your blood.
You’ve got three generations of it and I’ll help you work on the
stuff.” They say, “Eh, I don’t think so.” So I don’t
know. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of them kind of stumble into
it someway.
Are
you still doing music just for fun? And, what other hobbies do you
have?
I
play all the time. I played not too long ago. I think I’ve got
another album in me. I’m going to get my buddies together collecting
songs. I do a lot of ceramics. My website’s kind of fun for me. I
get to do drawings on that. A lot of family time these days. My
oldest daughter Isabelle is getting married so we’re kind of all
gearing up for that.
Let’s
talk about Iron Man. How has filming been?
It’s
been wonderful working with Jon Favreau who’s the director of the
film. He’s a wonderful actor that I’ve admired for a long time. I
remember first seeing him in Swingers. He wrote that, did such a
great job. And Robert Downey Jr., we’re doing a lot of improvisation
in Iron Man to discover scenes and get off the written page. I know
Jon is very interested in grounding it in as much reality as he
possibly can.
You
are playing?
I’m
playing Obediah Stane who in the movie version is Tony Stark’s
mentor, that’s Robert Downey’s character, ‘Iron Man.’ I run his
company, Stark Enterprises.
When
do you go back to work?
Tomorrow.
How
much longer do you have?
June.
Mid-June.
Are
you into sci-fi and comic books?
I
used to read comics when I was a kid. I wasn’t too much into ‘Iron
Man.’ I was into Superman. I was into Green Lantern. I shouldn’t be
saying that. Those are DC guys.
Have
you worked with Gwyneth Paltrow yet?
A
little bit. We’ve got some scenes coming up but I haven’t worked
with her too much yet.
How
far have the special effects come since ‘Tron?’
[Laughs]
Man, leaps and bounds. I remember when we did ‘Tron,’ we were so
excited, seeing it and then I remember about a week after the
opening going home and seeing all that technology in a commercial.
Just – boom! – it just made it passe like that. That’s the way
technology is. It changes so fast.
What’s
next for you after ‘Iron Man?’
Yeah,
after ‘Iron Man,’ I just signed on to a movie called ‘How to Lose
Friends and Alienate People’ with Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst. I
play the chief editor of a magazine that Simon is working for.
Loosely based on Vanity Faire. [The film is] based on a book by the
same title I think.
Have
you seen ‘Shaun of the Dead’ or ‘Hot Fuzz?’
I’ve
seen both of those and I’m a fan of Simon Pegg. I think he’s great.
I like ‘Shaun of the Dead’ a lot. I think it’s wonderful.
Will
you surf while you’re here?
No,
I’m not. I’m leaving tomorrow. I’ve got to go back to work [on Iron
Man] but I had an interview up there with Kelly Slater [surf champ
who pals around with Cameron Diaz]. We just met. It’d be great to go
out there and surf with him. [note: check the last paragraph in this
interview for the on-site lowdown on Kelly and Cameron!]
Longboard
or shortboard?
I’m
a longboard guy. I don’t understand how they do the shortboard thing
at all. I don’t get it.
Got
questions? Got comments? Send me a line at: quigles@joblo.com
.