Life is full of strikes and gutters, and while Jeff Bridges has had his share of gutterballs, he has been on a roll as of late, coming back from a health scare that could have put his life and career in serious jeopardy. Now, as fans await the next season of his FX series The Old Man–currently suspended due to the WGA strike–the Oscar winner has detailed his bout with cancer and what he has learned.
Speaking with AARP (hey, The Dude’s 73!), Jeff Bridges spoke transparently about his health problems that took over his life; fortunately, his cancer went into remission in 2021 after announcing the year prior that he was diagnosed with lymphoma. One thing he notes is, like too many men, he was hesitant to visit a doctor and probably should have done so much sooner than he did. “At the time, I said to myself, ‘It doesn’t hurt. I don’t want to go to the doctor.’…I’m hiking and feeling great. My shins really itch, and I think, Oh, I just got, you know, dry skin. Then I had night sweats, but thought, That’s just hot summer nights. It turns out those are lymphoma symptoms…I was doing those fight scenes for the first episode of The Old Man and didn’t know that I had a 9-by-12-inch tumor in my body.”
While the tumor has shrunk exponentially to the size of a marble, Jeff Bridges says his health problems gave him a good scare that he might never step in front of a camera again. “At first I said, ‘Well, we’ll see.’ But eventually that became, ‘Maybe I can.’ I have to admit that I was still frightened of going back to work. Then I began to think of my recovery as a gift being presented.” His recovery also took a massive toll, with the actor saying he could only walk about 45 seconds before being worn out.
But Jeff Bridges is back in his element, earning raves for his performance in The Old Man and even expressing an interest in reprising his role as Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski should the Coen Bros. be game.
What is your favorite Jeff Bridges movie or performance? What do you hope to see from him in the future? Let us know below!