Wednesday February 24 2010, the five time oscar nominative actor, Jeff Bridges is interviewed on KCRW’s The Treatment. Bridges has just finished his latest movie, at the time, Crazy Heart where he plays the lead actor of an old musician on his way out of his career. Bridges has also acted in The Big Lebowski, TRON, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Iron Man, and tons of other movies and TV shows. He has also produced movies, Crazy Heart being one of them, and has also soundtracks under his belt, his most famous soundtrack is the Crazy Heart soundtrack where he sings and even plays a little in the movie.
It’s interesting to hear an actor talk about being tired and having to turn down roles, which would probably turn into a great movie, just because he/she just isn’t feeling it. Bridges has learned a lot from his father and has worked for every role instead of being handed to him for being the son of Lloyd Bridges. Crazy Heart is an independent film that Bridges help bring to life, becoming a producer on it, and brought in his musical friend T-Bone Burnett tp do a couple songs for it. Crazy Heart was the first film Scott Cooper has directed and written for, he allowed the actors work with him on how the characters are played, since Cooper has an acting background. Bridges is considered a lucky charm to new people in the film industry, having five movies, with three of them being new directors.
Bridges has worked with many new talents in the film industry and has done very well with them, “But we still haven’t done much better than Citizen Kane”. Many veterans of the movie industry often don’t trust first timers, but Bridges often works with them, in a way he’s a mentor to them. It seems like Bridges uses his connections to help a film out, which might not have gotten the backing it got if not for having a vet like bridges on the credits. Its definatly a confidence booster to have a A-lister like Jeff Bridges on you film and when it’s all said and done the films have had much success.
“Like a lot of stuff these days, that middle zone is disappearing”. Bridges is referring to movies on how one movie can have a 100 million dollar budget and be good to a 100 thousand dollar movie that is just as good. What he’s saying is a bit deeper than just comparing movies, it also relates to life. Many things nowadays are extra large or super tiny, TVs are a good example. TVs have gotten huge, beyond the 30” tube TV I grew up with to monstrous sizes that are almost, if not, bigger than me. And no you can watch TV on your phone, in your car, on you watch, it’s pretty crazy. It’s the battle of the two extremes, there is no more middle, or grey zone.
“Getting your foot in the door is one of the hardest things in an acting profession, and that was handled for me”, Bridges was lucky that his father was in show business and helped him start his career, even though early in his career he wasn’t to sure on if he wanted to be an actor. Bridges prefers earning his roles and not having them handed to him, which he has proven his acting ability time and time again. It’s interesting that he went into acting, mostly because it was the path of less resistance.
I’ve always like Jeff Bridges, no matter what he’s in he always gives it his all and then some. Bridges helps out new directors by signing to their films often, giving them a boost and come credibility to the film. He’s very modest and doesn’t get caught in the flashes of the paparazzi. He’s very clean, laid back, and friendly, almost like he’s living the role of “The Dude” from The Big Lebowski.
No comments:
Post a Comment