{"id":38857,"date":"2022-06-06T13:38:54","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T13:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/jeff-bridges-on-surviving-cancer-and-covid\/"},"modified":"2022-06-06T13:38:54","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T13:38:54","slug":"jeff-bridges-on-surviving-cancer-and-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/jeff-bridges-on-surviving-cancer-and-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bridges on surviving cancer and COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\">\n<p>On a spring day in Santa Barbara, Jeff Bridges is having fun turning a backyard into an acting studio for a woefully-unprepared student.  &#8220;This is our biggest scene, man; do you know where your mark is?&#8221;  he indicated to Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz.  &#8220;We can&#8217;t be looking at our mark, man! Okay, now we&#8217;re supposed to be talking, supposed to be kinda natural, man.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Right, totally. Natural, man,&#8221; said Mankiewicz. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ooh, that was very nice, that gesture!&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-large\"><span class=\"img embed__content\"><img alt=\"jeff-bridges-ben-mankiewicz.jpg \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2022\/06\/03\/c01f3f15-7307-44e4-a232-bb701f6cc865\/thumbnail\/620x349\/6cc0d28265e04b5697c4fd586f5a5c43\/jeff-bridges-ben-mankiewicz.jpg 1x, https:\/\/cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2022\/06\/03\/c01f3f15-7307-44e4-a232-bb701f6cc865\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/0d09bc7c4028e26cce0e45ad6b60b79f\/jeff-bridges-ben-mankiewicz.jpg 2x\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\"><span class=\"embed__caption\">Actor Jeff Bridges with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>            CBS News<\/p>\n<p>                      <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At 72, Jeff Bridges is a star with a singular brightness.  Seven times an Oscar-nominee, winning best actor for &#8220;Crazy Heart,&#8221; he&#8217;s a leading man with the soul of a character actor: he can be a hero, a villain, a statesman, or a stoner.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"newsletter_signup \">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-newsletter-widget embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-iframe\" data-ads=\"{\" wordcount=\"\">\n<\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&#8220;I think as creative people, I think as artists, our task is to get hooked,&#8221; he said.  &#8220;I love getting hooked when I do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Getting hooked&#8221; is easy when the bug is in your blood.  Born to actors Lloyd Bridges and Dorothy Simpson, his mom knew how to get a good performance out of Jeff right from the get-go, at less than a year old, in a 1951 drama, &#8220;The Company She Keeps&#8221;: &#8220;Jane Greer is, you know, holding me. And I&#8217;m a happy baby. I&#8217;m smiling! I&#8217;m supposed to cry in the scene. And Jane says, &#8216;Oh, I don&#8217;t want the baby to cry.&#8217;  And my mom says, &#8216;Oh, just pinch him. Yeah, just pinch his foot di lui there a little bit.&#8217;  And I start to cry! &#8220;<\/p>\n<p>Eight years later, Bridges shared the small screen with his dad in the hit CBS TV series &#8220;Sea Hunt&#8221;\u2026 a lesson then guides him today.  &#8220;I can remember sitting me on his bed di lui and, you know, teaching me all the basics: &#8216;Don&#8217;t just say your lines; listen to what I&#8217;m saying and react off that,&#8217; you know?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Another acting role model was in the next room &#8211; his brother, Beau Bridges, older by eight years.  Bolder, too.  Jeff recalled: &#8220;Beau came up with a great idea. We rented a flatbed truck and we&#8217;d pull into a supermarket. And our father taught us how to stage fight. People would gather around, try to break us up. And then we &#8216;d go,&#8217; No, it&#8217;s a show! &#8216;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Jeff&#8217;s breakout film came in 1971, &#8220;The Last Picture Show&#8221;: <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-youtube-video embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-video\">\n<p>\n    <iframe class=\"embed__content lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/FQunyqgIksc?autoplay=0&amp;rel=1\" data-optanon-category=\"essential\" data-height=\"113\" data-width=\"200\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/p><figcaption><span class=\"embed__caption\"><br \/>\n      <cite>The Last Picture Show (1\/8) Movie CLIP &#8211; School Spirit (1971) HD<\/cite> by<br \/>\n      <cite>Movieclips<\/cite> on YouTube<br \/>\n    <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Big studio offers followed, including &#8220;Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,&#8221; opposite Clint Eastwood.  Bridges &#8211; amazingly &#8211; told director Michael Cimino he wasn&#8217;t right for the part: &#8220;&#8216;I don&#8217;t know why you hired me, man. I&#8217;m really, I&#8217;m not this guy.&#8217;  He says, &#8216;Jeff, Jeff, Jeff, you know the game Tag?&#8217;  I say, &#8216;Yeah, yeah, yeah.&#8217;  He said, &#8216;You&#8217;re It!&#8217; &#8220;<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s been &#8220;It&#8221; ever since &#8211; in &#8220;Against All Odds,&#8221; &#8220;Starman,&#8221; &#8220;Jagged Edge,&#8221; &#8220;Iron Man,&#8221; &#8220;True Grit,&#8221; &#8220;Hell or High Water,&#8221; and of course, the Coen Brothers&#8217; &#8221; The Big Lebowski. &#8221; <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-youtube-video embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-video\">\n<p>\n    <iframe class=\"embed__content lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/xJjCnWm5cvE?autoplay=0&amp;rel=1\" data-optanon-category=\"essential\" data-height=\"113\" data-width=\"200\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/p><figcaption><span class=\"embed__caption\"><br \/>\n      <cite>The Big Lebowski &#8211; I&#8217;m the Dude Scene (3\/12) |  Movieclips<\/cite> by<br \/>\n      <cite>Movieclips<\/cite> on YouTube<br \/>\n    <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s such a good movie,&#8221; Bridges said.  &#8220;I mean, it&#8217;s so well-written and executed\u2026 you know, it&#8217;s so wonderful when that happens.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>If it seems Jeff Bridges leads a charmed life, consider the devastating 1-2 punch thrown at him during the pandemic. <\/p>\n<p>Mankiewicz said, &#8220;You&#8217;ve had a couple of years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yeah, been away for a while with the cancer and the COVID and the whole thing, yeah,&#8221; he replied. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The whole thing&#8221; Bridges is talking about began when he went to see a doctor after experiencing some pain: &#8220;I better get this checked out. And I go in and get a CAT scan and find out I have a nine-by-12 -inch mass in my stomach. You know, lymphoma. &#8220;<\/p>\n<p>A cancer diagnosis was blow # 1.  # 2 came when Bridges &#8211; and his wife di lui, Susan &#8211; tested positive for COVID-19.  Susan spent five days in the hospital;  Jeff, <span class=\"link\">five weeks<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Oh man, what a journey,&#8221; Bridges said.  &#8220;Couldn&#8217;t breathe. And it&#8217;s the amazing pain for not being able to breathe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mankiewicz asked, &#8220;You have moments where you think, &#8216;Well, this might be it&#8217;?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Oh, the doctors, yeah, my wife would ask, &#8216;Is he gonna die?&#8217;  And they say, &#8216;We&#8217;re doing the best we can here.&#8217;  They wouldn&#8217;t reassure her that it was all gonna be fine. My doctors were saying, &#8216;Jeff, you gotta fight. Man, you&#8217;re not fighting. You gotta fight.&#8217;  And I said, &#8216;What are you talking about man? I&#8217;m in surrender mode, man!&#8217;  I mean we&#8217;re all gonna die, man. Come on, we&#8217;re all gonna get sick and die, and your friends are gonna die, and that&#8217;s part of it. &#8221; <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-large\"><span class=\"img embed__content\"><img alt=\"jeff-bridges-interview-1280.jpg \" height=\"465\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2022\/06\/04\/fbea7156-7a94-45af-b5aa-964cfd1b5255\/thumbnail\/620x465\/bed32f6a6b38680f73da869005a30c44\/jeff-bridges-interview-1280.jpg 1x, https:\/\/cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2022\/06\/04\/fbea7156-7a94-45af-b5aa-964cfd1b5255\/thumbnail\/1240x930\/c49cf49710f0c52d31b28d66edc56428\/jeff-bridges-interview-1280.jpg 2x\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\"><span class=\"embed__caption\">Actor Jeff Bridges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>            CBS News<\/p>\n<p>                      <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;I imagine you that thought about your family a bunch?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bridges said, &#8220;Oh yeah. Dealing with problems, you know, what&#8217;s right in front of you, and those turned out to be, well, that&#8217;s life. That&#8217;s the way, you know? That&#8217;s what&#8217;s in front of me. And isn &#8216; t it beautiful? &#8220;<\/p>\n<p>This was particularly beautiful: Bridges made a pledge to dance with his daughter at her wedding.  &#8220;And when I started getting better, my goal was walking Haley down the wedding aisle. Not only did I get to walk her down, but we did a little wedding dance. And it was really, really terrific.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>His cancer now in remission, Jeff credits Susan with giving him the resolve to stay strong.<\/p>\n<p>Mankiewicz said, &#8220;I was gonna say, typical Hollywood marriage &#8211; forty-five years!&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yee-hee! So wonderful. Oh, man!&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>The two met in 1975 while Bridges was making a movie in Montana.  &#8220;I have a photograph of the first words that I ever said to my wife, and first words she said to me: &#8216;Will you go out with me?&#8217;  &#8216;No.&#8217;  And click, the guy took the picture. You know, and wow. It&#8217;s my prized possession! &#8221; <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-large\"><span class=\"img embed__content\"><img alt=\"jeff-bridges-and-susan-first-meeting.jpg \" height=\"465\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2022\/06\/04\/24c29fd5-4f3d-464b-b2d7-013f17e7b9a1\/thumbnail\/620x465\/0111994e57883c7e6e9f8714bfd1ee60\/jeff-bridges-and-susan-first-meeting.jpg 1x, https:\/\/cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2022\/06\/04\/24c29fd5-4f3d-464b-b2d7-013f17e7b9a1\/thumbnail\/1240x930\/6357cff61daee6a460cd19d123fe3c54\/jeff-bridges-and-susan-first-meeting.jpg 2x\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\"><span class=\"embed__caption\">Jeff Bridges&#8217; first meeting with his future wife, Susan, captured on film. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>            Jeff Bridges<\/p>\n<p>                      <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He&#8217;s back at work, too, on a TV series, starring in &#8220;The Old Man&#8221; on FX.  He it&#8217;s a richly-drawn character, a former CIA operative pulled back in.  Bridges said, &#8220;He&#8217;s a guy, he&#8217;s getting along in age. He&#8217;s not sure about his sanity about him. And his past about him, well, let&#8217;s say it&#8217;s interesting.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>To watch a trailer for the new series &#8220;The Old Man&#8221; click on the video player below: <br \/><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-youtube-video embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-video\">\n<p>\n    <iframe class=\"embed__content lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/LL2lhM_kDPM?autoplay=0&amp;rel=1\" data-optanon-category=\"essential\" data-height=\"113\" data-width=\"200\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/p><figcaption><span class=\"embed__caption\"><br \/>\n      <cite>The Old Man |  Official Trailer |  FX<\/cite> by<br \/>\n      <cite>FX Networks<\/cite> on YouTube<br \/>\n    <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>2022 is shaping up as much better year for Bridges;  he&#8217;s got a new role, and a fresh perspective: &#8220;During my illness, you so often say, &#8216;That&#8217;s not really what I wanted; I wanted more of this.&#8217;  But just being alive &#8211; seeing, hearing, feeling, touching. If COVID had taught us anything, it&#8217;s taught us that we&#8217;re all in this together, man. We&#8217;re all connected, you know? And to feel that connection in the form of love comin &#8216;at you, that&#8217;s something else! &#8220;<\/p>\n<p><strong>     <br \/>For more info:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>     <br \/>Story produced by Gabriel Falcon.  Editor: Joseph Frandino. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>See also: <\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-video embed--type-content_video is-video embed--float-left embed--size-medium \"><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>          <span class=\"embed__icon\"><br \/>\n            <svg viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use xlink:href=\"#icon-video\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/p>\n<p>          <span class=\"embed__headline\">Jeff Bridges captures life on set in new photo book<\/span><\/p>\n<p>          <span class=\"embed__video-duration\">07:04<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!-- data-recirc-source=\"\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation component--type-recirculation-collection\">\n<p>          Blackberries<br \/>\n          <svg viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\" class=\"icon__caret-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><use xlink:href=\"#icon-caret-down\"\/><\/svg><br \/>\n            <\/aside>\n<p><!-- tags -->\n  <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a spring day in Santa Barbara, Jeff Bridges is having fun turning a backyard into an acting studio for a woefully-unprepared student. &#8220;This is our biggest scene, man; do you know where your mark is?&#8221; he indicated to Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz. &#8220;We can&#8217;t be looking at our mark, man! Okay, now &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/jeff-bridges-on-surviving-cancer-and-covid\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Jeff Bridges on surviving cancer and COVID<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2022\/06\/04\/fbea7156-7a94-45af-b5aa-964cfd1b5255\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/109f0a2401689399923e5c1d8555cccb\/jeff-bridges-interview-1280.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38857\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}