This story about Jeff Bridges and “The Old Man” first ran in the Drama Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Over seven decades, Jeff Bridges has demonstrated an uncanny ability to disappear into characters while still seeming like himself — whether it’s a fawn-eyed extraterrestrial (“Starman”), a chill Zen master (“The Big Lebowski”) or an alcoholic country singer (“Crazy Heart),” a performance for which he won an Oscar. Now Bridges mesmerizes as Dan Chase, a rogue CIA operative pulled back into the game to protect his daughter in FX’s slow-burn espionage thriller “The Old Man,” which has weathered a rough road to completion.
Production shut down during the pandemic and again when Bridges was diagnosed with lymphoma in the fall of 2020. He underwent chemotherapy, then spent several months in the hospital after contracting Covid-19. He is now in remission and healthy, and “The Old Man” has become FX’s most-watched series of all time.
You’ve mostly focused on film in your career. What’s the shift to television been like?
I was concerned over the years because my father, Lloyd Bridges, had done many TV shows, and I saw how hard he worked, how frustrating it was because the quality of television back in those days wasn’t like the quality of movies. I was kind of reticent to get into the TV world. And then the quality of TV started to get so outrageously cool and the execution was so wonderful. Then this story came along and I got really excited about it.
You’ve often said you’re a family man at heart, and I wondered how much you connected with Dan Chase because of the show’s focus on family and fatherhood.
Well, not to the degree that Dan Chase has been away from his daughter, but being in the movie biz, I spent most of my kids’ childhoods away working. My childhood was often like that, too, with my dad working, so I could relate to the challenges of that. And just talking about acting — you don’t get better actors than guys in the CIA. They’re acting for their lives, you know?
John Lithgow said working with you on this show was amazing because you’re a wonderful person and such an effortless actor. What’s the secret to your approach?
Well, I gotta return the compliment. John and I have become dear friends over the weeks that we’ve been working together. I think we approach it the same way, and the kind of acting that I aspire to and admire is the one where you don’t see the effort. It feels like when you’re watching it, you’re just a fly on the wall watching the thing.
You have some serious fight scenes in “The Old Man.” You can really feel the physicality of them. What was it like doing them?
I’ve always enjoyed those kinds of action scenes and fight scenes. They are a lot of fun to figure out and we’re so fortunate to have Tim Connolly, our stunt coordinator. He’s a master at it. And it’s the same kind of thing about that effortless quality that you see in the fight scenes that seem real. It’s the same with the acting: to make it seem like it’s happening for the first time and that you’re watching something real.