Jeff Bridges – An Interview with The Dude and The Zen Master
Or this riff on “Take her easy”:
Jeff Bridges: When you start opening your heart, life gets hungry. It says, Come on, bring it on! And the more you open, the hungrier it gets: Yeah, that’s it, come on, give it! . . . . But I sometimes fear my own excitement. Excitement and creativity are wonderful things: Open, open, do, do! But the other side is saying, You might be writing checks that your ass can’t cash, buddy. That’s the reason for Take her easy, because I can get too excited. This is also why my wife, Sue, is so good. She dampens my excitement in the most beautiful way.
And so on for “I dig your style, Dude,” “Dude, you’re being very un-Dude,” “New sh** has come to light,” “What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski?,” “Nothing’s fu**ed, Dude,” “Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you,” and “Some burgers, some beers, a few laughs. Our fu**ing troubles are over, Dude.” Such lines epitomize a cherished classic that has spawned not only legions of fans (known as “Achievers”) but also Lebowski Fest – a vast, weekend-long celebration of all things Lebowski that occurs frequently and has been held in most of America’s major cities, as well as in the UK.
As much as Jeff Bridges admires the Dude, he emphasizes that he and the character are not one and the same: “Many people think I have a persona, that I’m the Dude. But that’s not who I am, I’m more and other than that.” With honesty and great humor, Jeff Bridges explores how his Zen practice and his life experience inform one another as he discusses his rich and loving relationship with his parents; the evolution of his long marriage to his wife, Sue; his highly successful and varied career; his work to end hunger; the things that trouble him, frighten him, satisfy him, and bring him joy; and his warm connection with his fans. Jeff Bridges is brilliantly perceptive and instructive on the art of acting and the process of making movies, which he compares to a snake leaving behind a snakeskin. He writes: “The final movie is the snakeskin, which can be pretty and interesting and you can do things with it. The snake is what happens while we’re making the movie – the relationships, the experience. I try to open wide and get really connected with the people I’m working with – the director, the cast, the production crew – all of us cooking in a safe and generous space, trying to get the job done.
