Latest Jeff Bridges Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I was loving music, and loving art, painting, so I was considering those things, but I must say I dug acting as well.

  Jeff Bridges

  Art, Acting, Painting

  Source: www.motherjones.com

• I had success as an actor relatively early. When I was 22, I got nominated for an Academy Award for The Last Picture Show, so that road, you know, had the least resistance. I was doing my music all that time, but it's pretty hard to turn down these great movie offers. And my father counseled me; he said, "You know, one of the wonderful things about acting is that you can incorporate all of your interests into the different parts you play." I'm glad I listened to the old man, because that's the way it turned out.

  Jeff Bridges

  Father, Men, Acting

  "Jeff Bridges Abides". Interview With Tim Mcdonnell, www.motherjones.com. November/December 2011.

• I think it would really be more like 10 films before I locked in and said, "Yeah, I'm really gonna do this thing."

  Jeff Bridges

  Thinking, Film

  Source: www.motherjones.com

• One of the tough things about being an actor, probably the hardest thing, is getting your foot in the door, and my father handled that for me at a very early age. It's funny, I get an image of the thing with eggs and chickens where, when the egg is getting ready to hatch, the little chicken will start to peck at the shell a little bit, and the mom will hear that and start to peck at the shell from the outside, and they're both kind of working together.

  Jeff Bridges

  Mom, Father, Working Together

  Source: www.motherjones.com

• I remember when I was a kid, with the acting thing, I resented it because, you know, you don't want to do what your parents want you to do. You got your own things. And the whole idea of getting a job because of who your father is - that didn't feel right. But after a while I guess I figured I must be doing something right, because people wouldn't keep hiring me if I didn't have something to give.

  Jeff Bridges

  Father, Kids, People

  "Jeff Bridges Abides". Interview With Tim Mcdonnell, www.motherjones.com. November/December 2011.

• You kind of notice what's going on in your body, and you can kind of feel a certain tightening, or fear, which is something that, as an artist, I've kind of befriended. I can pretty much count on it for anything that I engage in - that thing like, "Am I going to be able to pull this off?" Well, what am I gonna do with this feeling? The more nervous you get, the more worried you get about it. So you pay attention to what you might need.

  Jeff Bridges

  Artist, Feelings, Attention

  "Jeff Bridges Abides". Interview With Tim Mcdonnell, www.motherjones.com. November/December 2011.

• I remember in one of my early films I had a drunk scene. It was Kiss Me Goodbye, with Sally Field, and I was playing this kind of nerdy guy who gets drunk and dances. And so I thought, "Oh well, I'll just get drunk and do the dance." And it was wonderful, but then I had the rest of the day, and the next day. So I learned that you don't really have to do the things that your character is doing. But us actors, we use something called sense memory. I've certainly been drunk before, and part of my job is to recall that without getting drunk.

  Jeff Bridges

  Goodbye, Memories, Character

  "Jeff Bridges Abides". Interview With Tim Mcdonnell, www.motherjones.com. November/December 2011.

• I'm one of those guys who will drink to, uh, kind of celebrate. I don't drink too much when I'm down or anything like that. But you've really got to be, I guess the word that came to mind is "creative," about the way you're celebrating. You want to keep the celebration going. I've learned that lesson over and over. Here on the road there's a lot of cause for celebration, but you just gotta get the damper out a little bit, and you want to keep that governor on. You want to keep your give-a-shitter in kick.

  Jeff Bridges

  Creative, Guy, Mind

  Source: www.motherjones.com

• It used to kind of upset me when I'd be working on a part in my hotel room, and I'd get an idea for a song and find myself on the guitar for an hour when I should be working on my lines. But I've discovered that when I start to shake up my creativity it wants to be expressed in all kinds of different ways. They all kind of inform each other.

  Jeff Bridges

  Song, Creativity, Upset

  Source: www.motherjones.com

• I find I'm most challenged by things I really care about, because I really want to do them well. It causes quite a bit of anxiety. But that very thing you're afraid of is kind of like a blessing in disguise. If you didn't have that fear, you wouldn't have the other side - courage and bravery, positive emotions.As an actor, you get used to those fears, and you're almost happy when they show up. It makes you learn your lines and prepare.

  Jeff Bridges

  Blessing, Bravery, Anxiety

  Source: film.avclub.com

• I understand professionals have to work when they don't feel like it, and I certainly don't feel like it. So maybe this will put the nail in the coffin for my acting career.

  Jeff Bridges

  Acting

  Source: film.avclub.com

• Normally, after a movie, you know, you don't want to get up and do another one right away. That kind of pretend muscle or whatever you use making movies is kind of, you know, spent. And you have other things to do.

  Jeff Bridges

  Use, Want, Kind

  Source: www.npr.org

• I have my prized possession in my wallet. That's a photograph of the first words I ever uttered to my wife, and her answer to my question when I asked her, "Will you go out with me?"

  Jeff Bridges

  Wife, Answers, Firsts

  "Rappin' with "The Dude"". Interview with Kam Williams, www.kamwilliams.com. August 21, 2016.

• Once, during an interview in front of my wife, I was asked, "Are you one of those actors who brings your character home? Do you stay in character?" I said, "No, not really. I don't do that," and she started laughing. I asked her why. She said, "Well, you might think you don't bring characters home, but you do." So, while I don't feel like a character is lingering, it probably is.

  Jeff Bridges

  Home, Character, Thinking

• I play music as much as I can. I have a band called The Abiders. We've put out a couple of albums you can find on iTunes. We tour and all that stuff, so music is very much a part of my life.

  Jeff Bridges

  Couple, Play, Albums

  "Kam on Film: Jeff Bridges: ‘The Hell or High Water’ Interview". Interview with Kam Williams, www.theaquarian.com. September 7, 2016.

• I went through a very hairy period. I had a movie where I was going to play Walt Whitman that fell through. At the time, I had grown this huge beard and very long hair. But then, the movie got canceled, I had some other parts, and I currently have very short hair. So, when I look in the mirror, I don't know who I am exactly. It's interesting.

  Jeff Bridges

  Mirrors, Hair, Who I Am

  Interview with Kam Williams, www.kamwilliams.com. August 21, 2016.

• "The Big Lebowski" is a real masterpiece, as far as I'm concerned. I suppose I'm a bit biased because I'm in it.

  Jeff Bridges

  Real, Bigs, Masterpiece

  "Kam on Film: Jeff Bridges: ‘The Hell or High Water’ Interview". Interview with Kam Williams, www.theaquarian.com. September 7, 2016.

• I loved working with my brother [Beau] and my father [Lloyd] whenever that happened. I had a wonderful experience making "The Fabulous Baker Boys," which I felt was a great movie, too.

  Jeff Bridges

  Brother, Father, Boys

  "PUM One on One: Jeff Bridges The “Hell or High Water” Interview". Interview with Kam Williams, www.pittsburghurbanmedia.com.

• Every couple of years we'll watch the movie and it's like watching home movies, seeing the ranch on-screen. But that movie Heaven's Gate, people are appreciating it more and more as time goes on.

  Jeff Bridges

  Couple, Home, Years

  Interview with Jason Guerrasio, www.businessinsider.com. August 8, 2016.

• I've done quite a few movies, I generally can feel that I'm not right for the role or a general fear if I can pull it off, and him giving that "tag" so to speak gave me the confidence. Like that Miles Davis line, "Don't worry about mistakes, there aren't any." Once you are the part, you're the guy, so you can't not be the guy because you're it.

  Jeff Bridges

  Mistake, Giving, Worry

  Source: www.businessinsider.com

• He [Michael Cimino] wasn't the typical filmmaker. I don't know if he had more in him, he certainly had a lot of scripts. I know he wrote a hell of a lot.

  Jeff Bridges

  Typical, Scripts, Hell

  "Jeff Bridges talks to us about his gripping new movie and why he wants to play The Dude again". Interview with Jason Guerrasio, www.businessinsider.com. August 8, 2016.

• I hadn't talked to him in many, many years. He got a bad rap on "Heaven's Gate." I actually live in the hog ranch from "Heaven's Gate" in Montana. Mike Cimino gave me that set, the whorehouse, that's my house.

  Jeff Bridges

  Rap, Years, House

  Interview with Jason Guerrasio, uk.businessinsider.com. August 8, 2016.

• I confessed to Mike [Cimino] a couple of days before we shot. I was like, "What am I doing here, Mike?" And Mike just looked at me, in that very directorial manor, took a long pause, and he said, "You know the game tag?" And I said, "Yeah." And he said, "Well, you're it." That was some of the best direction I think I've ever received.

  Jeff Bridges

  Couple, Thinking, Games

  "Jeff Bridges talks to us about his gripping new movie and why he wants to play The Dude again". Interview with Jason Guerrasio, www.businessinsider.com. August 8, 2016..

• This is many, many years ago. It was shortly after "Starman" I think. I don't know how close I was to getting the part. I met with [director] Penny Marshall and that's one that I knew would be a hit. It just felt hit-ish. But it's like you go to a store and you see a jacket and you go "I love that jacket" and you try it on and it's too big or too small for you and it's the only one they have. For some reason that part just didn't fit me.

  Jeff Bridges

  Thinking, Years, Trying

  "Jeff Bridges talks to us about his gripping new movie and why he wants to play The Dude again". Interview with Jason Guerrasio, uk.businessinsider.com. August 8, 2016.

• I did [Michael Cimino] first movie, "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," and I remember I was still in my twenties and very nervous, we're shooting up in Montana, and I'm thinking, "What the hell am I doing here? I don't feel anything like this part.

  Jeff Bridges

  Thinking, Twenties, Shooting Up

  "Jeff Bridges talks to us about his gripping new movie and why he wants to play The Dude again". Interview with Jason Guerrasio, www.businessinsider.com. August 8, 2016.