The character Jeff Bridges called the spiritual successor to The Dude: “I like the comparison”
Filmmakers, like artists of all mediums, don’t exist in isolation. Every filmmaker out there draws from a pool of influences picked up from the very beginning of their cinema-going experiences, and, as such, it is often relatively easy to link two seemingly unrelated projects together without stretching your imagination too much.
This is far from being a product of the modern film industry, either. Look at any of the triumphs of the French New Wave – particularly Godard – from back in the 1950s and 1960s, and you will find that Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar is never too far away, in the same way that Godard’s Breathless isn’t alien to Martin Scorsese’s exploration of 1970s New York City. That constant unspoken dialogue between filmmakers has certainly extended onto actors every now and then, too.
If you think back upon the most iconic film characters of the 1990s, standing alongside the likes of Mia Wallace, Edward Scissorhands, and Woody from Toy Story, is ‘The Dude’. Brought to life – albeit a laidback life filled with white Russians and bowling – by Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski, the character became an instant figure of worship for similarly inclined men who can dream of nothing more than lounging around in a dressing gown, drinking that holy concoction of vodka and cream.
It didn’t take long after the Coen brothers introduced The Dude into the collective consciousness of cinemagoers for Bridges’ character to become an unavoidable aspect of popular culture.
Even if you are among the few who have somehow never seen The Big Lebowski, the chances are that you have encountered The Dude on a number of occasions through the guise of quotes, Halloween costumes, or terrible dating app conversations. It makes sense, therefore, that Bridges’ performance has bled over into other cinematic masterpieces.
Namely, Leonardo DiCaprio has been very open about the fact that his recent character in One Battle After Another drew heavily from the slacker sensibilities of The Dude, even if DiCaprio’s character is placed in much more dramatic surroundings. In support of his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest work, though, the actor received the seal of approval from The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the actor heaped praise on the project: “The performances were all so wonderful,” he said. “Leo just kicked ass, and everyone – Sean, the whole cast – it was just a wonderful experience. I love seeing a good movie like that. […] I just really enjoyed it on so many levels.”
As far as the connection between his beloved 1998 role and DiCaprio’s nearly 30 years later, he admitted, “I can see comparisons.”
“Both of those guys, you look at ’em with a certain lens, and they look like lazy sons of bitches,” the actor explained. “They don’t really have anything to really give to the world or anything. But on closer examination, you see they’re kind of deeper than that, or their spirits run deeper than that. So I like the comparison.”
Although The Big Lebowski and One Battle After Another exist in two very disparate sections of the film industry, DiCaprio’s performance as “Ghetto” Pat Calhoun certainly unites those two worlds, banded together under a common appreciation for the simpler things in life – like bowling, white Russians, or violent left-wing revolution.
