“They thought he was way off-base”: The “genius” Jeff Bridges performance nobody understood
The directors who have worked with Jeff Bridges across his illustrious career make up the crème de la crème of Hollywood history.
Early in his run, he starred in Peter Bogdanovich’s acclaimed coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show, which he followed up by working for John Huston and Robert Benton, and though he’s slowed down a lot in recent years, he’s still found the time to work with Drew Goddard, Joseph Kosinski, and others.
One visionary that it’s easy to forget ever crossed paths with the Oscar winner is John Carpenter, in whose Starman, Bridges appeared in the titular role after producer Michael Douglas couldn’t play the part himself. The character is an alien with no physical form who takes on the image of a recently deceased man named Scott Hayden. As well as learning about Earth and fleeing from a government agency, ‘Scott’ also forms a strange romance with the real man’s widow, played by Karen Allen.
Carpenter spoke about making Starman to author Robert J Emery for his book The Directors, explaining that, as the movie was shot out of sequence, Bridges had to flip-flop between playing ‘Scott’ and the Starman. While the director trusted that his actor knew what he was doing, his crew weren’t so convinced.
“They thought he was way off base in his approach to the character,” Carpenter recalled, “It was only when you saw it all together that you realised his genius. He had figured out this character from beginning to end. He had figured out every stage of Starman and every stage of the alien. I’m very proud of his work and my work. It earned him an Academy Award nomination. People loved the movie. And it’s not only because it’s written so very well, but also because Jeff is a brilliant actor.”
Shooting a film out of sequence is industry standard, unless a director feels like their actors would benefit from filming in sequence, such as if the cast is full of young children.
Carpenter doesn’t name names when he mentions “the crew”, but you’d have thought that at least some of the people working on Starman would have had access to a shooting script; maybe they didn’t, or maybe they just didn’t read it, who knows.
There is a clear logical progression to the Starman character: he comes to Earth a stranger to the human race, but through his relationship with Karen Allen’s character and his interactions with various elements of culture, he learns to appreciate this strange blue rock. To jump in and out of the character at random points in his growth is no easy feat, but Bridges seamlessly pulls it off in the finished product.
Carpenter wasn’t the only one to acknowledge Bridges’ performance, which led to him being nominated for ‘Best Actor’ at the Academy Awards. The icon has spoken many times about how love for the film and how he’s been hankering for a sequel pretty much since they wrapped the first one.
