Jeff Bridges’ favourite fictional character: “I like his philosophies”
When Jeff Bridges was a youngster without any sense of direction, his father was the one who turned him onto the holistic world of acting.
“I had questions about what I was going to do,” Bridges once said. “And my dad would say, ‘Jeff, don’t be ridiculous, that’s the wonderful thing about acting, it’s going to call upon all of your interests.’”
Aside from being one of the biggest names in Hollywood, Bridges’ cross-disciplinary interests led him into orbiting worlds, like music, exploring how storytelling – when done well – is the same no matter where you look. But it also comes from admiring heroes and taking stock of how they found new ways to tell their stories.
In film, Bridges found inspiration early on in directors like John Huston, who showed him how much creativity and productivity on a film set centred around fostering the right environment. In music, it was all about Bob Dylan, who he’s been onto since the beginning, following him from his folk days through “the electric stuff”, each a masterclass in the art of real storytelling. Blonde on Blonde, in particular, is one that never leaves his mind.
In his own projects, Bridges lives by the loose mantra that you become a good storyteller yourself when you lean into yourself and don’t try to be something you’re not. It’s a cliché, but as with all good clichés, they’re there for a reason – and as an actor, constantly exercising humility is a vital step in pulling off your best work. It’s also something he learned from a beloved fictional character once.
Talking to The AV Club in 2014, Bridges said that if he were to choose a “pop culture best friend”, it would be the spinach-guzzling sailor himself, Popeye the Sailor Man. “Popeye comes to mind. He’s quite a wonderful philosopher and an interesting cat. Felix the Cat, speaking of the cartoon world, would also be nice to hang out with, with his bag of tricks,” mused Bridges.
He went on, “I like his philosophies. ‘I am what I am.’ And he was health-oriented with spinach. I have to throw that in.”
All jokes aside, this philosophy is what he brings to most of his characters. In Starman, for instance, Bridges’ character has an impeccably positive outlook on the human condition, saying that, “When things are at their worst, you humans are at your best.”
Granted, being self-assured in the same way Popeye carries himself is a little different from the sweeping grand statements of an alien presence looking at humans scramble for purpose, but there’s a common theme of resilience that always piques his interest.
Bridges also once said that his enemies would probably describe him as “high-minded”, using his own self-assuredness as an insult. But this only comes from years and years of thickening your skin in an industry that often tears its best subjects down. And of course, it also comes from admiring legends like Popeye, who constantly linger as a figure of power and self-advocacy when things get especially tough.
