Jeff Bridges names the movies that “transcends all of your expectations”
Throughout a career that’s spanned more than half a century, Jeff Bridges has appeared in almost every type of movie there is, but only a very small few have been dubbed transcendental by the man himself.
With an Academy Award win from seven nominations spread out across a 45-year period, Bridges has been at the top of his game for a very long time, affording him an insight into what makes a truly special film that can only be learned from experience.
Even when he dipped his toes into blockbuster waters he found the experience of making Marvel Studios’ Iron Man to be more akin to an experimental student film than a major effects-heavy comic book adaptation, and it came with the added bonus of giving him the chance to realise a lifelong dream by shaving his head completely bald for a role.
Inevitably, not every one of his credits has been a rousing success, but that’s what happens when any person spends so long working in Hollywood. However, the finest entries in Bridges’ filmography are set to stand the test of time and endure for generations to come, not that he had any such expectations when he went in.
The star simply signs on the dotted line, does his research and preparation, performs his part on set, and hopes for the best. However, in some cases, he’ll find himself remarking on being part of something truly unique, as he explained to The Telegraph when reflecting on his transcendental titles.
“One of the things that I find so exciting about life is that you’re constantly surprised,” he mused. “You never know what’s going to happen, and it’s certainly like that making movies; every once in a while one will come along that transcends all of your expectations.”
His Oscar-winning turn as a jaded country musician in Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart was “certainly a movie like that” in the leading man’s estimation, as was his iconic turn in the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski. Co-starring with his brother Beau in period-set musical romance The Fabulous Baker Boys was another, and so was Peter Bogdanovich’s coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show.
“There’s a bunch of them,” Bridges ruminated. “I look back at my filmography and I’m pretty jazzed with the stuff I’ve been part of, they’re all movies I’d like to see.” That’s an opinion any self-respective cinephile would agree with, because there’s at least one entry in his back catalogue that needs to be watched at least once, if not many times more.
Bridges has been around the block enough times to know those sorts of projects don’t come around all too often, but it’s clear that he cherishes those experiences as being among his professional high points.
