The scene Jeff Bridges refused to shoot with Winona Ryder
Jeff Bridges has enjoyed on-screen romances with some very big names. He played a visiting alien who fell in love with Karen Allen in Starman and starred opposite Jessica Lange in the 1976 remake of King Kong. This is in stark contrast to his real romantic life, as Bridge has been married to Susan Geston since 1977. The pair met during the filming of Rancho Deluxe, when Geston was working as a waitress.
The Big Lebowski star had not one, but two on-screen dalliances in the 1993 film Fearless. At the start of the film, Bridges’ Max Klein is a timid family man, married to his wife Laura, portrayed by Isabella Rossellini. However, following a plane crash that he survives, his outlook on life changes dramatically. He becomes involved with a woman named Carla (Rosie Perez), as he gains a new perspective following his near-death experience.
There was almost another famous face vying for Bridges’ affection, though. As revealed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, Winona Ryder auditioned for the movie, around the same time she was also up for a part in the Coen brothers’ The Hudsucker Proxy. However, she was turned away from Fearless for a very specific reason. “Jeff Bridges, who I love, wouldn’t kiss me because I was too young,” said Ryder (via Newsweek). During an audition for the film, Bridges refused to kiss his prospective co-star, on the grounds that she looked a similar age to his daughter. It isn’t expressly stated which part Ryder was going for, but it can be heavily inferred that she was in the running for the part of Carla.
Ryder would have been in her early 20s when Fearless was shooting. Bridges is 22 years older than her and, while his eldest daughter was actually born an entire decade after Ryder, you can see the point he’s trying to make. Perez is seven years older than Ryder, which still makes her much younger than Bridges, but at least meant he was at the tail end of her 20s when Fearless came out.
Despite her young age, Ryder had been a fixture of Hollywood for some time when this audition rolled around. She had risen to fame as a teenager through her breakout role in Beetlejuice, before affirming her star status with performances in Heathers, Edward Scissorhands, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Unfortunately, because the world is a terrible place, the young idol was subject to rampant sexualisation by the media and those within the film industry. Bridges’ refusal to be a part of this proves that this unacceptable behaviour was still wrong at the time, even if it was prevalent.
As well as a moral victory, Bridges’ decision worked out extremely well for all involved. Fearless was a triumph, earning its star some of the best reviews of his career. As for Perez, she was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ at the Oscars for her role as the grief-stricken mother. With her schedule clear, Ryder was free to take on other projects, including Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence. For her performance in that, she was also nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actress.’
In an industry teeming with creeps and sleazebags, it’s comforting to know that men like Jeff Bridges are still willing to stand up for what they believe in.
