After being diagnosed with lymphoma in 2020, Jeff Bridges kept fans updated on his progress and in 2021 said his tumour had shrunk. Now, the much-loved Hollywood veteran is starring in a new TV series, The Old Man.
"I said, 'Oh yeah, this is life, this is wonderful', and everything became kind of hyper-precious during that time."Bridges posted updates on his treatment on his website. Pic: jeffbridges.com"We broke for pandemic and we were off for a few months and that's where my health adventure began.
"And then two years later, I went back to work and it was the most bizarre feeling - it was like we had a long weekend and I couldn't wait to tell my buddies this dream that I had: I was sick, I was in the hospital, you know, it all felt very dreamlike.The Oscar-winning actor, 72, says he is now feeling great, and glad to be promoting his show - the first time he's had a recurring role on TV since he was a child.
"My father, Lloyd Bridges, had done many TV series and I could tell from his experience what a tough job it was and how he was concerned that, it was difficult in that you felt you didn't have enough time to really give it its best shot - the story and your performance and so forth - and I was a little bit concerned about that," he says."I think that's what held me back from engaging in doing television.
"But now, my gosh, the great stuff that's coming out of television and the content, there's so much of it and it's such high quality, I thought to myself, I better experiment with this." Bridges says after meeting with The Old Man creator John Steinberg and others behind the series he was assured the best programme makers would be hired to work on it.