Actor Jeff Bridges has been lucky enough to star in a lot of movies in his career, but perhaps none of them are as popular as The Big Lebowski. In the film, Bridges played a character known as The Dude, who only wanted to bowl, drink White Russians and get a new rug. While The Big Lebowski didn't get much love in its theatrical release, it eventually became a cult classic and is now furiously loved by fans to the point where there's even a festival devoted entirely to the film. It's nuts to think, but Bridges almost refused the part because he was worried his daughters would get teased.
I'll tell you what, on that one, it was tough. I read the script; I loved the script, but I'm playing this pothead guy, not that I have anything against potheads. ... [But] I know there's kind of a downside to being the kid of a famous person; there's a lot of baggage. I thought, you know, I don't know how my girls --- I had three young girls at the time --- how they were going to feel. How they were going to get teased or how they would feel about that.
Jeff Bridges appeared on Conan the other night and revealed this little nugget of information. While he thought the script was great, he was worried that his daughters would get teased if he played a pothead - not that there's anything wrong with potheads. Bridges himself understands what it's like to be the child of an actor. His father was Lloyd Bridges, who some will probably recognize best from the comedy Airplane! A little too old at that point to have been affected by Airplane! jokes, Bridges still knew the baggage actor kids faced. It's very sweet that he consulted with his whole family before taking the role.
Check out this clip of Jeff Bridges dad, Lloyd Bridges, and his hilarious running bit in Airplane! It makes you wonder if Bridges had to suffer through a chorus of "picked a bad week to quit" jokes.
He may be known best as The Dude, but you can currently see Bridges in Hell or High Water, one of the most positively received films of the year. Bridges plays a Texas Ranger charged with tracking down a pair of bank-robbing brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) and bringing them to justice. If that doesn't float your boat, then you can wait to see him in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. The actor is currently filming a role in the highly anticipated sequel, which is due to release on June 16, 2017.
