In October of 2020 Jeff Bridges announced to the world that he had been diagnosed with cancer. His fans were obviously shocked but the actor seemed to keep his famously upbeat outlook following the announcement. And now two years later, with Bridges’ long-delayed FX series finally on the verge of debuting, Jeff Bridges still has an incredibly positive outlook about the whole ordeal.
Jeff Bridges lymphoma is currently in remission and the Big Lebowski actor seems to be doing pretty well following his diagnosis. Between Bridges’ own need to step away, and the global pandemic, the new FX series The Old Man was delayed for over a year, but is now set to debut in June. In a virtual press conference for the show (via The Wrap) Bridges had nothing but praise for everybody at the studio who produced the series, who were more than willing to work with the actor in whatever way was necessary so that he felt safe. Bridges explained…
As far as I’m concerned, FX and all of the team were so considerate and gave me all of the time I needed to heal and all the support I needed. The protocols — we were still in COVID — made me feel very safe and eager to get down to business and play.
Every production was delayed due to the global pandemic and as filming began to resume on television and movies all over the world, there was certainly concern from everybody about making sure that everything was as safe as it could be. Of course, if you’re somebody dealing with cancer, safety is that much more of a concern. Catching COVID can be a problem for anybody, but those with underlying health conditions were that much more at risk. Unfortunately Jeff Bridges did catch COVID, but he was able to get through it.
One might expect that over a year of cancer treatment, plus COVID, was a rough experience for Jeff Bridges, but the actor seems to be quite positive about the whole thing. The fact that many of Jeff Bridges’ former co-stars were there with support likely helped. In the same press conference (via Deadline), Bridges called the experience of taking 18-months away from working a “bizarre dream.” He’s clearly happy to be able to be back at work. Bridges said…
I went through a year and a half of this bizarre dream and then came back. It was great to be back with the gang.
With the Tron actor’s cancer in remission right now it probably does all feel like it was a dream, and fans certainly hope it remains that way. Having said that, few would respond to a cancer diagnosis in quite the same upbeat way as Jeff Bridges. If a positive mental attitude actually helps one fight illness, then few have a stronger weapon against cancer.