Jeff Bridgesis enjoying a kind of homecoming on this sun-drenched morning in Beverly Hills.
“Now it’s starting to look familiar,” he says.
That knack for shape-shifting won him anAcademy Award(as country singer Bad Blake in 2009’sCrazy Heart).
In real life, though, Bridges looks and sounds a lot like Lebowski.
He has admitted to a fondness for the occasional toke.
His speech is studded with Haight Street slang.
This morning Bridges is dressed in a T-shirt and faded corduroys.
At 64, he retains His Dudeship’s bearish build, so his light-footedness is a surprise.
He soft-shoes it onto a triangular deck.
“Very cool,” he exclaims, raising his arms and stretching yogically.
“This is just an amazing pad!”
But the resemblance between actor and avatar goes only so far.
To begin with, Bridges is far from lazy.
He’s known as one of the most conscientious and least self-absorbed stars in Hollywood.
He avoids confrontations and ego struggles.
Jeff’s vibe really helped us through some difficult days during filming."
Indeed, he’s one of filmdom’s most dedicated family men.
The couple have three daughters, with whom they are exceedingly close.
(Isabelle, 33, an artist, is working on a children’s book with Bridges.
Jessie, 31, is a guitarist who often plays at her father’s gigs.
Interior designer Haley, 28, helped decorate her parents' house.)
It’s hard to imagine the Dude with a grandchild, but Bridges has one.
When the 3-year-old accidentally locked herself in the bathroom, who did she call?
She called Grandma!"
Bridges says, beaming.
And without renouncing his Lebowski-esque persona, he seems to have achieved something that eludes many movie folks maturity.
Which raises a perplexing question.
As the Dude might put it: How did he get so un-[expletived]-up?
For that, he credits his parents, whose marriage lasted almost 60 years.
Dorothy, though, “was kind of a spectacular mom,” Bridges recalls.
“I’d say, ‘Let’s go into your makeup kit.
I want to make you up like a clown.’
Or, ‘Let’s play spaceman.
I’ll be a space monster.
you’ve got the option to be trapped under the kitchen table.'”
