To Live and Bowl in LA

The sleek beauty that Jeff Bridges assumed in THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS will not be much in evidence in THE BIG LEBOWSKI, and neither will the weary handsomeness of WILD BILL. In the new movie from the fabulous Coen boys, Bridges heads in the other direction as a laid back guy living in a slo-mo world of his own making. "It was the opposite assignment," says Bridges, sounding laconic and gleeful. "I got to develop the grungy side of myself."

KBH: So can we start with Jeff Lebowski... who is he and what's his story?

JB: He's the dude. He's a guy who is kind of stuck in the 70s. The script described him as a guy whose casualness runs deep. He makes an art of laying back. He has a group of buds he hangs out with. John Goodman is one of his buddies and Buscemi's another. They're bowling buddies but I don't really want to give the impression that it's a bowling movie. We kind of hang out in a bowling alley but it's not centered around bowling as the main theme or anything.

KBH: How did you hook up with Joel and Ehtna for this project?

JB: They came to me with kind of a sketch of this project a couple of years ago. I guess when they sat down and started to write this thing I surfaced in their brain pans... I think they kind of wrote it with me in mind.

KBH: Did they say why?

JB: What do you mean?

KBH: Well if I were trying to imagine an actor that the Coens might write a part for... it wouldn't be you.

JB: (Bursts out laughing) Yeah, right. That's really a question for them.

KBH: So were you a fan? Were you up for working with them?

JB: Yeah. I was a fan from BLOOD SIMPLE. I remember when I saw that I was so impressed. I don't like movies that are style over substance...their films are very stylish and although their sense of style is so strong it doesn't seem to be overpowering.

KBH: You have a brother that you work with and here you are with another set of brothers. They're behind-the-camera guys. Are you at all interesetd in pursuing that with Beau?

JB: Very much so. Just before I got on the phone with you I was on the phone with Beau... we've got a project in development now. We're always looking to work together in some capacity and yeah working with the Coens was fascinating to watch that dynamic and to see how those guys work. It got me really excited about working with Beau more.

KBH: So how do they work together?

JB: They collaborate on all phases of it. It's kind of nearly put up there on the screen that Joel directs and Ethan produces but they both do it all. As an actor I had never worked with a team of directors before... I was a little concerned how that would go down but it was almost like one person in two different bodies. It's really great they've got that much more brain and soul power.

KBH: I know you don't want to tell me the plot here but what can you tell me... about the plot?

JB: It's kind of like a Raymond Chandler private eye story. It's a comedy of course and instead of being Philip Marlowe the hero is the dude... a laid back unemployed guy stuck in the 70s.

KBH: Does he end up in the same place knowing something different?

JB: (Laughs) He probably ends up in the same place not knowing anything different. You know... the dude is the dude is the dude.

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