Jeff Bridges updated his followers on his health after being diagnosed with lymphoma and has now stated that his tumor has shrunk. The well-known Hollywood veteran is currently starring in a new TV drama called The Old Man.
The legendary actor was still filming his new TV series when he was diagnosed with cancer.
He learned the news as filming was halted due to the outbreak, prompting him to embark on a two-year “health odyssey,” in his words.
Bridges said: “I got cancer, treatment, and COVID. Because the treatment had decimated my immune system, I had severe COVID.”
“I was ill for around two years, which was a strange experience.”
The popular actor, whose credits include The Big Lebowski, True Grit, Crazy Heart, and the Tron films, states that despite spending months in the hospital, he tried to find the good in his situation.
He adds that not everything about being unwell was unpleasant. “There were some nice things to being so unwell that was kind of unexpected, like feeling all that love pouring towards me from my family and friends and people all around the world.”
“That was an unexpectedly great experience and aroused a romantic yearning in me.”
“I said, ‘Oh yeah, this is life, this is amazing,’ and everything became hyper-precious during that era.”
Bridges shared good news concerning his disease with fans in January 2021, indicating that his tumor had “dramatically shrunk.”
He claims that after he healed, returning to work made his hospital stay seem like a fever dream.
“My health journey began when we took a vacation due to the outbreak and took some time off.”
“Then, two years later, I went back to work, and it was the strangest feeling I’d ever experienced. It felt like we had a long weekend, and I couldn’t wait to tell my pals about this dream I had in which I was ill, in the hospital, and in other weird conditions.”
“But I’m relieved to be back on my feet.”
The Oscar-winning actor, 72, adds that he is now feeling great and is excited to be promoting his program because it is the first time he has had a recurring part on television since he was a child.
“I could see from his experience what a difficult job it was and how concerned he was about that; it was difficult in that you felt you didn’t have enough time to give it its best shot – the story and your performance and so forth – and I was a little concerned about that,” he says. “My father, Lloyd Bridges, had done a lot of TV shows. That, I feel, is what kept me from working on television.”
“But now that there is so much high-quality stuff being made for television and so much of it is available, I knew I needed to branch out.”
Bridges stated that after meeting with the series’ producers, including The Old Man’s creator, John Steinberg, he was assured that only the best programmers would be recruited to work on it.
It was ultimately “no different than making a film,” he claims.
According to Bridges, who claims he has never worked on as many action scenes, the series chronicles the life of a former CIA operative on the run and is jam-packed with action scenes.
Even though the show is called The Old Man, the main character does not fit the stereotype of an aged person, even though the cast readily admits that he has flaws.
He claims that being disconnected from TikTok and streaming, Facebook, and phones “makes me feel ancient.”
“I’m a little behind on that things because I don’t do any of it. And let me tell you, it’s moving fast.”
