Jeff Bridges is open to a “Big Lebowski” remake, but only under one condition — he has to be in it.
Variety caught up with the actor Saturday night at the premiere of his latest film, “Bad Times at the El Royale,” where Bridges reflected on the 20th anniversary of the cult hit. The “Only the Brave” star was amused at the thought of a “Big Lebowski” remake. Would he be interested?
“Yeah, if I was in it!” he said with a laugh.
“So many things flash,” he said, when asked about any memorable moments from filming “Big Lebowski.”
“I’m thinking of the day that I invited my wife to come, and my girls, to come visit me on set,” he said, launching into a story about a particularly memorable prank the cast had played on him. As he does with all of his films, Bridges was taking photos on set that day.
“It was the day that I was to be pulled on a little skateboard underneath all these bowling pin careens and looking up at the vaginas as I passed.” Bridges’ wife Susan, standing beside him, told him to use the word “crotch” instead.
“I asked if I could take a picture, this is a good photo opportunity, and she said to me, ‘By all means do,’” he said. “So I get on my skateboard and I look up and I see these…tufts…bundles of pubic hair.”
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“And I learned that they had all played a joke on The Dude, had stuffed their crotches,” Bridges said.
Drew Goddard directed “Bad Times at the El Royale,” and Bridges said it was Goddard’s script that drew him to the role — lucky for star Jon Hamm, who cited Bridges’ involvement as part of the reason he wanted to participate in the film.
“The amount of talent in front of the camera is, I think, only exceeded by the amount of talent behind the camera. So it was such a truly inspiring group of folks to work with,” Hamm told Variety on the red carpet. “Especially in the case with Jeff, people I’ve wanted to work with since I was in college or even younger. So to get that opportunity, you gotta jump with both feet,” he said.
Hamm isn’t alone. Broadway star Cynthia Erivo, who plays singer Darlene Sweet, said she was also excited to work with Bridges.
“It never stops, you know what I mean? It’s relentless. All the twists, all the turns, it’s constant,” said Erivo, who is one Oscar away from EGOT status, on her reason for joining the cast. “Then you add in the wonderful characters that end up being in this place…and then I heard Jeff [Bridges] was part of it, and I was like, well okay, I’m definitely doing it.”
Erivo herself proved a draw for co-star Alvina August, who portrays Vesta Shears, another Motown singer.
“My favorite part was Cynthia. Let’s just talk about her,” said August. “She’s one of my heroes, and just to have the chance to work with her and just kind of hear her. In person, my ears were just like, Oh my God. Such a treat,” she said.
“The secret of the movie is there’s no heroes there’s no villains, there’s just people,” said Goddard. “At the end of the day I just wrote what I wanted to see, and what I like is movies that are not any one thing. Movies that evolve, movies that keep you guessing every step of the way. That was what I set out to do.”
Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, Manny Jacinto, Lewis Pullman, and Jim O’Heir also star in “Bad Times,” which hits theaters Oct. 12.