An Observation

I was watching The Big Lebowski again recently, which is one of my favorite films, and it made me think about how many of Jeff Bridges' films I have really loved, like in a very profound way.

When I was a kid, I watched Starman over and over and over, to the point I can recognize it by a single note of its score. Ditto Tron, which makes me nerd out big time. His voice will always invoke Prince Lir, because The Last Unicorn was another favorite of my childhood.

The Fisher King is the only film that I watched, walked out of, purchased a ticket for the next showing, and saw again immediately. The black leather jacket I wore in high school had the chalice that was the film's emblem painted on one shoulder.

And this Lebowski tableau is an actual thing in my actual office:


Those are just the highlights, but I've really enjoyed a lot of his films. I also love him in interviews: Most recently, I saw him leading a zen ohm on Jimmy Fallon's show, which was so great! He is so earnest. He also speaks very frankly about how nepotism worked in his favor in starting his career, and, probably because he has daughters and also because he is cool, he tends to use gender-neutral or -inclusive language in interviews. Enough that I've noticed it.

When people ask me who my favorite actor is, Jeff Bridges never comes first to mind. But maybe he should.