Jeff Bridges Looks Back connected Tough Battle With Cancer & COVID-19

Jeff Bridges' wellness travel has been thing abbreviated of a challenge.

The 73-year-old—who archetypal made his cancer diagnosis nationalist successful October 2020, conscionable months before developing COVID-19—is reflecting connected his roadworthy to recovery.

"A batch of getting amended was a substance of mounting truly tiny goals. At archetypal they'd say, ‘How agelong tin you stand?' For a while, my grounds was 45 seconds earlier I'd collapse," helium told AARP in a caller interview, published May 23. "And past they were saying: ‘Oh, look, you're lasting for a minute! That's truthful cool, present tin you locomotion 5 feet?'"

The Big Lebowski actor—whose tumor has shrunk "to the size of a marble"—went connected to enactment that having his immune strategy stripped owed to the crab attraction made warring COVID "really, truly tough."  

"For me," Jeff told the outlet, "cancer was thing compared to the COVID."

"I retrieve the doc saying to me, ‘Jeff, you've got to fight. You're not fighting,'" helium recalled. "But I didn't get it anymore. I conscionable didn't cognize however to bash that. I was successful surrender mode. I'd accidental to myself, ‘Everybody dies, and this is maine dying.' And I'd perceive myself go, ‘Oh, well, present we are, connected to the adjacent adventure.'"

Jeff besides admitted that during his recovery, helium wasn't definite he'd ever be backmost successful beforehand of the camera. 

"I didn't deliberation I'd ever enactment again, really," he shared. "So astatine archetypal I said, ‘Well, we'll see.' But yet that became, ‘Maybe I can.' I person to admit that I was inactive frightened of going backmost to work. Then I began to deliberation of my betterment arsenic a acquisition being presented."

And astir 2 years aft they had to halt filming aft 4 episodes for Jeff to person treatment, the starring antheral was capable to instrumentality to the acceptable of The Old Man to decorativeness play one.

"I travel backmost to work, and, man, it was similar a dream, arsenic if we'd conscionable had a agelong play oregon something," Jeff recalled. "I was seeing each the aforesaid faces successful the formed and crew. Very bizarre. Everybody showed specified dedication and hung in. We finished it. I admit that."

And on the days wherever COVID betterment makes filming The Old Man difficult, it's his formed that brings him back. 

"I'm truthful blessed to person this cast to speech to and jam with," helium added. "To get backmost to doing what invigorates you—it feels great, man."