Conversations with Jeff Bridges of HELL OR HIGH WATER

so how did you go about creating this character I mean the look of the character the his accent the way he walks away there's another thing just go on that first question also David McKenzie the director I wasn't familiar with his work and then so I looked at a movie called startup of his I don't know if you guys saw that but you know it was a remarkable film made with a very little budget I said oh man get these two guys together it's gonna be cool but what was your second question so I was gonna ask you about the creating a character but I am curious about David McKenzie I mean he's a Scottish filmmaker yeah I mean what do you think he brings to this kind of very American very West Texas story fresh eyes and you know very concerned about getting it right you know he was he's just soaked up everything and you're talking about the character character we were so fortunate to have bomb board with this guy named Joaquin Jackson was a very famous Texas Ranger and he helped us all you know with the authenticity and and and also um Taylor's cousin support now McNamara is a marshal or was a marshal and was going through the retirement and then I could talk to him and so that helped a lot but as far as preparing for the character I kind of I kind of do how I'm usually do yeah you look inside yourself you see what the parts of yourself kind of match up with the character and maybe magnify certain aspects and kick some aspects to the curb and one thing that kept coming up to me in my mind is my grandfather Fred Simpson who's from who was from Liverpool I had this really dry sense of humor and would tease us all just you know terribly and my brother Bo he inherited that Chi tease me in such a cruel way and my mother would always tell me oh that's just cuz he loves you so much yeah yeah and I could see that you know that it's a you know a form of intimacy I get you I know you so well I could just you know and and so that helped me a lot with my relationship with Gil you know Gil Parra who's so wonderful in the film with a great time working together and so you know that was a guy that I used my old grandad and Beau quite a bit there's an interesting character because he says a lot of things that could be taken as offensive or politically incorrect I mean how do you kind of read lines like that and and make it clear to the audience that that it is just teasing you know that it doesn't come across as as is it just acting all right Sarah a secret to it well I think I think you know we wanted to kind of keep it a mystery as far as uh you know was it serious you know let that let the audience discover that in a slow way I think a lot of that a lot of those you know those racial slurs know that kind of depends on how you were raised you know to a large extent another guy that I drew quite a bit on and I do this with really any part any kind of you know a Western I'm playing or done a lot of work in Texas and played Texans and I met this guy Lloyd caplet it's lower doing the last picture show he was a 16 years old and now we have now done over 70 films together he's by spin my stand and through all these films and as in the last pictures show he was hired as an actor and a part in the movie but he was hired to teach us California kids you know what being a Texas kid is all about and of course you know coming from that part of the country he was you know you know using you know racial words that would rub all us California kids the Lord don't do that oh well most of my friends one day he came to where he was all beat up and I said what What's Wrong Lee did not have nothing nice come on tell me he's all my friends beat me you think your friends beat you up he says yeah I took a black girl to my senior prom and you know they're not my friends anymore you know so it's not you know it's that's kind of the spirit I think it was it's how you are you're raised you right right probably the least you know you know this guy had no yeah it's an interesting film too because you don't share any scenes really with Ben Foster you have one scene for then with Chris Pine I mean did you spend any time with them off set I mean kind of getting into the same kind of spirit yeah so just as I mentioned the last picture show another interesting little fact the first bank that's robbed in the movie is Archer city where unless pictures show it takes place that weird and when we did when we did Texas Phil the sequel to last picture shows you know 20 years after we shot pictures show when we shot it in Archer city and the city look this little town was just the same except there was a big black glass bank just so that was the that was the back we didn't shoot it in Archer City but I thought that was a kind of a fun thing when I read the script I Wow but what was spending time with Dan oh yeah so you know one of the cool things that I kind of miss they used to do it a lot more you know years ago and movies think as you can I can still use they still do it to a certain extent but that is the the social aspect of getting the team together you know and hanging out a bit and David McKenzie did a wonderful thing where we shot it to shut the whole movie in Albuquerque and there was this little log cabin kind of middle in the middle of town that was all set up as that editing suite and they you know we're cutting the movies as we go kind of thing and every weekend David would invite the cast and the crew to this log cabin and he would show us a rough cut of you know the assemblage of what we had shot that week and we would just hang you know party a little bit you know Gil and I we'd get out you know one of the ways that we connected was through music he's a wonderful guitar so I like to play and so you know that we've spent a lot of time that way and we got to hang out with Chris and been that way as well but yeah I remember and you know we used to do a lot more so kind of socializing and hanging and that I think that really informs the work that you guys think I mean I think you're you know you just even if you're playing opposites you know that you're you know a bad guy or a good guy whatever it's just um that intimacy really really helps helps you know helps you relax and do the good work I think you mentioned moosic and music was a big part and a lot of your film just crazy art be a baker wise going on and you're a musician yourself do you listen to music to get into character was there I mean the soundtrack to this movie is amazing with Nick Cave and yeah yeah I make a little playlist you know I'm doing movie yeah yeah I crank it up and makeup trailer your do you remember what was on your playlist for this movie it was probably some towns in there you know some Hank yeah you know and then I remember doing crazy heart and t-bone Burnett is no buddy of mine he was doing the music and he says I'm gonna make you a playlist of what bad Blake would have listened to growing up in Fort Worth because that's where he grew up and he said and you know it's very classic I said what do you mean he says well you know um you had you know Hank Williams and all those guys but you also had no I'm space now on his name who's the your wild sax player that played the plastic saxophone you know no what's that yeah or net yeah yeah and he says he's from Fort Worth and so they were listening to that kind of stuff you know so it was a broad broad you know scope there yeah there was a scene in the film I went to ask you about I should probably say spoiler alert to anyone who was watching this on YouTube and hasn't seen the film you I'd go watch the film first but the scene after you shoot Ben Foster and your character kind of goes through this range of emotions in a matter of just a few seconds of joy and pride and relief and sorrow how do you approach a scene like that where you know you're gonna have to play so many emotions contradictory emotions in a small frame of time you see her it's a bit like saying so how does that wrap it come out of that hand you know making movies is basically pulling off a magic trick you know for a one time magic trick if you're not I mean cuz it's never been done before and you're getting together how are we gonna create this illusion that this is real you know and there's um I think there's a kind of a couple of different types of magic you know one is kind of like the David Copperfield thing you listen to loser you know so we use that a lot in the movies whether it's you know makeup you know you got a a cut you want it to look a new kind of unusual interesting you don't have to look real and there but there's a fine line you don't want to go through too much you know and that goes for your costumes you want it to look kind of interesting but you don't want it to pop so much that it distracts the people same goes for a camera work you know you don't want the camera work to be so interesting that you say oh that's interesting you lose the story you know and the same thing with the directing and and acting as well you know you want to keep it kind of interesting but it's got to be real and it's got to be in the tone of the film so there's that kind of magic that you work with all these other musical magicians in the and your team to come up with and then there's the other kind of magic that's sort of like what the alchemy yeah kinda like alchemy you know so yeah I'm trying to figure out words for being kind of there's a spiritual aspect to you know prayerful side you know where you you just um you're representing an aspect of what what us humans go through and you just you know take me you know just go all the way give into the thing and it just kind of becomes I know it's hard to describe really you could go all the actors here right you guys know what I'm talking about right weird I don't know everybody that approaches it kind of differently you know you mentioned you've done westerns before obviously you keep coming back to the genre why do you think that is what does it attract it to you or you attracted to it is it a mutual I remember as a kid my dad Lloyd Bridges you know coming back from a Western you know he made a bunch help me a high noon where I'm is one tall Texan we heard some great clothes and boots and I brought his boots and his you know it goes back to childhood you know things and playing cowboys and all that I love you I love westerns and it's such a short period in our history it's just fascinating Wow Wow wild times did you ever not want to be an actor I mean you grew up with the actresses parents oh yeah yeah for a long time I did want to be an actor you know probably because my father wanted me to be an actor so much and what kid was to do it the parents weren't I've been here but I resisted it a long time you know actually I had done you know maybe I had 12 mm 12 films under my belt or so before I really decided that this is what I wanted to do because I was I had other interests you know I was into music and painting and a lot of different things and I would say that to my dad he'd say don't be foolish you know that's what's so great about actor you're gonna get to do all of those things yeah I'm glad I listened to the guy but a big turning point in my career came I just finished a movie called last American Hero about a based on Junior Johnson you know stock car race where I had a great time on it but after a movie I feel really exhausted I said I'm not sure if I want to you know use this pretend muscle you know anymore you know write it up for a while you know and [Music] about a week ago a couple yeah about a week after I came home from that movie I get a call from my agent and saying I've got great news I'm not thinking for spacing on his the great great directors and I am anyway it'll come to me in a second maybe The Iceman Cometh they're making a Frankenheimer Thank You max Frankenheimer's you know didn't want you to do this part and it's with Frederic March Robert Ryan Lee Marvin oh god that sounds wonderful but I bushed just tell him thanks a lot want to do this acting thing you know and Lamont Johnson the guy who had directed me and last American hero calls me up and his very deep voice he's like who turned down John Frankenheimer playing the Iceman Cometh you know I said yeah I'm I'm just bushed Lamar you know and he says your bushes were a city so I thought I thought well you know this is interesting maybe I'll do a little experiment on myself I do that occasionally honestly I you know I really don't want to do this thing but maybe I'll do it and this could be the you know the final nail and the acting coffin you know it'll just turn me off and out that'll be in so I've got into the thing and it was an amazing experience it was you know normally if you're lucky you get a couple weeks rehearsal and then you shoot for you know however long issue but this one was eight weeks rehearsal and we shot for two weeks it was like a we shot the whole play a four-hour movie you know quite remarkable long you know long takes they had these big 10-minute mags on there so long since we learned it basically like a play so it was eight weeks hanging out with all of these old masters you know and you see Frederic March you know must be in his 80s let me see you pissed off in himself you know just so desperate to get it right do justice to the material you know Lee Marvin all of them were just had that same anxiety that's one of the reasons I didn't like to do it all this is patience I get so anxious I don't know if you guys been swallow you know anxiety man and I see all these old guys sitting there at a table with Robert Ryan who was a young actor I really admire Billy Budd there's God he's just so such a wonderful actor he was sitting there and he had his hands on the table and you know they say all right we're getting ready people you know rolling up you know and you're stuck in and then there's open oh there's a hair in the gate or something like that and they stop and Bob takes his hands off the table and then these two big puddles of sweat on the table when I say Bob you've got after all these years you're still nervous ego I'd really be scared about wasn't scared you know that that fear thing it's just you know you gotta you know eat your buddy you know he's there all the time it's not you know it's not gonna go away no help but that kind of turned the corner so yeah I can do this is interesting and this was even after you'd done the last picture show yeah do you remember what role this is for the SAG after foundation what role got you your sag card oh gosh I you know they still have to have Hartley and all that stuff gone yeah I mean I was you know I did see huh you know when I was 8 you know my dad come on the play what did you learn from working with your father and your and your mother brother for that matter - well they were my teachers you know my dad you know with Sea Hunt yeah Mike Mike Nelson here I have so many thoughts as I mentioned his name yes I can imagine him you know working on the scenes with me sitting me on his bed there and doing the lines and say you know now you know make it seem like it's happening for this first time and you know don't you say your lies listen to what I'm saying and you know make let that have some kind of effect or not go out of the room and come back and I do a completely different you know that kind of stuff and and then oh god beau was you know my early the teacher as well he I remember we'd be working on scenes to get get me an agent and stuff and he devised this wonderful this wonderful thing where you know actors you gotta have a place to perform you know so in your young kid you know you know you're working on scenes where do you do that beau came up with this great idea we rented a flatbed truck and we would pull into a supermarket and Mike our father taught us how to fake fight you know stage fight and we would stage a fight and said [ __ ] out of each other and people would gather around jump up on the back of the flatbed and we would do our scenes until the cops would come and then we would try to bring them into the scene through an improv but that really pissed the cops off like they were part of the show and then we said oh no we're getting out and we get in a car and we go to the next supermarket and we played the supermarket search aside from eager family members who were your role models as actors when you were coming up active role models I mean you know you know Brando came to mind he's like popular figures during the time and it kind of admired the but I don't remember ever being really okay you know I can't really remember one that really you know I don't know if that was because my dad was an actor and I could kind of you know see um see how he approached and everything one of the things I remember early in my career really trying I saw I saw how much my father struggled with the success of Sea Hunt you know he he pulled that part off so well people thought he was the skin diver yeah so he got a lot of skin diving scripts you know that would piss him off because yeah here's the guy who's new shakes you study Shakespeare comedy and he replaced them you know what's Man of La Mancha you know who was a Richard Kiley yeah may have Lamantia he's like you bet you know had a lot of different talents and that frustrated him very much so I remember one of the things I learned from him was to kind of mix up my persona you know to not give the audience too strong a persona you know but for a couple of reasons one it was a message to the the finance ears and the guys who were paying to get the movies made that you can do bunch of different things you get those type of scripts but also as the audience you know I love going to the movies and I often found it difficult to imagine a an actor and a part that he had if he had a very strong persona as something else when he tried to stretch into something else it didn't feel right yeah so I wanted to pleasantly confuse the audience and not really know you know that you know I think you succeeded in that good you've worked with so many amazing actors and directors over the years but since we are here in the Robin Williams theater I wanted to ask you about your memories of working with Robin on the Fisher King [Applause] well I remember you know Terry Gilliam you know reading me the script you know and uh and this I I was concerned I didn't feel like the guy didn't feel like that guy said Lynn Carey why do you want me I mentioned a couple of my friends who do a better job you know so he says no you can do it and I was you know I could talk about this anxiety you know I'm pulling off of something you know I said I don't know pull it off and I was concerned about Robin I know he was this incredible comic and I had these you know his long monologue you know when he's in the coma there and I'm talking to this long thing and I kept having this vision of him you know and in fact it was just the opposite he was so supportive in the most you know it was not saying a word but just being there with me and I learned through that that comedy was just the something in this kid bag I mean he was a deep actor you know I loved all his his more recent film stories playing those back movie he had about three movies in the road where he's playing bad guys I think was great in those and just got a wonderful a gracious generous a wonderful wonderful guy you know you know as we mentioned his name's I could have you know imagine you know many different stories are probably once I remember because Robin would you know he would be so um so entertaining I remember we'd have these long nights where we work you know 16-hour days prep towards the end and everybody's dragon and Robin would stand up - feet on the ground and then go around and just jam on everybody you know just into a show you know right there and terry gilliam yeah most directors would say all right let's get back to work people come on you know and Terry would say you know juices bag you know that was you know something I remember about the only time he was at loss for words I remember with Robin I felt very honored to be in the presence of at that moment we were working another really late night under one of the bridges here in New York and we're both exhausted in a wet and tired and we're in the middle of a scene and I see a bench over there I say I said why don't you sit down on the bench and as soon as we sit down a flock is in a flock as a flock of pigeons you know kind of Jack Benny to each other that was that no words nothing surreal moment another thing that comes to mind about Robin you guys probably know radioman right so God can you imagine now you know we're working and here comes radio man say what is god oh it's just you know is this the guy that Robin modeled himself at no it was just total coincidence and I remember being in New York to promote this movie that I had worked about 20 years on the giver to try to you know get it off the ground and it's a big opening in New York and it's the day Robin is dies and I'm so crushed and I'm so hot the juxtapositions of emotions going through my body it was just crazy and I'm going to some after-party for this The Giver thing and I look over on the street and here comes Robin I see her what and now it's radio man it was so wonderful and we just you know brought Robin back for a moment in our hearts and minds I also ever miss if I didn't mention the Big Lebowski because it's become such a huge cultural phenomenon why why do you think that is what do you think people respond to about that that film and about the dude and the whole script man those brothers they know how to do it make it look like nothing right you know that's you know there's a lot of effort into it but it's all the right kind and and they're just you know that's script and that and yes those guys are so so wonderful so I think that's the deal it's just a great movie you know I I'm you know if I see one of my movies on TV or something I'll you know sit up watch a little click you know and then with Lebowski I'll say well I'll just I'll watch it till tuturro licks the ball and [Music] all the performances are so cool but as far as it did I think he's just he's an authentic cat you know he's just who he is and that's that's it you know I think that might be appealing but then it's just a great movie it's just a really well made movie yeah yeah you're also remarkable in that you've been famous for many years and you seem to have maintained a fairly normal personal life and I'm wondering if EV any advice to the actors here about how to balance work and and your home life and keep it I know you meditate you probably big help along those lines but what what else could you share with us about that well my father not only teaching me that you know the acting basics and stuff probably the biggest thing he taught me which is to me I think it is one of the acting basics but it was not something he did it said it words but it just is in his being I got to work with him twice as an adult and blown away and Tucker and it was such a great so great now to you know be active with my dad you know and where you know the two older guys and the joy at which he approached his work food just amazing man you know he'd come on to the set and I mean I wasn't forced or he just dug it what Doug what we were all up to so much and that joy permeated it was contagious and everybody kind of Russ oh yeah this is fun oh yeah I forgot for a second you know this is cool and then everybody's having a you know feeling good and that kind of makes you relaxed and then your best stuff can kind of come through you you know and and that joy he carries on in his in his life and with his you know marriage they were my parents were married for a very long time and they of course like every one of us had your terrible problems and challenges but that that joy was always there you know we're alive here we are you know let's make the best of this you know this is wonderful let's love each other you know and when you're your ask your mind to come up with a word I'm trying to think of my father's acting teacher you know man I like that thing you know nickname some Russian guys Stanislavski no no you know I you know kind of met quite a few years ago you know looking at a documentary about Michael check oh and there's my dad oh I didn't know and I and I started listening and all of those basics that my dad was saying that's what Michael check I was talking about and there's a lot of love in that teaching and and that I think that you know that goes well for your work your private life and all that man would you spend on a time buddies want to run for a couple quick questions from the audience cuz they have a lot of good ones first question is do you have any interest in doing stage work I did some with my dad you know when I was a you know teenager summer stock stuff and I would imagine if it if it's something came along that really piqued my interest I have a funny um sort of method of choosing what I do and I was thinking about the you know the Iceman Cometh Pacific you know kind of an example of this I really try hard not to work not to engage because I know kind of what that takes if you if you do this then you're not gonna be able to do that and you don't even know what that is yet but you might like that better than this you know and then takes you away from your family and all the other interests you have so I I really try hard not to not to engage now get me back on the question again play stage yeah yeah yeah so I really tried hard not to do it and until something comes across that is so so cool that I just can't I can't I can't resist it you know I had this dream of going down a river with these big walls on either side cliffs and these whirlpools and I mean a little boat rowboat and I'm got to navigate down through these whirlpools and that the vortex of each whirlpool is a beautiful jewel good jam or something I'll be going down you know trying to get through the world and I let it go too far and I unlike that and I mean a painting of that dream of that moment and the paintings title is Jeff makes the decision so I really try hard not to go so the same thing we're with the state you would if it was you know you know the play was great and and also I'm kind of used to the the the amount of time that a movie takes you know I don't know what the commitment would be but I'm certainly I'm not scratching that off the you know I'll never do a play or anything like that no one more quick one a very practical question how do you memorize your lines oh well I use a little tape recorder do the other guy's lines you know and then you know just do mine like that sometimes I'll write it out and you're right speeches out you know that's that kind of help sometimes has gotten any easier harder over the years I mean do you you're probably a little harder you know yeah but just you know going over you know just you know going going over it and over it and over it and over it you know try yeah this is an interesting this is one of the things my dad told me I don't know if it's a check off thing or not but he told me this really interesting thing he said when you're going over your lines over your scenes you can do it in three different ways one go over your lines as yourself if you were the character and make it seamless you know much like yourself as possible then go over that same scene but concentrate on the character one of the things that are different than you you know the character has a limp or an accent or no approaches life in a different way than you and you can say that and then the third way I like to think of it almost architectural II you know that you have a story and if the story was like a building that you're presenting what function does this scene have in thatin and you know in telling the story what do you want to convey in that scene you know if there's in movies of course they shoot all out of sequence and one of the things that I like to do is I take I'll take the whole script and I'll put it up I'll put it so it can be on two pieces of paper that are kind of facing each other like this see the large plans like into just one line for each kind of scene and that way I can keep and I think with a yellow marker you know as we do my ticket or like that can keep me kind of tracking you know where where I am in the story and what you want to tell in this story like that and then another thing that comes to mind is and that's probably the most important way to work on this thing because so often this act is on you know I go I fall into this thing too it feels so wonderful to emote you know to have the emotion coming coursing through your body and it can feel great but it can not be the right move you know I've often thought you know I've often you know say oh I kicked ass and that's then you see the dailies and you say no that's not right you know so I like to work on the scenes and I'm a photographer so I kind of approach it almost like bracketing and exposure you know do the scene you know where you kind of the pocket where you think it is and then go radical one way and then radical to the other way and that also gives the the editor and the director at the end of the movie different choices to paint so you give them all different colors that they can work with them if we have time during the movie I try to do takes like that too and it's wonderful nowadays with digital wouldn't be even did it with film where you can do several takes on one slate you know you just you know rather than a reset and you know do that kind of thing well I think whatever you're doing is working particularly well in this film thank you so much for taking the time to wonderful you

Channel: SAG-AFTRA Foundation

Views: 16,630

Rating: 4.9069767 out of 5

Keywords: SAG Foundation, SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Acting, Actors, Hell or High Water, Jeff Bridges, Conversations, Q&A, Interview, Jeff, Bridges

Id: aZHVGHpQXJs

Length: 40min 9sec (2409 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 06 2017