(Credit: Alamy)
Sun 13 April 2025 16:15, UK
In the 70+ years since Jeff Bridges made his screen debut in 1951’s The Company She Keeps, he’s worked with a cavalcade of actors and filmmakers with extensive comedy experience who built their reputations on making audiences laugh, whether through stand-up, sketch comedy, or the silver screen.
That even includes his own father, Lloyd. Although the first generation of the acting dynasty was known for decades as a dependable character actor, Airplane! changed everything. Suddenly, his straight-laced buffoonery was in demand, leading to further comedic roles in the Hot Shots! duology and Mafia! Clearly, Bridges Sr loved an exclamation mark.
Once Jeff had finally decided that he wanted to be an actor, he quickly rose up the ranks to accrue two Academy Award nominations by his mid-20s. He’s been a constant presence onscreen since the early 1970s, and he’s also proven that he no slouch at tickling the funny bone himself, most notably with a career-defining performance in the Coen brothers classic, The Big Lebowski.
Along the way, he’s partnered up with Ben Stiller, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Will Arnett, Simon Pegg, and Diedrich Bader, performers who all cut their teeth in different forms of comedy. He even technically made a movie with Dudley Moore, although he was fired during the production of The Mirror Has Two Faces and replaced by George Segal, who was no slouch in that department either.
However, only one actor got the distinction of being called an all-timer by ‘The Dude’ himself, and it’s a little ironic that it happened in a picture that was intended to tug at the heartstrings rather than leave viewers doubled over in hysterics. Still, there are multiple valid reasons why so many people hold Robin Williams on such a high pedestal.
The funnyman earned an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ in Terry Gilliam’s New York fable, The Fisher King. Bridges was initially concerned that his co-star’s exuberance and penchant for going off-script would sabotage his performance. That wasn’t the case, leaving him with nothing but admiration.
“He was so there for me in a completely silent way that I could feel support in the silence; there was no winking or cracking jokes,” he said in a Reddit AMA while reflecting on how Williams toned down his signature shtick for the express purpose of letting a scene play out the way Bridges intended.
“I finally came to learn that Robin is a very serious, accomplished actor, and comedy is just one of the tricks in his bag,” he elaborated. “He is an all-time master entertainer and actor.” Even when the cameras weren’t rolling, Bridges fondly remembers how Williams “would start to go around the crew and cast and just riff on everybody; he would go on and on making us laugh with his improvisation.”
Williams is undoubtedly one of Hollywood’s most beloved and brilliant comic minds, but what left Bridges especially impressed was that he was self-aware enough to switch it off and allow his scene partner the room to breathe, something that can’t be said of other spotlight-hoggers who like to make it all about themselves.
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