Jeff Bridges Thinking Quotations

I don't really think in career terms.

I think my love of journalizing my life comes from my mom.

I've never been motivated by the award thing. There's a certain thing that this fame thing does that makes my job harder, in a way. I'm still working with that. I don't think about it too much until somebody asks me a question, and then I think about it.

Play doesn't have to be a frivolous thing. You may think of a Beethoven symphony as something serious, but it's still being played. I think Oscar Wilde said that life is too important to be taken seriously.

I just hope that theaters remain. I think there's something very wonderful about getting into a dark room with a bunch of people. There's something cool about that. Brings us all together in one room where we can experience all those emotions.

As far as the lack of hits goes, I think perhaps it's because I've played a lot of different roles and have not created a persona that the public can latch on to. I have played everything from psychopathic killers to romantic leading men, and in picking such diverse roles I have avoided typecasting.

Every time I walk down one of those red carpets, you think I'd be used to it after all these years, but it's like it's happening for the first time.

One of my favorite artists is Tom Waits, whom most people think of as a wonderful singer-songwriter and a great poet. I certainly think of him that way, but I also know him as a terrific actor. You know, that persona that he puts on when he's doing his music comes from being an actor, figuring out a persona.

I think there's a real joy in going to see movies when you discover them yourself.

Do I have a long-term plan? Kind of. I have a general direction, I think. But it's funny what comes down the pike.

I don't think I ever went down that movie star path. I always enjoy taking a 90-degree turn from the last thing I did.

You have that Frank Capra kind of side to it and the characters are really well drawn, so I think everybody tried their best to stay faithful to the script.

I like to think of myself as a character actor, though there's some redundancy in that.

I think we're all hooked, I feel my own hook-ness on immediate gratification you know. I want what I want.

I did [Michael Cimino] first movie, "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," and I remember I was still in my twenties and very nervous, we're shooting up in Montana, and I'm thinking, "What the hell am I doing here? I don't feel anything like this part.

Sometimes I think of movie acting as advanced pretend.

I had years of partying, and I was kind of surprised and happy I survived it all. Now, being a parent, I look back on it thinking, Oh God, the things you did!

Sometimes you'll have a movie that you're very proud of and you think it transcended all of your expectations but it doesn't come out at the right time. I have done movies that have never been released. That can be depressing.

Once, during an interview in front of my wife, I was asked, "Are you one of those actors who brings your character home? Do you stay in character?" I said, "No, not really. I don't do that," and she started laughing. I asked her why. She said, "Well, you might think you don't bring characters home, but you do." So, while I don't feel like a character is lingering, it probably is.

If you change partners every time it gets tough or you get a little dissatisfied, then I don't think you get the richness that's available in a long-term relationship.

This is many, many years ago. It was shortly after "Starman" I think. I don't know how close I was to getting the part. I met with [director] Penny Marshall and that's one that I knew would be a hit. It just felt hit-ish. But it's like you go to a store and you see a jacket and you go "I love that jacket" and you try it on and it's too big or too small for you and it's the only one they have. For some reason that part just didn't fit me.

Taylor Sheridan I think wrote a very good script. It reeked of authenticity. He seemed like a guy who knew what he was talking about and it turned out that Taylor's uncle is a Marshal, so he knew things from that side.

I confessed to Mike [Cimino] a couple of days before we shot. I was like, "What am I doing here, Mike?" And Mike just looked at me, in that very directorial manor, took a long pause, and he said, "You know the game tag?" And I said, "Yeah." And he said, "Well, you're it." That was some of the best direction I think I've ever received.