Sam Elliott and Jeff Bridges at the 2023 SAG Awards.Photo: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty
The dudes abide!
Sam Elliottopened up about recently reuniting with hisBig LebowskicostarJeff Bridgesat the 2023SAG Awardsin an interview withEntertainment Tonight, nearly 25 years after the release of the film.
“I’m sitting with Jeff at the table and I haven’t seen Jeff in quite a time,” said Elliott, 78, of the Sunday event in Los Angeles. “I’mreally happy to be with him.”
Bridges, 73, played protagonist Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski in theCoen brothers' 1998 cult-classic crime-comedy film. Elliott played “The Stranger,” who serves as the movie’s narrator as he sits at the bar at the bowling alley the Dude regularly frequents with his friends.
CostarringJohn Goodman,Julianne Moore,Steve Buscemi,John Turturro,Philip Seymour Hoffmanand more,The Big Lebowskifollows the misadventures of Bridges' slacker character as he is mistaken for a man who owes money to kingpin Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara).
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Jeff Bridges and Sam Elliott inThe Big Lebowski(1998).Gramercy Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
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“I wonder if anybody else is gonna read anything tonight,” Elliott said on stage after pulling a piece of paper from his pocket to read his acceptance speech. “I do this because I didn’t expect to be up here. I only have 43 seconds to say this and I’ve already wasted a half of that.”
“What can I say in 45 seconds, after just receiving the most meaningful acknowledgement of my 55-year career from a group of my peers?” he continued. “Many of whom I don’t even know, or know only from afar as a fan who respects their work. Not time to say enough.”
“But I can say thank you, and I can tell you that I’mhonored and grateful to be in your company, whether in this audience or at home,” Elliott added. “After seeing the work of my fellow nominees, I’m not sure I should be standing up here, but I’m sure I’ll get over that.”
Referencing his new award, he told his fellow actors and actresses, “I’m gonna treasure this guy, this gal, because it comes from all of you, my brothers and sisters from SAG-AFTRA. I’ll treasure it as a constant reminder of1883and what a gift it was for all of us on both sides of the camera.”
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Back in 2018, Bridges, Goodman, 70, and Buscemi, 65, celebrated the20th anniversary ofThe Big Lebowskiduring a segment on theTodayshow.
But did it really feel like two decades had passed?
“It does and it doesn’t. It’s strange,” Goodman said at the time. “There’s a whole generation now that’s growing up with this stuff, kids in college seeing it for the first time.”
Although Buscemi agreed withGoodman that the script was hilarious, he remembered not understanding why Bridges and Goodman’s characters were so mean to his Donny.
“I loved it, I thought it was really kind of wild and weird and funny,” he said. “But I have to say, when I was reading the part of Donny, I didn’t get it. I felt bad for the guy; I felt sad. I thought, ‘Why does Walter bully him all the time?’ And then my favorite scene is the ashes.”
source: people.com
