Q&a Jeff Bridges

SI: Did you channel your inner B�la K�rolyi for Stick It?

Bridges: Well, I did speak to a lot of coaches, but the people who really helped me were the Olympians who were part of the cast. Also, I was able to go to a Junior Olympic National meet in L.A. I must have been a strange sight because here were all these girls flipping around and I have my camera taking pictures of the coaches.

SI: Your brother, Beau, made the UCLA basketball team as a walk-on in 1960-61. What was he like as a player?

Bridges: He was only 5'9" or so, but he was a great athlete. He was also scouted by the Dodgers. Beau still has a close connection with John Wooden. He narrates one of his DVDs.

SI: You've appeared in many sports films, including The Last American Hero, in which you played a character based on racing legend Junior Johnson. How did you prepare for the part?

Bridges: I hung out with Junior and [his then wife] Flossie. Did some shine with them, some cherry bounce and white lightning. I kind of soaked up the atmosphere [laughs].

SI: In Against All Odds you played a football player at the end of his career. Did you base that on anyone?

Bridges: Yeah, I hung out with [former Bills receiver] Bob Chandler. I had lunch with him. He was like a cripple. He was getting to his chair, and you heard every move. [I asked why he kept playing, and] he said, "There's nothing like catching that long ball. If I knew I wouldn't be ridiculed to death, I would be sobbing every time I caught the ball. It's such an emotional high. There's nothing else in life that will ever get that for me."

SI: Have you attended any Lebowski Fests, where fans of the movie bowl and sip White Russians?

Bridges: I went to one in L.A. last year. We got a little band together and played some tunes for the guys. We did The Man in Me, the Dylan tune in Lebowski. It was wild performing to a sea of Dudes.