2 l June
12 - 18, 2022
Northeast Oregon TV Weekly
BY JAY BOBBIN
Jeff Bridges stars in the
FX espionage-drama
series “The Old Man,”
premiering Thursday.
Jeff Bridges is ‘The Old Man’
in FX espionage thriller
Your
Adventure
Awaits!
Thousands of titles
Unlimited # of sessions at
’
A cancer battle and the coronavirus
couldn’t keep Jeff Bridges from completing
his first television series, even with a break of
almost two years while he recovered.
Though he appeared on his father Lloyd’s
classic “Sea Hunt” (as did his brother Beau),
the “Crazy Heart” Oscar winner hasn’t had
his own show ... until now. Premiering
Thursday, June 16, on FX (and then on
Hulu), “The Old Man” casts Bridges as a
CIA veteran targeted for elimination; he
proves quite adept at outwitting his pursuers,
showing he still knows the tricks of the trade.
Based on a bestseller by Thomas Perry, the
suspense-drama also stars John Lithgow as
the federal agent in charge of the hunt, with
Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) and
E.J. Bonilla as operatives working with him.
Gbenga Akinnagbe plays an assassin also on
the trail, with Amy Brenneman as a woman
who becomes involved with the fugitive
when she rents him a room.
“If you ever watched ‘Sea Hunt’ and saw
an eight-year-old kid, that was probably me,”
the good-humored Bridges muses. “My dad
set this whole thing in motion. I remember
him sitting me on his bed and teaching
me all the basics of acting. The big thing I
learned from him was the joy in which he
approached his work ... or his play.
“I got to work with him twice as an adult,
in ‘Tucker: The Man and His Dream’ and
‘Blown Away,’ and it was so great to see him
come on the set and everybody was like, ‘Oh,
this is kind of fun. We can relax and have fun
and play.’ When you relax like that, the good
stuff – the story that you’re telling – can
come out, and you’re not tense, wondering if
you’re not doing it in a loving place.”
Six-time Primetime Emmy winner Lithgow
considers himself a beneficiary of that
approach. Though it takes a while for him
and Bridges to cross paths in ‘The Old Man,’
he reports one scene “took us six days and it
was entirely played inside an automobile. We
never stopped talking, telling stories, telling
jokes, talking about our families, talking
about philosophy. And the whole time, we
had our microphones on and the whole crew
was listening to that, and they were hearing
the birth of a great lifetime friendship.”
Noting he feels “terrific” following his
bouts with lymphoma and COVID-19,
Bridges says that in doing TV, “One of my
concerns was about how different it would
be than making a movie, and it is absolutely
no different. You have enough time to do
your work. (This show) is an exceptionally
good one, with the artists that have been
assembled.”
Her Feet, His Feet,
We take care of ALL Feet
We specialize in quality medical and surgical care
for all types of foot and ankle problems.
Travis T. Hampton, D.P.M.
2400 Resort Street
Baker City, OR 97814
Explore the ONLINE LIBRARY at www.bakerlib.org
541.523.6419
info@bakerlib.org
Foot and Ankle Surgeon
541-963-0265
888-843-9090
www.GVfoot.com
La Grande
1408 N Hall Street
Enterprise
601 Medical Parkway
Baker
3175 Pocahontas Rd.