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John Lithgow & Jeff Bridges Answer The Web's Most Searched Questions

Legendary actors John Lithgow and Jeff Bridges visit WIRED to field their most searched questions on Google. Where did John Lithgow grow up? What was Jeff Bridges’ first movie? Does Jeff Bridges play guitar? When did John Lithgow start acting? What does Jeff Bridges love most about 'The Big Lebowski?' Answers to these questions and plenty more await on the WIRED Autocomplete Interview.

The second season of FXs The Old Man premieres with two episodes on Thursday, September 12 at 10pm ET/PT on FX, streaming the next day on Hulu.

Director: Jackie Phillips
Director of Photography: AJ Young
Editor: Matthew Colby
Talent: Jeff Bridges; John Lithgow
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Talent Booker: Mica Medoff
Camera Operator: Lucas Vilicich
Sound Mixer: Gray Thomas-Sowers
Production Assistant: Lauren Boucher; Shanti Cuizon-Burden
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Assistant Editor: Fynn Lithgow

Released on 09/12/2024

Transcript

I'm John Lithgow,

and this is my friend. Jeff Bridges.

We are doing the Wired Autocomplete shenanigans.

[upbeat jazz music]

I'm afraid to Google myself, I mean, I don't wanna see that.

I mean, I wanna see that, but I don't wanna see that.

[upbeat jazz music]

Oh, here we go. Careful.

Oh, this is great.

What was Jeff Bridges' first movie?

Oh, The Company She Keeps, six months old.

Oh, six months old? Six months old.

I'll tell you the story.

I probably already did,

but you forgot because you're an old man.

Yeah, I'm an old man, that's right.

Yeah.

Hit me again.

What do Jeff Bridges' grandchildren call him?

Oh, well see I wanted them to call me Dudepa.

Dudepa?

But they've shortened it now to just Doodie.

I hope it's Howdy Doodie and not dog doodie,

they're referring to.

But you know they're kids,

you know which one they will pick.

What did Jeff Bridges win an Oscar for?

That's a no-brainer.

Crazy Heart, yeah. Yeah.

I'm awfully glad you didn't forget that one.

Oh, I could have easily.

You would have been an old man.

I could have.

What camera does Jeff Bridges use?

Widelux, Widelux! There it is.

And I'm gonna do a little pitching now.

My wife Susan and I are creating a new, a Widelux,

because the old factories burned down.

Yeah and they take incredible pictures.

Three or four of which feature me

as the old man's friend, John.

Sue, my wife, gave me one as a first anniversary present.

Oh.

And that's about the only one I use now.

And that was 47 years ago. Yeah.

Isn't that something?

[John] Marriage is a good thing. Wow.

[board crashing]

What have I done?

Okay, let's see how you do.

All right, okay, this'll be fun.

Where did John Lithgow grow up?

Ah, well, I'm still growing up.

I'm still trying to make it to maturity,

but I was born in Rochester, New York.

By age two, I was living in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

By sixth grade, I was living in, oh, my God,

Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Waterville, Ohio,

Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, Akron, Ohio.

Man, you moved around a lot.

We went on a lot of,

I finished high school in Princeton, New Jersey.

Who is John Lithgow in Shrek?

Ah, Lord Farquaad. Oh, that's right.

I always, and people used to ask me, you know,

is there any part you couldn't play?

I said, Well, I'll never play anyone short.

And then along came, Lord Farquaad.

There you go, see? See?

What season of Dexter is John Lithgow in?

As opposed to out.

Season four.

Recognized the world around as the scariest.

Mainly because of the Trinity Killer.

That was me.

But I'm not really like that.

I love playing villains.

You know, I'm a well known nice guy,

which makes it all the better to play villains.

I'm the last person you'd suspect.

John Lithgow.

In Footloose.

Was John Lithgow in Footloose.

I was in the original Footloose.

In the remake, I was played by Dennis Quaid,

where my part was.

But yes, the answer is yes.

Footloose, 40 years old this year.

And would you please stand on the box

and do a little footloosing.

♪ Footloose ♪

♪ Put on your Sunday shoes ♪

Or whatever it is, was.

♪ Come on, put on the fan, my knees ♪

♪ Geez, Louise ♪

Is that the, I've lost both the words and the steps.

No, no, no, I don't think so.

I've lost a few steps. I thought that was.

Kevin Bacon would've done much better than I.

I like.

Oh, the list goes on and on.

I like being the on Interlochen.

You like this guy, okay.

[John] Does Jeff Bridges play guitar in Crazy Heart?

Yeah, I do. Always in his trailer.

That's right.

[John] Okay, does Jeff Bridges surf?

I do. Do you?

I haven't in the last 10 years.

You never told me about your surfing history.

Oh yeah, man, oh yeah.

Well, let's have another one.

[Jeff] Okay.

[John] Does Jeff Bridges have tattoos?

I will never tell.

You've decided to, you're pleading the fifth.

Actually beneath my hair, John?

No.

Yes, I have sort of doll hair tattooed all over my head.

Every once in a while I shave my head and I just.

And you have doll hair under that?

I have doll, yeah,

it's tattooed on my head, very tight curls.

Wow.

Aw, does Jeff Bridges have dogs?

I do.

[John] Monty, he's a cavapoo. Hmm.

Half Cavalier, King Charles, and half poodle.

Well, that's it for me.

How about another one?

Look at the pile they got for us, John.

But this is fun.

I'm having a.

Yeah, yeah, well, we get to hang.

I thought I would freeze up.

Yeah, yeah,

[John] prepare to freeze, John, Okay.

because this is a toughie.

I wanna be stumped.

When did John Lithgow start acting?

Ah, my first role was when I was two years old.

I played my father's son in Ibsen's Doll's House.

I was just two, my older sister was also in the play.

I don't remember a thing about it,

but I'm told I was very good.

And that, apparently, was the beginning of my career.

There you go. Yeah.

Okay, is John Lithgow nice?

Oh, is John Lithgow nice?

Well, that's not for me to say, of course.

That subject comes up a lot 'cause people say I'm very nice,

but it's only because I love,

I love, It's an act, man, come on.

Of course it's an act.

But I actually, in all reality,

I love all the people I work with

and I see our business as we are all in this together.

Amen, amen.

And I think if you live by those watch words,

people think you're nice.

There you go.

It's very easy to fool them.

That's true, that's a good answer.

How is John Lithgow related to Brad Pitt?

Not remotely.

I will tell you my history with him, though.

It's quite a beautiful thing.

I had friends whose daughter

had a very, very serious illness that required her

to be in the hospital at UCLA for a couple of months.

And she learned that Brad came in once a week

to the same ward to have a wrist ailment taken care of.

And she wrote me asking him,

who I did not at all know at all,

if he would just come and say hi to her one day.

And so I wrote Brad Pitt a letter

and told him that circumstance.

Never heard back from him.

I heard back from her.

The next week he had gone in there to her ward room

with all her girlfriends

and he'd spent two hours with those kids.

You know, sign, photographs, talk, just talk,

making her feel better.

He sounds nice. He sounds real nice.

Who does John Lithgow play in The Crown?

Ah, It's an easy one.

I played Winston Churchill Yes.

in The Crown.

And this gives me the opportunity to give you

my very favorite Winston Churchill quote.

Oh, good.

Everybody knows the familiar ones.

A woman came up to him at a big, fancy reception

and pointed out to him that his fly buttons were undone.

And Churchill's response was, It's not a problem.

A dead bird never leaves its nest.

[John] And that's it for you, John? No.

This round.

Okay, all right.

Actually, I could've used that line

when I snipped the thread off my crotch.

[Jeff] Oh, dear.

Oh, yeah, it's my turn.

[Jeff] Okay, your turn.

[Jeff] I like this part better. Okay.

Jeff Bridges, Jeff Bridges' eyes.

What does that mean?

All right, I think you've just answered the question.

That's it, that's what they wanted to see.

Do it for the camera.

That's the Dude's eyes.

Mom would call this make sweet eyes and I'd do this.

Yeah, okay.

But we have to move on to an actual question.

Here we go.

Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski.

What's supposed to happen here?

There's no, it's not a question?

Not a question.

Everybody knows you're The Big Lebowski.

Yeah, the Dude, man.

I don't know what to say.

Okay, be the Dude.

Is the Dude the thing that people most recognize you for

on stage?

Yes, yeah, absolutely.

I would have thought so.

They'll throw out some different, you know,

quotes from the show.

You know, The Dude abides, you know.

Exactly.

Shut the fuck up, Donny.

And one more.

One more, That's just like your opinion, man.

Okay, Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water?

David McKenzie, great director.

Taylor Sheridan, wonderful script.

Okay, well let me ask you this, which do you prefer,

hell or high water?

They both have qualities that I enjoy.

Okay, tell me about the Jeff Bridges' band.

The Jeff Bridges' band is called The Abiders.

We had a wonderful time.

I had my, my Beatle moment playing the Lebowski Fest

[John] to a sea of Dudes. Oh, God.

And I was, oh, you know?

[John] It was so wonderful.

Oh, it was.

[John] Where did that take place?

Lebowski Festivals?

Yeah, they last for days and it's pretty wild, yeah.

You have unleashed a monster.

And you know, people like to dress up

and you got bowling pins and you got Maudes and Dudes.

Do people show up as Torturo or Goodwin or?

Oh, yeah, oh, that's a very common one.

I want be at one of these.

[John] Well, We'll go together.

what would you dress up as?

Julianne Moore.

Yes, the Viking helmet. The Viking helmet, yes.

Yes, absolutely.

It'd be great.

Okay, Jeff Bridges, oh, John Lithgow.

Tell me what you think of John Lithgow.

John Lithgow is very nice.

He's a charming man, so well-educated, a lovely actor.

And he's fun. Oh, good.

He's fun.

I love that man.

I love you, Dude.

You are the greatest, you know?

Lightning round.

Quick, John Lithgow, just say it quick, real fast,

just one word.

[John clearing throat]

Oh, my God!

I am gorgeous!

John Lithgow, voice of Yoda.

[John clearing throat]

Oh, impatient is he.

[Jeff] And next, John the old man.

John the old man?

Oh my God, I've forgotten all my lines.

Very good.

That's it.

John Lithgow, kids voice.

Oh, oh yes.

Never play music right next to the zoo.

John Lithgow, storyline, Google it.

♪ Oh, children, remember, whatever you may do ♪

♪ Never play music right next to the zoo ♪

♪ They'll burst from their cages ♪

♪ Each beast and each bird ♪

♪ Desperate to play all the music they've heard ♪

♪ The lions and the elephants ♪

♪ The bears and the raccoons ♪

♪ Will steal away the trumpets, the flutes, and bassoons ♪

♪ Replace the musicians and chase them away ♪

♪ Then they'll sit in the band shell and play ♪

Yeah, what an ending, what an ending!

Yeah, what an ending.

[upbeat jazz music]

That was fun.

[upbeat jazz music]

[ethereal music]

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