How Love Saved Jeff Bridges’ Life

Published: October 29, 2024

How Love Saved Jeff Bridges’ Life

By Movieguide® Contributor

After being diagnosed with lymphoma in 2020, actor Jeff Bridges recalled how he was on the brink of death and how love helped him survive.

The actor was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 after doctors found a 9-by-12-inch tumor in his stomach. He began chemotherapy shortly thereafter and overcame the disease. Things took a serious turn, however, when he contracted COVID during his final bout of chemotherapy, and his weakened body was ravaged by the disease.

“While I was sick…I thought I might just kick the bucket. It got down to that,” Bridges said. “I remember one doctor said, ‘You got to fight, Jeff. You’re not fighting.’”

“And I had no idea what he was talking about. I was in surrender mode, just, ‘Everybody dies. This might be me doing that.’ And out of that surrender, like I say, all of this intense love surfaced, and maybe that’s what caused me to survive, I don’t know,” he continued. “But I didn’t relate to the fighting thing, more of a surrendering.”

Amazingly, the actor survived and began setting goals for himself to motivate his road to recovery. His first goal was to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. While this initially seemed like a pipe dream, his hard work paid off.

“I didn’t know how I could do that, but I said, ‘Well, let’s train. Let’s put that as our goal,'” he said. “So we worked on that. And turned out, not only did I walk her down the aisle, but I got to do the wedding dance with her. Then I’d rush to my table and put my oxygen on!”

Now, not only is the actor in remission but he has been able to return to set. Earlier this year he began filming season two of THE OLD MAN, which is the series he was working on when his battle for his life began.