Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1533885
20 PROP CULTURE I SPRING 2025 counting on the prop guy. That's why I appreciate being shown the gun and looking through the barrel so I can see that light shining through. And I look at all the blanks and we go through that together. There's a protocol that we follow and that is just so important! Also, the actors need to all be in on it, too. I am so thankful for prop guys who are as careful as they are. Again, it's working together, the collaboration thing. PROP CULTURE: Does working with a real weapon help accentuate your performance with a character like Rooster Cogburn in True Grit? Does having a prop that has the right weight and feel lend something that a rubber double would not? JEFF BRIDGES: Yeah, yeah. Something real in your hands feels very important. But sometimes you can't. For safety is the main reason or sometimes just for practicality. I'm looking at the fake axe from White Squall. I don't take many props home with me, but this one I seem to have taken. It was the axe I used to try and get my wife out of the boat when she was locked in underwater. We didn't want a real axe. It didn't help the illusion to use a real axe. I always appreciate how realistic the look of these props are. PROP CULTURE: What happens when a prop is a pure fantasy piece with no real-world equivalent, how do you approach it? How do you know what to expect from those props and what do you need from the Property Master to make them believable? JEFF BRIDGES: Usually, when I think about those things, I am amazed, and I really appreciate what the prop guy comes up with. Because like I said, that's their department and he's really into it. A prop that comes to mind is this magical staff I used in Seventh Son. I was playing this wizard and I had a magical staff. Now I like to paint and sculpt. I'm a creative guy. So, I got very into what that staff looks like. It's going to be a major prop. It's going to be right next to my face. I don't want it to look out of tone with the rest of the movie. So that's an instance when I partnered with the prop guy. This is what we think, but let's think more drastic and then let's go real simple. Then we would go to the director. Top and bottom: Jeff with his dad, Lloyd Bridges