Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1533885
18 PROP CULTURE I SPRING 2025 on it, and we got into the details of that. And when I went over this with the prop guy, he said, you guys take that one! PROP CULTURE: The Gretsch that you played in Crazy Heart is also the one you now prefer to use when you perform onstage, correct? JEFF BRIDGES: (Laughs) I took that guitar home with me after the show. That's the guitar that I played when I was going out with my band, The Abiders! I'm not much of an electric guitar player, but I got used to that one. PROP CULTURE: Thinking about The Big Lebowski and Crazy Heart, both The Dude's bowling ball and Bad Blake's Gretsch guitar seem pretty important to those characters' identities. Do you see the bowling ball holding the same kind of significance for The Dude as the guitar did for Bad Blake? JEFF BRIDGES: You know, it's interesting, The Dude and bowling. I'll tell you a story that just pops into my head. The Coen brothers said there is so much bowling and I'm not a bowler. I don't know anything about bowling, so they had this expert, this world-class bowler, come and teach us how to bowl. I asked him, what was your technique, and he said, I just throw the fucking ball, and I don't think about it. It's funny in Lebowski, you don't see The Dude bowl. Not once! Another thought just popped into my mind. A White Russian is vodka, Kahlúa and some cream. The Property Master says why is it cream? Why isn't it just a powdered creamer? And I loved that! That's a great idea. That wasn't his choice. He would have liked to use some half and half. The Dude might have a specific thing he likes, but if that's not available, put some powdered creamer in there. What the hell! PROP CULTURE: Has there ever been something you had to do over and over again that you found less than enjoyable? JEFF BRIDGES: When I was doing Tucker, I had to smoke because the guy I was portraying, Tucker, died of lung cancer. He smoked three packs of Lucky Strike or Chesterfield unfiltered a day. And so, oh God, that was challenging. PROP CULTURE: In Crazy Heart, you faced a similar situation with Bad Blake. You again had to portray a character who was a heavy smoker. JEFF BRIDGES: Yeah, I tried those herbal things. I didn't like that at all and found them just as bad. But at least Blake, he would smoke filtered cigarettes. But those were terrible. There was this other thing that happened on Tucker. There was a scene where the character just gets very mad at his team that was building this car, and there's all these plans that are on this bulletin board and he hits the bulletin board. You know, just punches it. Like any of these things where there's a lot of passion, a lot of violence, you start very slowly, like with a fight scene. It's like a dance. You're learning these steps because it can be dangerous. You can hurt yourself or somebody else. I think it was on the first take when I punched it. This was early in the shoot, and I went fuck, I've broken my hand! It's the first week of shooting and they're going to replace me. Francis (Francis TRON THE OLD MAN