Jeff Bridges

By Joel Stein

Jeff Bridges, actor, painter, photographer, has released his first album, Be Here Soon.

Q. At age 13, you were on The Lloyd Bridges Show. How did you land the part?

A. Whenever there was a part for a kid, Dad would say, "Do you want to get out of school for the day?"

Q. As a teenager, you and Beau would drive to supermarket parking lots, stage a fight to attract a crowd and recite scenes from Catcher in the Rye. Mark David Chapman wasn't that messed up.

A. I'm thinking about doing that now and hawking my records that way.

Q. Why couldn't Barbra Streisand figure out how to make herself look bad in the first half of The Mirror Has Two Faces? It can't be that hard.

A. Hey, man. What can I say? That was my main bit of direction to her.

Q. DeNiro gained weight for Raging Bull. You put on 20 pounds for Texasville. You don't even read the script before you hit the Devil Dogs, do you?

A. Especially in the old days, it was fun to gain weight. But it's harder and harder to lose it now.

Q. While filming in Montana, you fell in love with your wife, who was waitressing with a broken nose and two black eyes. What kind of sicko are you?

A. It was love at first sight. I thought she had been beaten up by her boyfriend, and I was going to save the day.

Q. How much did it hurt when she turned you down for that date?

A. One of my prized possessions is a photograph of me asking my wife out for a date and her turning me down. It captures my face crumbling. Then we met dancing later in the week.

Q. You used to do est. What's the longest you've ever held it in?

A. I must have gone a whole day. My bladder must be the size of a large hot-water bottle. I was very proud.

--By Joel Stein