Jeff Bridges recalled being injected with Novocain before filming a poignant scene Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.
During a performance at the Conan O’Brien needs a friend In a podcast on Monday, the actor revealed details about the ending of the 1974 film, in which Lightfoot (Bridges) dies of a brain hemorrhage in a car next to Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood). The Big Lebowski The star said he took director Michael Cimino aside at the time to suggest an “idea.”
“The scene you’re talking about where I die in the car with Clint. I go to Mike and say, ‘Mike, I have an idea,'” he said.
Bridges recalled telling Cimino he could “hold half a blink pretty well,” but advised getting a dentist to “inject Novocaine into the side of my face.” Novocaine is a local anesthetic.
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“And he said, ‘Okay,’ so we did it and it worked great,” said the Golden Globe Award winner.
However, he added that a problem arose after filming.
“They lost the film,” said the 74-year-old. “We had to do the whole thing again.”
“What?!” O’Brien replied. “Who comes in and tells you this?”
“It’s incredible,” O’Brien continued, “because it’s a very powerful ending where you think everything is fine and then you realize you’re gone.”
During their conversation, Bridges revealed another behind-the-scenes secret about the filming Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.
“Clint only wanted to do one take, maybe two,” he said. However, after speaking with Cimino, Bridges said he was able to get “Boss” Eastwood to agree to more if necessary.
“I love this movie,” O’Brien said of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. “It’s Clint Eastwood, it’s you, it’s George Kennedy, it’s a damn good movie and I love this movie. And you did so well.”
Newsweek has reached out to Bridges’ team for further comment.
Bridges grew up in a famous household. His father, Lloyd Bridges, was best known for his role as Mike Nelson in the 1950s series Sea huntingand his mother, Dorothy Bridges, was also an actress.
“I grew up with fame, you know? My father was famous with Sea huntinghe said, noting that it was therefore “natural” to start his own film career. “It doesn’t seem special to me.”
As he continued to reflect on his career, the Emmy Award nominee praised a special gift given to him by his wife, Susan Geston.
“When I think about the films, I’m so happy to have discovered this camera, this Widelux camera that my wife gave me for our first anniversary,” he said in the podcast. The couple married in 1977.
“I took photos while filming and when I look at these books, they’re like little lives, you know? I remember all these intense relationships and then – whoosh – it’s all over.”
