Jeff Bridges Revives ‘the Dude’ From ‘Big Lebowski’ to Honor John Goodman
Jeff Bridges resurrected his beloved “the Dude” from The Big Lebowski Friday, donning the character’s signature cardigan sweater while honoring his co-star John Goodman at that actor’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony.
Bridges took the podium in a suit jacket before swapping it out for the Dude’s sweater; Goodman played the Dude’s buddy Walter in the Coen Brothers’ 1998 cult comedy, one of the actor’s favorite roles.
From there, Bridges delivered a speech honoring Goodman in the style of Walter’s eulogy for Donny (played by Steve Buscemi) in the film, Time reports.
“In accordance with what we think may be your final wishes, we have committed to these sidewalks in Hollywood – in the bosom of Hollywood that you love so well — a star,” Bridges said. “A star for you, a star because we love you so well … what time is it? Afternoon? Good afternoon, my sweet prince.”
In 2014, Rolling Stone spoke to Bridges about The Big Lebowski‘s impact, which the actor saw firsthand when his band the Abiders – “The Dude abides,” as it’s said in the film – performed at the annual Lebowski Fest that year.
“I hadn’t seen the movie in its entirety for a long time,” Bridges said at the time. “So after we played, I sat and watched it with the rest of the audience. And it was really a remarkable experience to be in the room with people who admire that movie so much, and you can just feel the love vibes going on. It was really terrific.”
Goodman also reminisced about The Big Lebowski in a 2012 Rolling Stone interview.
“People had always come up to me and said they appreciated it, but I noticed more and more in the past few years that people were younger, and that kind of scared me because I was afraid it would suffer some kind of odd fate like being a cult film and then being forgotten again,” the actor said. “I’m really glad that people appreciate it. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to it.”