Jeff Bridges talks 'Iron Man,' Robert Downey Jr. and Obadiah
"We had a lot of times when we'd have to write some stuff on the spot, and Robert would come up with some great lines. Favreau's like that, too," says Jeff Bridges of his time on the "Iron Man" set.
If you heard Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges were thrown into a film directed by Jon Favreau, I'm guessing these are the last five words that would leap to mind: comic book superhero summer blockbuster. The formerly self-destructive Downey has survived drugs, guns, rehab, multiple arrests and prison time to star as Tony Stark in the new $130 million "Iron Man."
His semi-nemesis is played by Bridges, the beloved White Russian-swilling Dude of "The Big Lebowski," and they are led by Favreau (writer of "Swingers," director of "Made," co-star of "Very Bad Things"). Not exactly a high-tech, special-effects trio. But here's the kicker: the collaboration works. Beautifully. "Iron Man," which also stars Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow, opens Hollywood's summer movie season Friday, May 2.
It's a terrific action-adventure with laughs precisely because Messrs. Downey, Bridges and Favreau did not go for the standard superhero schmaltz.
"One of the main things Jon Favreau wanted to do was ground the film in reality," said Bridges on the phone from Los Angeles. "I thought that was wonderful. He didn't want a superhero who had magic powers or anything."
"Iron Man" debuted in Marvel Comics in 1963. Defense contractor Tony Stark is brought into the 21st century by dropping him into Afghanistan where he is abducted by bad guys who are some version of Taliban-al Qaeda-terrorist-insurgents.
Stark, inventor-playboy-genius-millionaire (Marvel guru Stan Lee said Howard Hughes was an inspiration) gets busy. He builds a flying, armored suit -- a later version comes equipped with jetboots, repulsor rays and missile launchers -- a process Downey described as "the ultimate nerdgasm."
"Robert does just a splendid job," said Bridges. "There's no tongue in the cheek, no kind of winking at the audience. At the same time, he was having a lot of fun with the part. He's such a funny, witty guy in real life, and that served him well in the movie."
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With theaters already on superhero overload (new versions of "Batman" and "The Incredible Hulk" arrive this summer), "Iron Man' had to carve out a different niche. It is the first film financed solely by Marvel Studios, which also has "Thor," "Captain America" and "Ant Man" movies in development.
Bridges, who was more into DC comics than Marvel comics as a kid, was jazzed to enter the comics-movies realm. He plays Obadiah Stane, Stark's business partner who has some nefarious ulterior motives.
When Bridges signed on, his first question was, What the heck's an Obadiah? He Googled the name and discovered that Obadiah is the shortest book in the Bible.
"Sometimes I'll write a history of my character, and I wrote kind of an elaborate one for Obadiah," said Bridges. "In my scenario, Obadiah wasn't his real name. He got it from the Bible. If you read that book, it's intense."
Obadiah is about retribution. God wipes out Edom and the Edomites for failing to come to the aid of Israel ( "Behold, I will make you small among all the nations, you shall be utterly despised").
"It pretty much gives Obadiah's perspective from the movie," said Bridges. "I don't know if Stan Lee intended that or not."
The film is credited to four writers, including Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby ("Children of Men"), but there was also input from the director and actors.
"We had a lot of times when we'd have to write some stuff on the spot, and Robert would come up with some great lines. Favreau's like that too," said Bridges. "We did a lot of it spur of the moment. I worked with Hal Ashby [on "8 Million Ways to Die"], a wonderful director, who did a lot of that. It was surprising that in a big-budgeted movie they would let us work that way."
Bridges already has four Oscar nominations for his roles in "The Last Picture Show," "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," "Starman," and "The Contender." He rates those among his best and most memorable films, along with "The Big Lebowski," "Heaven's Gate," and "Fearless."
"But I especially enjoyed the ones whenever I got a chance to work with my brother, Beau, or my dad, Lloyd. So, I'd have to say 'The Fabulous Baker Boys,' with Beau, was very special to me, and 'Tucker' and 'Blown Away' with my dad. Those were amazing experiences."
In the comics, Obadiah is bald. For the film, Bridges was all in, buzzing his head and growing a grizzled beard.
"I've always wanted to shave my head and Jon said I didn't have to; he didn't want to have to be imprisoned by the comic book. But I thought it might be cool, and I certainly didn't want to let the comic book fans down."
And now he has officially endeared himself to the legions of comics zealots, who are very protective of their characters and gadgetry.
"If I see something based on a book that I read, I'm always curious to see, you know, did the filmmakers screw it up or is it even better than I imagined? Just speaking for myself and the audience I didn't want to, you know, if you're going to see 'Little Red Riding Hood' and they make the cape blue, it just kind of throws you off."
So he was willing to shave off some of the best hair in Hollywood. "I figured what the heck."
