Since Jeff Bridges’s turn as a lovable alien in 1984’s Starman, the actor has used a Widelux panning still camera to document the making of most
of his films. For The Giver, which was filmed in South Africa last October, “my camera was breaking down a lot,” he says, “so I didn’t get as many shots as I usually do.” But he managed to capture Meryl Streep, Taylor Swift, Katie Holmes, and more, in the gallery ahead. Filming The Giver was particularly poignant for Bridges, who optioned it in 1995, with the hope that his dad, actor Lloyd, would play the aging mentor, the Giver. “I was looking through a catalogue of kids’ books, and I came across one with an old grizzled guy on the cover, and I thought, My dad could play that guy.” His father passed away in 1998, and after 16 years of delays, Bridges took on the role.
*This article appears in the August 11, 2014 issue of New York Magazine.