After being diagnosed with lymphoma three years ago, Jeff Bridges has made a miraculous recovery. In the cover story for AARP, Bridges reflects on the changes in his health over the past few years, including a near-death experience after contracting COVID-19. While filming his series The Old Man in 2020, he discovered he had a “9-by-12-inch tumor” in his body and had to halt filming to receive treatment for lymphoma. A few months later, Bridges contracted COVID and explained that he “had no immune system to fight it. Chemo had wiped that out, which made it really, really tough.” However, he was able to overcome COVID, and now in 2023 and right before he began filming for season two, he’s able to return to work. Bridges says the tumor has shrunk “to the size of a marble.”
Despite Bridges’s health recovery, it might be a little longer before people can see the new season of The Old Man. Crew members have refused to cross the pickets lines in support of the WGA writers’ strike, and the production allegedly has run out of episodes to film, thus delaying production of the season. However, whenever the dust gets settled, Bridges will be ready to get back to livin’ off the grid.
