This Actor Discusses His Struggle With a Life-Threatening Illness During the Filming of ‘The Old Man’

Jeff Bridges fearlessly driven by his portrayal of a former CIA agent on “The old manwhile battling life-threatening health issues.

Now he talks about finding the courage to do that.

In an exclusive interview with PeopleThe actor, 74, opened up about the show’s Season 2 finale, which aired on October 24, and recalled how he overcame the serious health obstacle during production.

Months after filming intense fight scenes for season 1 of “The Old Man” and after the show went on hiatus due to COVID pandemic restrictions, the actor struggled with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.

During a doctor’s visit he was told that a large stomach tumor had been found.

“God, when I look back on it, I really shudder because I didn’t know it at the time, but I had a 9 by 12 inch tumor in my stomach – 9 by 12 inches! – while I’m getting beat up and punched in the stomach and stuff,” he recalls. ‘It didn’t hurt. There was no pain. But then I had a long break (from filming).”

He then underwent chemotherapy during the break and contracted Covid, further compromising his health. The actor admitted that it was a difficult time, wondering if he would live, not to mention if he would be able to make a season 2 of “The Old Man.”

‘When I was sick, I thought that not only would I not go back to ‘The Old Man’, but that I might fail. That’s what it came down to,” he explained.

“I remember a doctor saying, ‘You’ve got to fight, Jeff. You’re not ‘fighting,’” Bridges adds. “And I had no idea what he was talking about. I was in surrender mode, just, ‘Everyone dies. Maybe I am.’ And out of that surrender, as I said, came all this intense love, and maybe that’s the reason I survived, I don’t know. But I had no interest in fighting, more in surrendering.”

The star combined intensive physiotherapy with his treatments, helping Bridges regain his fighting form. Both Bridges and his physical therapist tried to give him a goal of being healthy enough to walk his daughter Hayley, 39, down the aisle for her wedding.

“I didn’t know how to do that, but I said, ‘Well, let’s train. Let’s take that as our goal,” he recalled. “So we’ve been working on that. And it turned out that not only did I walk her down the aisle, but I also got to do the wedding dance with her. Then I rushed to my table and turned on my oxygen!”

As season 2 of “The Old Man” approached, the good news was that Bridge’s tumor had shrunk to the size of a marble. Fast forward to today, with the season finale behind him, his oncologist told the actor that he had made incredible progress, resulting in remarkable progress.

“I don’t know the exact extent of it. I’m getting MRIs and stuff, but my oncologist says, “You look good, man.” And I’m getting all my blood tests and everything and everything is going really well,” he said.

But Bridges also discussed how his “fascinating” health journey came with some poignant lessons.

“All your life strategies, how you work – they’re all being improved,” he continued. “And love, that’s the word that comes to mind. To see how much I love my family and my friends, and the nurses and doctors who cared for me, and how much love is coming my way. So it actually just made the love worse.