Jeff Bridges Says He Is ‘Feeling Great’ 3 Years After Overcoming Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

The actor was diagnosed with cancer in October 2020.

Jeff Bridges poses during the 49th Chaplin Award Honoring Jeff Bridges in New York City on April 29, 2024. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Jeff Bridges, an actor best known for playing “The Dude” in the 1998 cult classic “The Big Lebowski,” has shared a positive update about his health nearly three years after announcing that he was in remission from cancer.

Speaking during a recent panel on the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, held on July 10, Mr. Bridges, 74, said he is “feeling great” after overcoming his battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Entertainment Weekly reported.

The Oscar-winning actor was diagnosed with the disease—a form of cancer that starts in the body’s white blood cells—in October 2020. At the time, Mr. Bridges was busy filming the first season of the FX television show “The Old Man,” based on Thomas Perry’s 2017 novel of the same name. Along with playing the titular role, the actor also served as an executive producer on the show, which debuted in June 2022.

“What is so bizarre, to me anyway, in the first season when I was doing these fight scenes, I had a 9-inch by 12-inch tumor in my body, in my stomach, that didn’t hurt at all,” he said at the Television Critic Association’s event. “So that’s surprising to me.”

John Lithgow, who also stars in the hit FX series, which is set to premiere its second season on Sept. 12, was also featured on the panel. Reflecting on Mr. Bridges’ health struggles amid production, the “3rd Rock from the Sun” actor said he had no concerns about his costar’s role on the show.

“I never worry about Jeff,” Mr. Lithgow said. “I always knew he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t know he could do this.”

“It’s been one of the great and extremely moving sort of backstage dramas of these four years,” he continued. “His courage and persistence and his unbelievable philosophical nature, the way—nobody could’ve survived what he’s been through and going back to work the way he’s gone back to work. It’s been incredibly inspiring.”

Cancer Diagnosis

Shortly after receiving his diagnosis, Mr. Bridges took to X to share the news with his fans.

“As the Dude would say.. New [expletive] has come to light,” “I have been diagnosed with Lymphoma. Although it is a serious disease, I feel fortunate that I have a great team of doctors and the prognosis is good. I’m starting treatment and will keep you posted on my recovery.” he wrote on Oct. 19, 2020.

Mr. Bridges elaborated on his health scare during an interview with AARP magazine, published in May 2023, sharing that he first realized something was wrong in March 2020, when production for “The Old Man” was briefly halted by lockdown measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During that break, I was doing some exercises while on the ground and felt what seemed like a bone in my stomach. I thought to myself, ‘Hmm.’ But it didn’t hurt or anything. I asked [my wife] what she thought. She said: ‘I don’t know, but you’ve got to get it checked out.’”

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Bridges and his wife, Susan Geston, whom he wed in 1977, took a trip to Montana, where the couple share a ranch. “I’m hiking and feeling great. My shins really itch, and I think, ‘Oh, I just got, you know, dry skin.’ Then I had night sweats, but thought, ‘That’s just hot summer nights.’ It turns out those are lymphoma symptoms,” he said.

According to the American Cancer Society, the symptoms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can vary depending on where the disease develops in the body. However, common signs can include fever or chills, enlarged lymph nodes, fatigue, swollen abdomen, easy bruising, and shortness of breath.

The couple, who share three daughters, later returned to California, and Mr. Bridges finally sought advice from a doctor, who informed him that he had a 9- by 12-inch tumor in his stomach, leading the actor to subsequently undergo chemotherapy treatment.

However, in January 2021, Mr. Bridges learned he had contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized for five weeks. “I had no immune system to fight it. Chemo had wiped that out, which made it really, really tough,” he said. Later that year, Mr. Bridges announced that his cancer was in remission.

Speaking to People in May 2023, Mr. Bridges noted that his health struggles had shifted his perspective on life. “It just brought to my attention how much [my family] loved me, and how much I loved them,” he said.

“It just heightened the experience of most of my philosophies in life, and it all gets down to that corny ‘L’ word—love. That seems to be what’s running my ship, and going through these tough times, it kind of exacerbated all of that philosophy of love,” he said.

“When you get close to losing something like that, your gratitude and your thankfulness for what you have, the people that you love, and the love that you feel for your loved ones, grows. It just magnifies it, and that was something positive that came out of it.”