The seven-part spy thriller series, based on the bestselling 2017 novel of the same name by Thomas Perry, sees Bridges play Dan Chase, an agent who absconded from the CIA decades ago and has since been living off-grid.<\/p>\n
When an intruder arrives at Chase\u2019s remote cabin and attempts to assassinate him, the veteran operative is forced out of hiding. He realises that to ensure his future, he must reconcile with his dark past.<\/p>\n
Speaking to RadioTimes.com<\/a> in an exclusive interview, Bridges says filming the series taught him there is \u201cabsolutely no difference\u201d between creating film and TV.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only difference really is that across a full series, you get a chance to learn more about the characters.\u00a0You don\u2019t have to rush and tell the story too quickly. You can stretch it out and go more in-depth. It\u2019s almost more like a novel.\u201d<\/p>\n The 72-year-old star also admits that TV has changed since the 1960s.<\/p>\n \u201cThe quality now that comes out of the television is incredible,\u201d he laughs. \u201cMy father, Lloyd Bridges, did a bunch of TV series and back in those days, there was never enough time to make the quality work you wanted. He struggled with that. But then seeing these great TV shows coming out now, I thought, wow, I want to explore that medium.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout The Old Man, there are plenty of bone-crunching, bruising fight scenes \u2013 but how did Bridges enjoy playing a mature action hero?<\/p>\n \u201cI had a lot of fun,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever done that many fight scenes but we had masterful stunt co-ordinators. Thank God for muscle memory. You think you\u2019ll never pull it off but then your body remembers it somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n The actor shares lots of screen time with his character\u2019s two trusty guard dogs in the new series, defying the old showbiz adage that you should never work with animals or children.<\/p>\n \u201cSee, I don\u2019t hold with that,\u201d Bridges continues. \u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot of acting lessons from children and animals. Basically, acting is an advanced game of pretend, like you play when you\u2019re a kid. And the dogs were wonderful to work with.<\/p>\n \u201cMy character has these two Rottweilers but in reality, there were half-a-dozen dogs, each hired for a particular trick or speciality. The trainer, Sarah Crawford, trained me just as much as the dogs. She taught me how to work with them and make it seem like they were my pets. We spent a lot of time together. They\u2019re very sweet.\u201d<\/p> The Old Man is adapted for TV by Jonathan E Steinberg and Robert Levine. The first two episodes are directed by Jon Watts, who helmed three Spider-Man movies.<\/p>\n The series co-stars John Lithgow (Dexter, The Crown<\/a>) as the FBI\u2019s Assistant Director for Counterintelligence, Harold Harper. He\u2019s called upon to lead the man-hunt for fugitive Chase due to the pair\u2019s shady past together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Working alongside Harper are his prot\u00e9g\u00e9\u00a0Angela Adams (Search Party\u2019s Alia Shawkat) and CIA liaison Special Agent Raymond Waters (EJ Bonilla). Also on Chase\u2019s tail is Julian Carson (The Wire\u2019s Gbenga Akinnagbe), a highly-trained special ops contractor.<\/p>\n While on the run, Chase rents a room from divorced single mother Zoe McDonald (The Leftovers\u2019 Amy Brenneman), whose life is turned upside down when she learns the truth about her new tenant.<\/p>\n \u201cAmy was such a wonderful actor to work with,\u201d Bridges adds. \u201cAs was John Lithgow. We got along well. My favourite thing is when I get to act with these other artists and jam with the story. That\u2019s really terrific.\u201d<\/p>\n And it seems Bridges will need his new-found dog-handling skills and combat muscle memory for a while yet. Well-received in the US, The Old Man has already been renewed for a second season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Old Man streams on Disney Plus from Wednesday\u00a028th September \u2013 sign up to Disney Plus for \u00a37.99 a month or \u00a379.90 a year<\/a> now.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our Drama<\/a> coverage or visit our TV guide<\/a> to see what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013 subscribe now<\/a> and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n By Michael Hogan Published: Thursday, 29 September 2022 at 12:00 am Jeff Bridges is returning to the small screen after more than 50 years \u2013 but he insists it\u2019s not a step down. The Oscar-winning actor, who stars in new Disney Plus drama The Old Man, believes that TV is just as good as film […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":22858,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/jeff-bridges-on-starring-in-the-old-man-tv-is-just-as-good-as-film-nowadays.png",1920,1277,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/jeff-bridges-on-starring-in-the-old-man-tv-is-just-as-good-as-film-nowadays-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/jeff-bridges-on-starring-in-the-old-man-tv-is-just-as-good-as-film-nowadays-300x200.png",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/jeff-bridges-on-starring-in-the-old-man-tv-is-just-as-good-as-film-nowadays-768x511.png",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/jeff-bridges-on-starring-in-the-old-man-tv-is-just-as-good-as-film-nowadays-1024x681.png",800,532,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/jeff-bridges-on-starring-in-the-old-man-tv-is-just-as-good-as-film-nowadays-1536x1022.png",1536,1022,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/jeff-bridges-on-starring-in-the-old-man-tv-is-just-as-good-as-film-nowadays.png",1920,1277,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Michael Hogan Published: Thursday, 29 September 2022 at 12:00 am Jeff Bridges is returning to the small screen after more than 50 years \u2013 but he insists it\u2019s not a step down. The Oscar-winning actor, who stars in new Disney Plus drama The Old Man, believes that TV is just as good as film…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/22857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/09\/TOM1013438r-copy-copy-77bedfd.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/09\/TOM1041192r-134233f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"