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American Morning

Life in 'Pictures'

Aired December 10, 2003 - 09:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Actor Jeff Bridges has appeared in dozens of films and earned four Oscar nominations. But who knew he had hidden talent behind the lens. He has a collection of candid photos out. It speaks volumes about his long and very distinguished career in the movies. This new book is called simply "Pictures."
Jeff Bridges joins us this morning to talk about that. It's a beautiful book. Thanks for coming in to talk a little bit about it.

JEFF BRIDGES, ACTOR: Thank you, Soledad. Thanks so much.

O'BRIEN: You're truly a renaissance man, you do everything, and well. When did you start getting into pictures behind the camera?

BRIDGES: When I was a kid back in high school. I loved to spend time in a dark room and watch those images come out of the soup, always a lot of fun. And then I started taking pictures behind the scenes probably around "Starman." And my wife gave me a wonderful camera called a Widelux.

O'BRIEN: Why do you love the camera?

BRIDGES: Well, for one thing, it -- its format is almost like a 70 millimeter frame. I brought it along to give you an example. I think of it as a bridge between still photography and motion pictures photography, because of this panning lens.

Do you mind if I take a shot here of you right now?

BRIDGES: No, go ahead.

O'BRIEN: And because it moves very slowly.

What effect does that give the pictures?

BRIDGES: Well, you never know. That's what's fun to see, when it's all over. Sometimes the images are blurred, if the, you know, subject is moving, or if you move the camera. You know, you never quite know.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about some of the specifics. You say one of your favorite films is one that you were taking a picture of with your brother, I guess.

BRIDGES: Oh, yes.

O'BRIEN: And there's a caption as well, and the caption says that the photograph is from the first day of shooting, and the favorite phrase was, I hope just because we started the movie in the toilet -- which is where this is -- it doesn't end up there. Why did you want to capture this?

BRIDGES: Well, first of all, it was such a gas working with my brother. That was a dream come true. And to work with Michelle and the music, and all of it was such a great experience. And this is just the first day, and you know, capturing all the excitement, and the, you know, the kind of the flop sweat of that first day was a lot of fun.

O'BRIEN: You're talking about "The Fabulous Baker Boys," with Michelle Pfeifer. You have many pictures of her. And that was an amazing movie, and stunning pictures of her inside this book. Do any of the actors ever say, you know what, I'm not, I don't, time trying to prepare my lines, I trying to prepare my scenes. I mean, does she want her picture taken?

BRIDGES: I don't know. You know, she's kind of upset by the cigarette, but her character smoked. That's all a character trace.

O'BRIEN: No one ever says please don't take my picture, I'm focusing?

BRIDGES: No, being an actor myself, I'm kind of sensitive to that. And I tell the actors, and the producers and the directors, just give me a little bit of a sign and I'll be very sensitive. But I haven't had that problem, really.

O'BRIEN: Picture with your dad, and you write about in the caption how much fun it was to work, not only for you, but for everyone on the set, to work with your dad.

Let's show that picture. Here is the picture. Tell me a little bit about this picture.

BRIDGES: Well, he was such a great guy. He had such joy in his work and it was kind of contagious. You know, whenever he came on the set, everyone's work would kind of lift up a notch, and he's a wonderful, wonderful guy.

O'BRIEN: Was it hard to edit out the pictures that would make it into the book?

BRIDGES: That's probably the toughest part for me, yes, going through them all and figuring out which ones are going to be in there.

O'BRIEN: There's a funny story about Lauren Bacall in the movie "The Mirror Has Two Faces." Tell me that story, because it's an actual scene, I guess, from the movie.

BRIDGES: Yes. Well, Barbara Streisand, who directed the film, wonderful director, you know, she's so talented, and she has a lot -- she has this issue with perfection, which is wonderful when it's directed towards you, because she really cares about everything coming out just perfect, and she had a particular line that she wanted Bacall there to say, And the line was "Wha?" She must have done it 50, 60 times. That's her shot at Betty there giving me a reading saying, "Wha?" This is what she wants. Of course Betty Bacall was nominated for an Academy Award under Barbara's direction, so.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely most favorite picture?

BRIDGES: I don't have one. Nothing really -- not one sticks in my mind.

BRIDGES: What do you feel when you see the finished product, this book? Do you want to do more?

BRIDGES: Oh, I think I want to do more. I think I'm kind of hooked on photography.

O'BRIEN: Not to the point where you give up acting?

BRIDGES: No, no. But I'm so pleased with the way it came out. Yanna Anderson (ph), who designed the book, it's such a beautiful job, and they had a great team working on it.

O'BRIEN: It's a beautiful book. Thanks for coming in to talk about it.

BRIDGES: Thanks so much, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it. Jeff Bridges, it's nice to have you.

O'BRIEN: Nice talking with you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 10, 2003 - 09:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Actor Jeff Bridges has appeared in dozens of films and earned four Oscar nominations. But who knew he had hidden talent behind the lens. He has a collection of candid photos out. It speaks volumes about his long and very distinguished career in the movies. This new book is called simply "Pictures."
Jeff Bridges joins us this morning to talk about that. It's a beautiful book. Thanks for coming in to talk a little bit about it.

JEFF BRIDGES, ACTOR: Thank you, Soledad. Thanks so much.

O'BRIEN: You're truly a renaissance man, you do everything, and well. When did you start getting into pictures behind the camera?

BRIDGES: When I was a kid back in high school. I loved to spend time in a dark room and watch those images come out of the soup, always a lot of fun. And then I started taking pictures behind the scenes probably around "Starman." And my wife gave me a wonderful camera called a Widelux.

O'BRIEN: Why do you love the camera?

BRIDGES: Well, for one thing, it -- its format is almost like a 70 millimeter frame. I brought it along to give you an example. I think of it as a bridge between still photography and motion pictures photography, because of this panning lens.

Do you mind if I take a shot here of you right now?

BRIDGES: No, go ahead.

O'BRIEN: And because it moves very slowly.

What effect does that give the pictures?

BRIDGES: Well, you never know. That's what's fun to see, when it's all over. Sometimes the images are blurred, if the, you know, subject is moving, or if you move the camera. You know, you never quite know.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about some of the specifics. You say one of your favorite films is one that you were taking a picture of with your brother, I guess.

BRIDGES: Oh, yes.

O'BRIEN: And there's a caption as well, and the caption says that the photograph is from the first day of shooting, and the favorite phrase was, I hope just because we started the movie in the toilet -- which is where this is -- it doesn't end up there. Why did you want to capture this?

BRIDGES: Well, first of all, it was such a gas working with my brother. That was a dream come true. And to work with Michelle and the music, and all of it was such a great experience. And this is just the first day, and you know, capturing all the excitement, and the, you know, the kind of the flop sweat of that first day was a lot of fun.

O'BRIEN: You're talking about "The Fabulous Baker Boys," with Michelle Pfeifer. You have many pictures of her. And that was an amazing movie, and stunning pictures of her inside this book. Do any of the actors ever say, you know what, I'm not, I don't, time trying to prepare my lines, I trying to prepare my scenes. I mean, does she want her picture taken?

BRIDGES: I don't know. You know, she's kind of upset by the cigarette, but her character smoked. That's all a character trace.

O'BRIEN: No one ever says please don't take my picture, I'm focusing?

BRIDGES: No, being an actor myself, I'm kind of sensitive to that. And I tell the actors, and the producers and the directors, just give me a little bit of a sign and I'll be very sensitive. But I haven't had that problem, really.

O'BRIEN: Picture with your dad, and you write about in the caption how much fun it was to work, not only for you, but for everyone on the set, to work with your dad.

Let's show that picture. Here is the picture. Tell me a little bit about this picture.

BRIDGES: Well, he was such a great guy. He had such joy in his work and it was kind of contagious. You know, whenever he came on the set, everyone's work would kind of lift up a notch, and he's a wonderful, wonderful guy.

O'BRIEN: Was it hard to edit out the pictures that would make it into the book?

BRIDGES: That's probably the toughest part for me, yes, going through them all and figuring out which ones are going to be in there.

O'BRIEN: There's a funny story about Lauren Bacall in the movie "The Mirror Has Two Faces." Tell me that story, because it's an actual scene, I guess, from the movie.

BRIDGES: Yes. Well, Barbara Streisand, who directed the film, wonderful director, you know, she's so talented, and she has a lot -- she has this issue with perfection, which is wonderful when it's directed towards you, because she really cares about everything coming out just perfect, and she had a particular line that she wanted Bacall there to say, And the line was "Wha?" She must have done it 50, 60 times. That's her shot at Betty there giving me a reading saying, "Wha?" This is what she wants. Of course Betty Bacall was nominated for an Academy Award under Barbara's direction, so.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely most favorite picture?

BRIDGES: I don't have one. Nothing really -- not one sticks in my mind.

BRIDGES: What do you feel when you see the finished product, this book? Do you want to do more?

BRIDGES: Oh, I think I want to do more. I think I'm kind of hooked on photography.

O'BRIEN: Not to the point where you give up acting?

BRIDGES: No, no. But I'm so pleased with the way it came out. Yanna Anderson (ph), who designed the book, it's such a beautiful job, and they had a great team working on it.

O'BRIEN: It's a beautiful book. Thanks for coming in to talk about it.

BRIDGES: Thanks so much, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it. Jeff Bridges, it's nice to have you.

O'BRIEN: Nice talking with you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com