By Christina Radish
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[Editor's note: The following contains major spoilers for Season 2 of The Old Man.]
The Big Picture
- In Season 2 of the FX series 'The Old Man,' former CIA agent Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and former FBI Assistant Director Harold Harper (John Lithgow) unite to survive while facing shocking secrets.
- Protecting family and loved ones becomes impossible, putting Dan and Harold in peril.
- Dan realizes that his daughter has leverage to force his hand, setting up an intriguing potential Season 3.
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In Season 2 of the FX series The Old Man, former CIA agent Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and former FBI Assistant Director Harold Harper (John Lithgow) had to face their past and work together, in order to survive in the present. As stakes got higher and shocking secrets were uncovered, protecting family and loved ones seemed impossible, putting the two men in peril and forcing Zoe McDonald (Amy Brenneman) and Emily Chase (Alia Shawkat) to figure out how to best position themselves. And in the final moments, Dan realizes that Emily has all the leverage to force his hand in her favor, which could make for a very interesting Season 3.
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After watching the season finale, Collider got the opportunity to chat one-on-one with Bridges about this shift in the show’s power dynamics, building the father-daughter relationship through phone calls, that his character never could have imagined where everything would ultimately lead, working out the details of their characters’ reunion, how he likes to get as many answers as possible, and the turmoil that’s likely still to come in a third season. He also talked about what keeps him returning to acting, and why he’s glad he signed on to be a part of The Old Man.
Collider: The relationship that really has taken the biggest journey in these past two seasons is the one between Dan Chase and his daughter. It went from a relationship over the phone to the power dynamics ultimately really shifting in her favor. Has that really felt like the most significant relationship for you when it comes to this character?
JEFF BRIDGES: I haven’t divided it that way, but I suppose you’re right. I haven’t had as much work with Alia [Shawkat], as I have with John [Lithgow] or Amy [Brenneman]. But yeah, as the story goes, you’re right. It’s all about our daughter – mine, John’s and Hamzad’s.
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'The Old Man's Father-Daughter Relationship Formed Quickly Between Jeff Bridges and Alia Shawkat
They each define her differently and she means something different to each of them. What was it like to try to build that relationship on the phone through conversations, when we never even got to see the other end of the phone line? What was that like, as an acting exercise?
BRIDGES: As far as building relationships, there is something wonderful about working with other actors. There are different ways to approach the work, but the way I approach it, and all the other actors on the show approach it, is that we’ve got some work to do. We have to create some illusions here. That’s what show business is all about, creating these illusions. It’s an unspoken agreement where you say, “We’ve got some work to do, but we’ve got to do it fast because we don’t have too much prep time. You’re supposed to be my daughter. We’re supposed to have known each other for decades. We hardly know each other at all, but let’s get to know each other as quickly as possible.” And it’s not so much just words, but opening your heart to a person. It’s amazing how accessible love is between people. You can barely know people, but when I met Alia for the first time – and I’ve got three daughters myself, so I had that going for me – I felt my heart opening and her heart opening, and we were father and daughter. That can happen pretty quickly that way. It was the same thing with John and Amy, as well. With John, we’re supposed to be dear friends going back. It’s a volatile friendship, but we’ve been good friends for many, many years. And John and I became very good friends. It begins by opening your heart. Same goes for Amy, too.
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Was it weird to not have a scene partner when you were having conversations and a whole relationship on the phone?
BRIDGES: You get used to those things. Nowadays there’s a lot of AI work and blue screen. You don’t really know where you are. You just get used to that kind of thing.
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Until she learned who she really is, what do you think Dan thought of Emily? He obviously had been holding onto information about her that he didn’t share with her. Did he think he would just be able to continue to keep that from her? Do you think he even realized what telling her the truth would ultimately lead to?
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BRIDGES: I don’t think he had any idea what the truth was gonna lead to. I think he probably would have taken that to his grave, if he had his druthers, following his wife’s, or Alia’s mother’s, advice. Maybe if Hamzad was killed, he would have told her. That was the reason he didn’t want to tell her. If it had gotten out, they would have come after her. That was his fear, anyway.
To withhold something like that from somebody, you’re also deciding how you shape that person because they don’t have all the information about themselves. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to not know who you are, and not know that you don’t know who you are.
BRIDGES: Yeah. Ignorance is bliss, until you know. And then, your bliss ends.
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‘The Old Man’s Showrunner Breaks Down the Season 2 Finale and What’s Next
“Everybody loves a good cliffhanger,” says EP Jonathan E. Steinberg about the Season 2 finale of ‘The Old Man.’
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With every TV series, the showrunner and actor relationship is different. Some showrunners are happy to share information while others like to withhold information, and some actors like to ask a bunch of questions while some don’t. What has it been like on this series? Are you someone who likes to have more answers than just what’s in the script that you’re working on?
BRIDGES: I want to know as much as they’ll give me. I’m of that school. But most often, they don’t even know yet. Jon doesn’t even know exactly himself, so we jam on different thoughts. It’s all up to him. I like giving it up to Jon. It’s like life. You don’t know what life has in store for you. That’s an interesting element and it’s new to me. I’m enjoying it.
Jeff Bridges Breaks Down the Final Moments of ‘The Old Man’ Season 2
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What was it like to figure out that moment, when Dan Chase sees Emily again in the diner, after believing that she was dad?
BRIDGES: It was total shock. And then, there’s the turnaround at the end of the show, not knowing what’s gonna happen.
When you have a moment like that, that is such a pivotal moment, is there a lot of conversation about how to play something like that out? Do you prefer to just see where things go? How do you approach a moment like that?
BRIDGES: Ultimately, you do all that stuff, and then throw it all to the wind and let the moment have its way with you. That’s ideally what happens. But we talked, as far as physical things and the speed in which I go to her and the blocking. And then, you let it rip with the emotions that are available to all of us, in the moment.
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At the end of the season, we learn that Marion has Harold and is trying to use him to bargain for control over something that Emily is now in control of. How dangerous of a game are all these people playing? Where do you think all of that could go next? Have you thought about what you’re getting yourself into for another season?
BRIDGES: I’ve got a brilliant showrunner and writer with Jon Steinberg. The big difference between making movies and doing a series like ours is that in movies, you know the beginning, the middle and the end. With something like this, it’s more like life. You don’t know really where it’s going. You’ve just signed on to run with these guys who’ve created it, and we’re in good hands with Jon. But you can’t get any more amped than crossing danger with loved ones. You’re gonna have some wild turmoil.
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We’d heard Lou Barlow’s name mentioned before learning that he’s also an identity of Dan Chase. Have you thought about what that could mean? Are you excited about what that could be like to explore?
BRIDGES: Yeah. I can’t give you any tips. I know a little bit more than you do, but I don’t wanna spoil it.
You seem to really love what you do, and you seem to only work on projects that you feel connected to and driven to do. Do you love acting as much now as you did in the early days of your career? Have your feelings about it changed, over the years, as things within your own life have changed?
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BRIDGES: It’s always been about the same. I was gonna say it’s a love-hate relationship, but that doesn’t quite cover it. It’s the gamut of emotions. There are things that are very tough. You put yourself through anxiety, like we all do. I don’t know if you’re an anxious person, but I can get pretty anxious. It’s challenging. What really makes the whole thing is that you’ve got wonderful people to work with, from all the actors to Jon Steinberg and Warren Littlefield and John Landgraf. It all trickles down like that. The environment that these guys have set is just wonderful to work in. They, too, have all the insecurities, but we do our work in spite of that.
Jeff Bridges Continues To Return to Acting for the Personal Relationships
It’s a career where you never know what the next job will be, you never know, how it will turn out, you never know how the people that you work with will be, and when it’s a TV series, you don’t know if you’ll ever even get to the ending. So, there has to be something that keeps bringing you back and making you want to do it, even when you don’t have control over so many of the other things.
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BRIDGES: Yeah, and what really brings me back, besides signing a contract, is the people. I really try to resist going to work because I know what it entails. It means being away from my family. It means not being able to do other things, and I don’t even know what those things are. It really narrows my choices down. And so, I resist as much as I can, and one of my forms of resistance is to not meet with the filmmakers. I know that once I do, being a creative person myself, and show business being about this community of artists that are working together, I resist meeting those guys because I know that I’ll get sucked in. I meet these guys, and if they’re talented, and there’s so much talent and creativity around, they can lure me in. I met with Warren Littlefield and Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz, and I fell in love with their approach and how they envisioned this whole thing, so I jumped on board. I’m so glad I decided to do it. Fortunately, I’m not disappointed with the relationships. They’re all wonderful.
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While we have to wait to see if there’s going to be a Season 3, we don’t have to wait too long to see you again because you’ve done another Tron movie. Have you seen a completed cut of Tron: Ares yet?
BRIDGES: No, I haven’t. I had a lot of fun working with Jared [Leto]. He was great to work with.
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Do you know what you’re going to do next, as an actor?
BRIDGES: I don’t know if The Old Man is gonna get picked up for a third season. We’re still waiting to find that out. If it is, I’ll start working on that. I’m also working on an interesting film, called Grendel, about the monster in Beowulf. That should be an interesting experience. Other than that, I don’t really know too much.
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The Old Man
TV-MA
Thriller
Premiering on FX in 2022, The Old Man is a Thriller and Drama series starring Jeff Bridges. The film sees Bridges playing Dan Chase, an ex-CIA operative and war veteran that kills an intruder that enters his home and then goes into hiding to avoid the law.
- Release Date
- September 19, 2024
- Cast
- Jeff Bridges , John Lithgow , Bill Heck , Alia Shawkat , E.J. Bonilla , Leem Lubany , Pej Vahdat , Gbenga Akinnagbe , Amy Brenneman , Hiam Abbass , Echo Kellum , Moneer Yaqubi , Navid Negahban , Jessica Harper , Artur Zai Barrera , Michael Sifain , Jacqueline Antaramian , Kenneth Mitchell , Joel Grey , Noor Razooky , Milo Stein , Andrew Perez , Sara Seyed , Rowena King
- Seasons
- 1
- Creator(s)
- Robert Levine , Jonathan E. Steinberg
- Network
- FX
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu , Prime Video
- Showrunner
- Greg Yaitanes
The Old Man is available to stream on Hulu. Check out the Season 2 finale trailer:
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- Interviews
- TV
- Jeff Bridges
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