Jeff Bridges Talks ‘The Old Man’ Season 2 Finale and How It Sets Up a Potential Season 3

SPOILER ALERT: The following interview contains spoilers for “XV,” the season two finale of The Old Man, now streaming on Hulu.

There was nothing complicated in Thursday’s series finale of FX’s “The Old Man,” which capped the drama’s exciting second season with a cliffhanger that hinted at the future.

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That’s not to say there wasn’t some resolution in XV, such as former CIA operative Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) escaping death after friend Zoe (Amy Brenneman) reached him in time to administer the antidote he needed to stop the deadly virus. he has been exposed before. Once in a safe house to recover under Zoe’s care, Chase was also reunited with his presumed-dead daughter Emily (Alia Shawkat), who opened up the story of the series’ third season. (As of press time, the Emmy-nominated series has not yet been officially renewed.)

While viewers wait for renewal news, Bridges spoke with Diversity about Chase’s complex relationships with the amazing women in his life, how the Academy Award-winning actor navigated this intense role while battling stomach cancer, and where he fits into his rich “Old Man” acting career.

The whole season was so painful. Do you feel that way while filming, given that every scene always has such high stakes?

Oh yes, absolutely. It’s fun because unlike movies where there’s a beginning, middle and end, with a show like this I don’t know how it’s going to end. It’s a lot like life, and luckily we have a great guy at the helm, led by Jon Steinberg. But I have the same feeling when I read your script for the first time. I say: “What? I have to read this again! My God!”

IN scene in the penultimate episode: you are bonded as this airborne virus slowly takes over your body. How did you manage to convey so much while remaining still?

It was quite difficult to understand what the effect of this drug would be. I’ve looked into this a little bit, and you take certain poetic licenses when you give long speeches, but you think, “How long ago did this guy inhale that stuff?” So we went back and forth and tried to figure it out.

We saw Zoe make significant progress in the finale, becoming quite proficient with a rifle and saving Dan’s life. What does Dan think of her at the end of season two? He must have questions for her.

She needs some explaining to do with everything she does. Can you imagine living a secret life for so long and then letting someone find out—I was going to say “to find out who you are,” but I don’t even think Dan fully knows who he is. But I think circumstances led him to fall in love. This idea of ​​not being authentic, he does it very well. He lives his life without being sincere. He yearns for someone to truly see him and understand him, and that’s why he fell in love with her. These are my thoughts. I think Dan is surprised by some of the things she does.

The scene in the finale where Dan sees his daughter Emily (aka Parwana) for the first time since he last saw her in Afghanistan is really emotional. DDoes Dan have any idea what she went through while in Afghanistan?

I don’t think so. He can only guess – but no, he has no idea what happened.

Because of his love for Emily, is he going to do what she asks to help save Harold Harper (John Lithgow), who is being held by his ex-wife Marion (Janet McTeer)? At first he doesn’t seem happy about her question.

I think so. I don’t think he wants to go. He tries to convince her otherwise until the very end, but this leaves room for Dan’s next move. You see these cars and the guys are going to pick him up immediately. It’s not that he goes with her because he loves her at that moment. He’s a little surprised. And he’s angry! I mean, I have three daughters; I don’t know much about this. I may be angry, but I still love them.

Emily even acts differently in this scene, as she has a level of power and responsibility that she didn’t have before, given that she now controls the valuable Meshbahar mine. How does Dan see her at this moment?

I think some of the thoughts might be, “Well, I trained her well. Now I’m facing an opponent who knows all my ins and outs.” And Emily is so angry at me. She is very offended that I hide all this truth from her.

How many takes did you do for the entire final scene with you, Amy and Aaliyah?

Were many options for this scene. We approached it differently, but there were a lot of takes.

We hear Emily say that Dan will need Lou Barlow, and we realize that this is not Dan’s past alias that he likes to live under. Can we say with certainty that this is true?

Definitely. I have questions and I spoke with Jon Steinberg. I still don’t know the definitive answer to who this guy is or what he did, but I have some guesses and clues, and it’s quite exciting. The plot really gets thicker.

Considering that the last scene represents Season 3 with Dan agreeing to help save Harold, a Season 3 renewal has to happen, right?

Well, we don’t know. I think we’ll see in a few days. Perhaps they are waiting for the last performance to give us the floor. I don’t know.

You’ve been through a lot on the show this season, whether you’re riding horses or physically taking out bad Russians. It’s a very physical show for you. How did you cope with all this, given the health problems?

Well, these health problems happened right in the middle of all this. When I watch the fight scenes from the first few episodes, I wince because I had no idea that I had a nine-by-twelve-inch tumor in my stomach when I was getting hit. I was hit in the stomach, and none of it hurt. But our stunt coordinator is Tim Connolly, and he’s a pleasure to work with. I enjoyed filming the fight scenes.

My only request for season three is that we need more dogs since there weren’t enough in season two.

I’ll report this to Jon Steinberg and see if we can help you. But it’s nice to work with them. There are six of them in total, and my favorite is Freya. Very nice. But for each task they switch them up and make them look like cool dogs.

Looking at your career, where does The Old Man stand in terms of challenges and what are you proud of?

Oh man, that’s a tough question. I know that banal phrase that actors say about each of their projects: “It’s like their children.” They love everyone, which is why you get so involved and it gets so intense. Since I’m an old man myself, my memory is kind of fading, so my favorite is the one I’m working on at the moment, which is The Old Man. It’s right there with all my stuff. This is my current love.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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