Jeff Bridges Reveals the Cancer ‘Signs’ He Missed

Jeff Bridges recalls not understanding cancer which led him not to brush off the physical symptoms he was experiencing.

The Big Lebowski actor revealed he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in October 2020.

But in a recent interview, he revealed he had no idea what was going on in his body, until doctors conducted a series of tests on him and discovered the cancer.

Bridges had been having night sweats and itchy legs before his diagnosis, but attributed this to the hot nights shooting on location in Montana for the FX series, The Old Man.

“[There was] no pain. In Montana, I would have night sweats. I said, ‘that’s because it’s hot and humid, and I’m sweating at night,'” the actor said in the most recent episode of the podcast, Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes).

“My shins itched, and it felt so great to scratch them. Two signs that you have lymphoma.”

Lymphoma develops when white blood cells grow out of control. The white blood cells are part of the immune system, which helps to fight infection and travel around the body in the lymphatic system, according to Lymphoma Action, a U.K. based nonprofit organization.

Doctors eventually told Bridges he had cancer and “had a very hard time figuring out what cancer it was” and ultimately the right form of chemotherapy to give him.

“But they gave me this one thing they tried and the thing just imploded. Because it wasn’t something you operated on,” Bridges said on the podcast. “You had to find the cocktail [of medical treatment]. It shrunk down to the size of a pea. It’s remained that way.”

Bridges underwent almost 18 months of treatment for the lymphoma and in 2021 revealed it was in remission.

“As far as I’m concerned, FX and all of the team were so considerate and gave me all of the time I needed to heal and all the support I needed,” the actor said during a virtual panel for the The Old Man in 2022. “The protocols—we were still in COVID—made me feel very safe and eager to get down to business and play.”

Elsewhere in the podcast, Bridges spoke about having COVID while receiving treatment for the lymphoma.

“That COVID made the cancer look like nothing, man,” Bridges said, revealing he was hospitalized for a month because of the coronavirus.

Bridges won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2010 for his role in Crazy Heartand has received seven Oscar nominations in total.