John Goodman is a legend. He’s Fred Flintstone, for crying out loud. With a career that literally spans decades, Goodman was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame back in 2017. Why are we talking about this now? Because the video of Jeff Bridges getting into his costume from The Big Lebowski to honor Goodman has gone viral on Twitter. And when do we not want to talk about the Dude?
Goodman played Walter in the classic Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski. It was Goodman’s fourth time collaborating with the Coen Brothers, and he went on to do it twice more, including my other favorite Coen Brothers movie, Inside Llewyn Davis. In fact, Goodman is in all my favorites from the directing duo (I also love Raising Arizona). But it was Walter’s relationship with the Dude, played by Jeff Bridges, that really made the absurdity of The Big Lebowski work.
As part of Goodman’s star ceremony, Jeff Bridges gave a speech. Already, I’m crying. Bridges had Goodman hold his bag while he put on the Dude’s iconic sweater, all to simply say that Goodman is, well, a good man.
It’s no surprise that Goodman has the support of his fellow actors. He just seems like the kid of guy you’d love to work with because he’s always smiling, and he’s still one of our funniest actors in the world. This moment between Goodman and Bridges shows fans not only how much the two still love each other but that The Big Lebowski still remains a big part of their careers. Which is saying something! The two have done a lot of work!
The video was clipped and posted on Twitter by Todd Spence, going viral with over 70k likes and thousands of retweets because if there is one thing we love, it is the Dude and Walter. Seeing this again years later, especially after the passing of my father who was the Dude, made me surprisingly emotional. I cried in public over this six-year-old video.
He’s the Dude, man
If you know anything about me, it is that I cry over Jeff Bridges a lot. To be clear, there’s a reason for that. From the time I was 12 on, I thought my dad and Jeff Bridges were secretly related. Or at least that my dad was actually Bridges and just lying to me. They looked identical back in the early 2000s when I first made this discovery and through the years, the resemblance only intensified. When my dad passed away, I had a rough time watching Bridges’ work. In fact, the first movies I rewatched to try and test the waters were Stick It and The Big Lebowski. I don’t think that Crazy Heart will be happening anytime soon, though.
So when I say my love for Bridges runs deep, it does. Because he reminds me of my dad, who I miss daily. Seeing Bridges put on the Dude’s sweater (and if my dad was any of Bridges’ characters, it was the Dude) broke me. I cried in a bar. I cried again rewatching it for this piece. Not only because Bridges and my dad are synonymous in my mind, but because more than my own personal connection to Bridges, he understands what fans of his work (and in this case, Goodman’s work) want.
The Dude honoring Walter at the Hollywood Walk of Fame makes sense and I will be visiting Walter’s star with a can of Folgers with the wrong lid on top the next time I’m in California. Why? Well, because … the Dude abides and so do I.
(featured image: Albert L. Ortega, Getty Images)
