Jeff Bridges’ tumor has shrunk to the ‘size of a marble’

After a lengthy stretch that saw Jeff Bridges battling both cancer and COVID at the same time, the 73-year-old actor says he’s now in better spirits. Bridges gave an update to his recovery in a new cover story for AARP Magazine, saying his cancerous tumor has shrunk ‘to the size of a marble.’

Bridges first discovered his cancer in March 2020 when he was on a pandemic break from shooting his FX series ‘The Old Man.’ At the time, Bridges said he felt like he had a ‘bone in [his] stomach,’ but initially ignored his wife’s advice to get it checked out.

He kept going about his routine and told AARP he was shooting action scenes for the show with a ‘9-by-12 inch tumor’ in his body without even knowing it. ‘You’d think that would have hurt or something, when they were punching me and stuff. It didn’t.’

However, his cancer got worse and Bridges was simultaneously hit hard with COVID (in part because his immune system was weak from undergoing chemotherapy treatment) which led to a 5-week hospitalization. ‘For me, cancer was nothing compared to the COVID,’ recalled Bridges.

The actor said he didn’t think he’d ever work again, even when he was starting to get better. ‘So at first I said, ‘We, we’ll see.’’ said Bridges in the AARP interview. ‘But eventually that became, ‘Maybe I can.’ I have to admit that I was still frightened of going back to work. Then I began to think of my recovery as a gift being presented.’
Now, Bridges is filming Season 2 of ‘The Old Man.’