Jeff Bridges Issues Health Update After Cancer News And Poignant 'Goal'

After battling with a stomach tumor that left him fearing for his life, actor Jeff Bridges has revealed he seems to be making a good recovery.

Bridges was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in March 2020 after a trip to the doctor revealed a 9 by 12-inch tumor in his stomach. Bridges then underwent chemotherapy and extensive physical therapy. He suffered the setback of contracting COVID-19 during his treatment but set the goal of wanting to walk his daughter Hayley down the aisle at her wedding in July, 2022.

In a recent interview with People magazine, the actor gave an up-to-date insight on how his health seems back on track.

Actor Jeff Bridges at a benefit for first responders on September 20, 2024 in Carpinteria, California. The actor has revealed that his treatment for cancer appears to be going well. Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

"I don't know the exact size of it [the tumor.] I get MRIs and all that down the line, but my oncologist says, 'You're looking good, man.' And I get all my blood tests and everything and everything's going real well," Bridges told the magazine.

Newsweek has emailed Bridges' representatives for comment.

Last year, as he began filming the second series of FX thriller The Old Man, it was revealed that Bridges' tumor had shrunk to the size of a marble.

Bridges also told the magazine that during his treatment, he set himself the "little goal" of walking Hayley down the aisle, when she married wealth adviser Justin Shane, which helped him work toward something.

"So we worked on that. And turned out not only did I walk her down the aisle, but I got to do the wedding dance with her. Then I'd rush to my table and put my oxygen on," The Big Lebowski star told People.

Hayley and Justin married in a lavish ceremony in the Santa Ynez Valley in July, 2022, after becoming engaged at the Bridges' family ranch in Montana on Christmas Eve, 2019.

Opening up about how he once felt the cancer might kill him, Bridges said: "While I was sick, I thought I not only wouldn't go back to The Old Man, I thought I might just kick the bucket. It got down to that.

"I remember one doctor said, 'You got to fight, Jeff. You're not fighting," Bridges said. "And I had no idea what he was talking about. I was in surrender mode, just, 'everybody dies. This might be me doing that.' And out of that surrender, like I say, all of this intense love surfaced, and maybe that's what caused me to survive, I don't know. But I didn't relate to the fighting thing, more of a surrendering."

Looking back on being sick, Bridges says that the experience made him feel love on a huge level, saying "love, that's the word that comes to mind. To see how much I love my family and my friends and the nurses and doctors that were caring for me, and how much love is coming at me. So it just exacerbated love, basically."

He added that being sick "heightened" his realization of the strategies he has for life and work.

The Old Man, in which Bridges plays a former CIA operative confronting his past, reached its season two finale this week. Of the finale, Bridges told People "The whole plot, it just gets thicker and thicker. "