Jeff Bridges Gets Candid About Mortality After Major Health Scares

Jeff Bridges is giving his honest thoughts about life, loss and death since dealing with more than one life-threatening health complication.

The 73-year-old actor has been facing his fair share of health woes in recent years—an experience he now says has altered the way he thinks about his own mortality.

In a new interview with PEOPLE, Bridges opened up about how dealing with various illnesses "heightened the experience of dancing with my mortality." The Old Man star was previously diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma back in 2020 and has since battled two cases of COVID-19.

"It just heightened the experience of most of my philosophies in life, and it all gets down to that corny 'L' word — love," he told the outlet. "That seems to be what's running my ship, and going through these tough times, it kind of exacerbated all of that philosophy of love."

He also discussed how his family dealt with his health battles, noting that his loved ones "were so supportive about the cancer and COVID...It just brought to my attention how much they loved me and how much I loved them."

Bridges, who is married to longtime wife Susan Geston, is a dad to three daughters: Isabelle, Jessica Lily and Haley Roselouise.

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"When you get close to losing something like that, your gratitude and your thankfulness for what you have, the people that you love, and the love that you feel for your loved ones, grows," added the Oscar winner. "It just magnifies it, and that was something positive that came out of it."

Bridges contracted COVID-19 for the first time in January 2021, which was before he was able to get vaccinated and in the midst of his chemotherapy treatment, making his immune system more vulnerable to the virus.

He previously told the publication that he was "pretty close to dying," as he had "no defenses," during his first bout with COVID because of his chemo. "COVID made my cancer look like nothing."

Bridges, whose cancer is now in remission, later contracted COVID again, though he admitted that the second time around "wasn't a severe case."

Nevertheless, the situation has made the Crazy Heart alum much more vocal in advocating for vaccine access, and he is also planning to share more about his experience with COVID as an immunocompromised individual to inform and inspire others.