(Credits: Far Out / Gage Skidmore)
Sat 13 December 2025 21:30, UK
Jeff Bridges began his career when he was a baby, immersed in the world of cinema from the moment he was born, thanks to his acting family. Yet, as he got older, he soon realised that he didn’t just want to act – he wanted to play music, too.
He couldn’t suppress his musical urges, and even before he’d appeared in his breakthrough role in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show, he’d sold several songs he’d penned to Quincy Jones. Bridges has music coursing through his veins, and this has subsequently affected his acting roles, which include Crazy Heart, where he played a country singer who tries to get himself back on track after a period of alcoholism.
Bridges has even made music of his own, releasing several albums since 2000, including his second country record, Jeff Bridges, which peaked at number 25 on the US Billboard 200. He’s even delved into the world of spoken word, releasing an album, Sleeping Tapes, with musical accompaniment from Keefus Ciancia.
So, while Bridges had played a musician before – his role as Otis ‘Bad’ Blake in Crazy Heart was actually inspired by Hank Thompson – that doesn’t mean he’s done. He’d love to play another musical figure if he was ever given the chance, although he’s not sure you’ll have heard of his dream role.
“I think it would be a musician you might not be all that familiar with named Moondog. I met him 50 years ago in New York,” Bridges told Steam Magazine. If you’re familiar with eccentric musicians of New York, then you’ll know Moondog, a blind composer who donned a Viking helmet and spent most of his days on the streets of Manhattan, becoming an iconic figure of the area – even if most people had no idea that he was actually the creator of some incredible pieces of music.
He wasn’t homeless, but rather he chose to spend his time on the streets, and paired with his unique look, Moondog encapsulated an era of creative freedom and radical change in New York. As the folk scene unfolded around him, he made his own beautiful contributions to music that blended classical and avant-garde jazz, drawing inspiration from childhood memories of music he’d heard from local Native tribes.
He was a complicated guy, though; despite making some great and genuinely innovative pieces of music, he was also known to be racist and anti-Semitic. It’s unclear how much of this Bridges would be interested in including in a biopic about Moondog, although he acknowledges how much of an “interesting” character he was.
Bridges explained, “He was a giant Viking looking guy who was blind and an avant garde musician. I actually thought he was a homeless guy when I first saw him on the street passing out flyers showing his work. I remember reading the liner notes of his album and saw that Leonard Bernstein had written them to my shock. He was an interesting character to say the least and someone I’d like to play if the opportunity came available.”
Perhaps one day Bridges will get to play Moondog. It’s really not hard to imagine him growing out his hair and putting on a Viking hat to perfectly play the part.
Related Topics