Winona Ryder reveals why Jeff Bridges refused to kiss her during ‘Fearless’ audition
nypost.com“Happy Sad Confused” podcast that Bridges, 74, refused to lock lips with the “Stranger Things” star when they were auditioning for the 1993 drama film “Fearless.”And Bridges did that for all the right reasons.“Jeff Bridges, who I love, wouldn’t kiss me because I was, like, too young,” Ryder said on the podcast episode released Monday.“At the end of the scene he was supposed to kiss me and I was like…,” Ryder continued, mimicking herself preparing to smooch Bridges.“And he, like, he kissed my forehead,” she recalled. “He’s like, ‘You’re, like, my daughter’s age.’ And I was like, ‘No!’ “Bridges was 43 when he starred in “Fearless.” Ryder, who was 21 at the time, did not land a role in the film.
The movie, directed by Peter Weir and based on a novel written by Rafael Yglesias, follows a man named Max (Bridges) who experiences radical changes to his personality after surviving a plane crash.
Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom Hulce, John Turturro and Benicio del Toro also star in the film.Perez, 59, who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance, revealed earlier this year at the Chaplin Award Tribute Gala honoring Bridges that the “Crazy Heart” actor helped her get her part in “Fearless.”She recalled that the studio “had a problem” with her and Bridges’ “interracial relationship” in the movie and she feared she wouldn’t get the role — until Bridges went “to bat” for her.“Jeff wanted me to play the part.
Well, you never hear that,” Perez said. “You never hear an actor of his caliber going to bat for someone who still is fairly kind of new and regulated only to certain type of parts.“He just gave me so much confidence,” she added about Bridges.
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