The actors look back at their beloved film on its 20th anniversary.
Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi are looking back at their beloved film, The Big Lebowski, on its 20th anniversary.
The stars of the 1998 cult classic, directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, reunited during a special segment for the Today show on Thursday. All three actors said they loved the script immediately after reading it, which revolves around Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Bridges) getting assaulted when he's mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, and later, getting into a whole lot of trouble after he seeks out his namesake and gets further involved in shady dealings. Along the way, he enlists his bowling buddies (Goodman and Buscemi) for help.
Clearly, the trio still has a warm friendship 20 years later, laughing about a few memorable scenes. The film also starred the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Turturro, Tara Reid and Julianne Moore.
“It was great, ’cause you got this dialogue that, you’re sitting on top of the world," Goodman said about having fun while shooting the film. "And the camaraderie with everyone."
Goodman also reflected on the movie's lasting popularity even though at the time, it was a box office dud.
“It does and it doesn’t. It’s strange,” Goodman said when asked if it felt like 20 years had passed since the film came out. “There’s a whole generation now that’s growing up with this stuff, kids in college seeing it for the first time.”
Bridges tweeted a photo of the group together on Thursday, writing, "Missing some of our cast here, but it was a blast getting back together with John and Steve for the 20th Anniversary of #TheBigLebowski."
ET was actually at the post-premiere bowling party for the film in New York City in 1998. Goodman joked to ET about Bridges at the time, saying, "The set was so cool that I would go there even if I wasn't working, just to hang out and absorb some of his Dudeness."
Bridges also talked about his iconic character, noting, "He does have a moral center, in a sense. I mean, he might be a big ol' stoner, but all he wants is his rug, man."
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