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You’re voicing penguins who are very competitive at surfing in Surf's Up. How competitive are you in real life?
Jeff Bridges: “I’m not that competitive. I don’t like to get into that position. I mean, one of the great things about what we do – it’s like being on the same team. We’re kind of rooting for each other. It’s playing together. There’s probably a good kind of competition. When you’re like playing tennis against somebody who’s better than you, it kind of lifts your game up. So when you’re playing with really talented people, that lifts your own game up. It’s not really competition. It just kind of makes your own game more excellent.”
Have you ever fought for a role?
Jeff Bridges: “Fought for a role? I don’t know about fighting. I think the only one that comes to mind where I really wanted it, and the only letter I wrote to a director, I wrote Scorsese a letter and I wanted to play Judas in The Last Temptation. I read that book, the Kazantzakis book, The Last Temptation of Christ, and I just loved that book. Didn’t get the part...”
Did you ever talk to him about the letter?
Jeff Bridges: “No, I don’t think I talked to him about it. He wrote me back and I sent him a wonderful Kazantzakis book called The Saviors of God. He’s so great. He wrote Zorba the Greek. It’s probably his most famous book.”
Shia, are you competitive?
Shia LaBeouf: “I’m extremely competitive. This is…only because the audition process is a different thing. I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve auditioned. You’re Jeff Bridges…”
Jeff Bridges: “I don’t mind. I kind of like auditions. I prefer auditions.”
Shia LaBeouf: “Then you feel like you earned it.”
Jeff Bridges: “Yeah, and also they know what they’re getting.”
Do you surf?
Shia LaBeouf: “I used to, yeah. Just the pace of my life doesn’t allow it anymore. It’s picked up a little bit.”
Jeff Bridges: “I do. On a good day when my back’s holding up, yeah. I love it.”
Are you good at it?
Jeff Bridges: “No, not according to some other guys. I mean good as far as how I feel about it, I just love it. It’s so great. It’s like fishing. Even if you don’t catch any fish, you’re out there in this beautiful water. Normally you sit there and you look out at the ocean.”
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Sony Pictures Animation will release Surf's Up in theaters on June 8, 2007.
