At the LA press day for Crazy Heart, a film that's earned Bridges awards-buzz, Bridges talked a bit about getting to climb into the character of Kevin Flynn again - a character he last played in 1982.
"Wow, it was great getting back with my old buddy, Steven Lisberger, and Bruce Boxleitner," said Bridges. "I guess the same thing appealed to me about the sequel that appealed to me about the original, which was this idea that there's a kid aspect to what I do, pretending and all that stuff. I used to love to pretend when I was a kid, and here's a movie where I get to play a guy who gets sucked inside a computer and gets to use all the modern technology that's available today. The same goes with the sequel, except that all the technology that we're using in that makes the old one look like an old black and white TV show or something. Gosh, it's amazing what they've got going on this. I can't wait to see it all pasted together."
And speaking of waiting, director Joseph Kosinski didn't make Tron fans wait to see what he was going to do with Tron Legacy. Kosinski shot a teaser trailer before starting work on the film, and that got Tron fans revved up to see more.
"That teaser was something they do kind of often with movies, and I think it's a good idea," explained Bridges. "The Coen brothers told me they did it when making Blood Simple. Before they even shoot the movie at all, they shoot the trailer of the movie, as if it was already made, and then they use that to entice the financiers. So, even though it was a Disney property, Disney wanted them to shoot this pretty expensive trailer. I don't know how much it cost, but it was pretty expensive. And all that technology that we were going to use in the movie itself is used in the trailer. It wasn't as highly polished as the movie is going to be, but it gives you a little peak into what you might find."
Actually finding his way back into the character of Kevin Flynn after such a long break presented new challenges. "It was challenging in that I got a little taste of this new technology of acting in the volume and making movies without cameras. That was hard."
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Tron Legacy hits theaters on December 17, 2010.
