Jeff Bridges Explains Why He Decided to 'Lay Off the Pot' While Making 'The Big Lebowski'

Jeff Bridges wasn't high at all while playing world-famous stoner the Dude in The Big Lebowski

Jeff Bridges made a surprising tactical decision when filming the stoner classic The Big Lebowski.

In a new Super Bowl commercial for Stella Artois, Bridges, 69, revisits his character from the 1998 movie, The Dude, alongside Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex and the City icon Carrie Bradshaw. During a break from shooting, the Oscar winner reflected on the making of the Coen brothers’ film, revealing that he was never actually high on set.

“I’ve smoked a bit of herb in my time. I chose not to smoke any doing that movie because the lines — every man, every f-bomb you wanted to get right in the music,” he explained. “You didn’t want to be improving stuff. I thought, I gotta lay off the pot, man.”

The movie, written and directed by the Joel and Ethan Coen, also stars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi as a group of friends embroiled in an elaborate crime scheme.

Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi in The Big Lebowski (1998). Mondadori Portfolio via Getty

The three recently reunited for a Today show special on the 20th anniversary of the movie where Goodman reflected on its impact.

“There’s a whole generation now that’s growing up with this stuff, kids in college seeing it for the first time,” he said.

Goodman even recalled Bridges taking behind-the-scenes pictures while shooting.

“It was great, ’cause you got this dialogue that, you’re sitting on top of the world. And the camaraderie with everyone,” Goodman said.