Jeff Bridges' 18-Year Journey With 'The Giver'

Coming out after the "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" series (not to mention all their imitators), The Giver may seem like another attempt to cash in the young adult literature crazy. Had star Jeff Bridges had his way, "The Giver" would have been first. He'd discovered the book by Lois Lowry nearly two decades ago.

But in the film version, in theaters this Friday, Bridges plays a character known as the Receiver of Memory -- an elder in a seemingly ideal, futuristic society. Life is Good for the inhabitants of this ideal community; what's missing is any conflict, individuality, emotion or even bad weather. Everything is controlled: the community's elders decide on what occupations its members have, who will die and who will live, even what memories they might have thanks to a daily dose of mind-altering drugs.

The only inhabitant that holds the link to the past is Bridges -- a laconic figure living at the community's edge who is responsible for passing on the history of Mankind to a newly chosen one -- a tween named Jonas (Aussie heartthrob Brenton Thwaites) who has a gift of seeing colors in this black-and-white universe. (Literally. There hasn't been a more imaginative use of monochromic images to suggest a bland world since "Pleasantville.")

A family affair

Bridges failed with his last attempt to "give" (hence the film's title) this history (and the emotions that go with it) to an acolyte; and is under considerable pressure from the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep) to ensure that the past doesn't repeat itself with Jonas, whose inquisitive nature turns out to be a problem.

Had "The Giver" been made 18 years ago as Bridges intended, it would have been a family affair. "I originally wanted to direct my father, Lloyd Bridges in the film, and I wanted to make a movie with him that my kids could see," Bridges said. "They were all young kids at the time. I was looking at a catalog of children's books and came across this wonderful cover this grizzled old guy with a Newbery Award stamp on there. And I thought, 'Oh, this is great.' I read it and I was knocked out, not only on a kid book level but also as an adult and I thought, 'Oh, this is a movie I'd love to see being made.'"

In fact, there is a version that Bridge made -- a home movie-of-sorts that may not qualify for theatrical release, but it would certainly make a great DVD extra.

"This was like 18 years ago," Bridges recalled. [My brother] Beau's son, Casey Bridges, was our DP on that particular session in my parents' house. We read the whole book. Bud Cort read all the narration in the book and used this Betamax (to film it) in some garage. Casey tells me he's got it so hopefully that'll be something on the DVD or something like that. This movie, though, is a one of a kind experience for me. I've never had that kind of passion or intention for a project. Having held onto it for 18 years, it's very gratifying to see it finally come to fruition."

Grizzly guy

Perhaps Bridge's late father Lloyd Bridges would have been gratified to see his son take on the title role. "Yeah, I finally qualified as the grizzled guy on the cover," Bridges laughed. "It was funny. It felt wonderful. So much of the success of film creatively, and I believe its success in the theater as people see it, depends on the casting. Not only the casting of the actors, but who is going to be the director, who's going to be the cinematographer. All of those slots were just filled in such a beautiful way that the movie transcended my high expectations really for it."

Phillip Noyce, the gifted Australian director of such diverse titles as "Dead Calm," "Clear and Present Danger" and "The Quiet American," helms "The Giver," while its imaginative cinematographer is Ross Emery. Initially, though, Bridges had hoped to direct.

"It was tough for me. Wanting to direct it myself, I had a certain vision of how it would go. I really was in love with the book and I wanted to really put the book up on screen exactly how it was."

That was with Jonas being played by a 12-year old and the script adhering closer to Lowry's book, which included subplots involving euthanizing the elderly when they're no longer useful or babies when they don't meet certain standards. Such touchy subjects led the YA novel, despite winning the Newbery Medal, being banned from some communities; and was seen as a hindrance in it being made by Hollywood. Bridges stayed with the project for years as it moved through a laborious development project; finally, though, his option ran out and Warner Brothers took it on. No one, it seemed, had much interest in a dystopian story involving teenagers that would be shot in black-and-white.

Sparked by 'Hunger Games'

But it was with the success of a similar story about teens in a futuristic world that sparked renewed interest in "The Giver." "The success of 'The Hunger Games' helped get this movie made the project hot again. 100 percent," explained Bridge's collaborator, producer Nikki Silver to the Hollywood Reporter. "People finally believed that teens wanted something other than superheroes and rom-coms."

The Weinstein Company picked up the option and film was green-lit with Noyce as director; but the question for Bridges was whether he was going to be part of the project.

"As it got close to the movie being made, I had to decide whether I was going to come on board and play The Giver or if I was just going to say, 'Bon Voyage, guys. Best of luck but I'm not going to join you.' I thought about that.

"Often what I do when I come to these crossroads in my life," he continued, " is I try to project myself into the future and think, 'How am I going to feel if I let this one go?' I felt just terrible letting this thing go, so I decided to do kind of an experiment on myself, and say just go for it. Dance with the universe."

Bridges looked at the projects that Harvey Weinstein and Walden Media (the team co-producing the film) had done over the years for clues. "You've got Harvey Weinstein and Walden [Media]. Look at the movies that have come out of their oven. Look at all the artists that came in. Give up your idea of control, which in a way is the theme of the movie. Just dance with this thing and I'm so glad I did that, made that choice because it transcended all my expectations and my ideas."

Casting Taylor Swift

There were some changes made in the current adaptation. As a potential filmmaker, as well as a fan of the book, some of those changes gave Bridges pause. For example, the key characters in the novel are 12-year olds. The film stars 25-year old Brenton Thwaites and 17-year old Odeya Rush as older teens in the future society.

"One of the things I was most concerned about was the age of Brenton and Odeya's character," Bridges said. "I struggled with letting that go, but I finally did. Then when they showed up on the set, I said, 'Oh, I'm glad I did that. I'm glad I let that go,' because that first shot of Brenton riding that bike and looking up at those trees, you think, 'Oh, this is a guy who's at the cresting of his life.' He was perfect. And Brenton came up with an interesting thing. The other day he said it's a Ceremony of Twelve in the book, and he said, 'Well, that could be the ceremony of the 12th grade.' He's young enough to pass for a 12th grader so I think his casting worked really well."

Another notable actor in the film is Taylor Swift, playing The Giver's previous prot�g� Rosemary in flashbacks. Bridges was impressed with the singer's work too.

"God, she was so remarkable. I think her first day of work was right on the heels of arriving in Cape Town, certainly exhausted and I had experienced that myself. I would have been exhausted, but she was such a pro, so up for being involved. I hope she continues the acting because she's, I think, very talented as well as being a great songwriter and performer. She was just wonderful. I believe she was Harvey's idea, He said, 'Well, you're being taught piano here. Who would be somebody really great for that part?' Taylor came to his mind and I'm so glad she stepped on board. She had read the book I believe and was a big fan of that."

What his dad taught him

While "The Giver" did not end up the Bridges family film that Jeff had at one time hoped it would be, he still shares the lesson his father taught him as a young actor. Perhaps any Jeff Bridges movie carries the impact of Lloyd Bridges now.

"My dad, Lloyd Bridges, he taught me all the basics of acting. I remember when I got a part in 'Sea Hunt,' he would set me on his bed and say, 'Now make it seem like it's happening for the first time, but listen to me. Don't just say your lines when my mouth stops. You've got to let what I'm saying kind of inform how you say it.' All those things, but the main thing I learned from my dad was really just in observing how he worked and the joy that he had in doing what he loved doing.

"I got to work with him twice as an adult, in 'Tucker' and a movie called 'Blown Away.' In both those movies, whenever my dad came on the set, that joyful vibe came with him. It's contagious. It runs through the whole company and everybody goes, 'Oh yeah, this is kind of fun. This is advanced pretend. We've got all the cool kids, we've got the cool thing, it's fun.' You kind of relax when you're feeling joyful and the good stuff gets to come through."

"The Giver" is in theaters August 15.