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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Alan Johnson

Jeff Bridges on road to recovery following cancer battle and picking up Covid-19

Veteran actor Jeff Bridges says he is 'feeling good' following a two year battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma that also saw him contract Covid-19 at a time when he had no immune system.

The 72-year old recently discussed his struggles with Entertainment Tonight at the premiere of his new series TV series, The Old Man.

"Cancer-wise, yeah remission, and Covid, you know, that made my cancer look like nothing, that Covid," he said.

"I did my chemo for the cancer and that stripped me of all my immune system, so then I got Covid on top of that, and it wiped me out."

Jeff Bridges' new series The Old Man hits screens on June 16 (Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)

And last month the Academy award winner told People : "I was pretty close to dying. The doctors kept telling me, "Jeff, you've got to fight. You're not fighting." I was in surrender mode. I was ready to go. I was dancing with my mortality.

"I had no defence. That's what chemo does — it strips you of all your immune system. I had nothing to fight it!"

Bridges, who is an also an executive producer on The Old Man, said his chemotherapy treatment and coronavirus diagnosis resulted in lengthy delays in production.

In all it took almost three years to get the five episode season together and ready for FX. The first instalment will finally air on June 16.

"'We had two years off and then come back into it, and it’s like we had a long weekend and I, you know, had this bizarre dream," he explained.

The show sees Bridges star as former CIA operative Dan Chase, who is forced to go on the run for fear of assassination.

Jeff Bridges attends FX's "The Old Man" Season 1 LA Tastemaker Event at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)

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