Jeff Bridges’ reaction to Jared Leto going method for ‘Tron: Ares’ is hilariously relatable

We know that Jared Leto is infamous for his method acting. Many have called him out for using it. Now, Jeff Bridges had probably the funniest reaction to the extremes that Leto will go for a role.

Leto is playing Ares in the new film Tron: Ares. Part of the Tron universe, the film is bringing Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) back to me. So I can’t really complain. But it does have Leto apparently doing his method acting thing and honestly, that’s kind of funny. You’re going up against the Dude himself and method acting?

Bridges was on Rob Lowe’s podcast series Literally! With Rob Lowe and the two were talking about how sets have a certain vibe to them. “I hadn’t met him before. I’m saying, ‘What’s it gonna be like?’ because he was also a producer of the show, big fan of the original, working on it for 10 years. I came in, and you know how each set has a different vibe?” Bridges asked Lowe and went on to talk about how Leto was on set.

“There was an interesting vibe on this. I said, ‘How’s Jared? How’s he working?’ ‘He’s all right. You know, we call him Ares, you know, so he goes by his name,’ and I said, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’” He didn’t dog completely on Leto throughout the chat, Bridges did call him a “rockstar” but it is funny to see Oscar winning Jeff Bridges talk about his approach to a role vs. seeing what Leto does.

To be fair, I know Leto also has an Oscar but still. Come on, you cannot compare the two performers. One of them is LITERALLY the Dude.

Bridges’ approach to acting is decidedly different

Lowe and Bridges went on to talk about how what Bridges does is not what would be deemed “method” acting. Lowe talked to Bridges about their approach to acting and how the two are more open with showing up and just committing to the scenes that day while Leto is always the character. It led to Bridges sharing that he does think both styles of acting can work together “beautifully”.

He did say that it was an interesting experience learning how to deal with it on set though and shared a story about how he called Leto “Air” when he was in character. “His name was Ares in the show, and I ended up going, ‘Hey Air, what’s happening man?’” he said. “And I say, ‘Is it OK if I call you Air?’ And he says, ‘Yeah, sure you can.’ Then we got loose, and it was just wonderful. I mean, we jammed, you know?”

What this story did was just make me love Jeff Bridges more than I already did. He said “I see your method acting and I raise you the fact that I’m Jeff Bridges and will definitely be Jeff Bridges about it.” And can you blame him? I almost expected him to call Ares “dude” or something like that. Just a lot of “hey man” between Bridges and Ares.