Jeff Bridges on Surviving Virus

SPOILER ALERT: The following interview contains spoilers from “XV,” the Season 2 finale of “The Old Man,” now streaming on Hulu.

There was no tying things up in a neat bow on Thursday’s finale of FX’s “The Old Man,” which wrapped up the drama’s thrilling second season with a cliffhanger hinting at things to come.

That doesn’t mean there wasn’t some resolution in “XV,” such as former CIA operative Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) escaping death after girlfriend Zoe (Amy Brenneman) reached him in time to administer an antidote needed to stop a deadly virus he’d been exposed to earlier. Once in a safe house to recover with Zoe watching over him, Chase was also reunited with his presumed-dead daughter Emily (Alia Shawkat), who opened up the story for would make up the show’s third season. (At press time, the Emmy-nominated series has yet to be officially renewed.)

As viewers wait for renewal news, Bridges talked to Variety about Chase’s complicated relationships with the surprising women in his life, how the Academy Award-winning actor managed the intense role while dealing with his own personal bout with stomach cancer and where he places “The Old Man” in his well-versed acting career.

The whole season has been such a nail biter. Do you feel some of that when you’re shooting, given every scene always comes with such high stakes?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. It’s fun, because unlike movies where there’s a beginning, middle, and end with a show like this one, I don’t know where it’s gonna go. It’s very much like life, and fortunately, we’ve got a great guy at the helm with Jon Steinberg. But I have that same feeling when I’m first reading the script that you have. I say, “What? I gotta read that again! Oh my God!”

In the scene in the penultimate episode, you’re tied up as this airborne virus is slowly taking over your body. How were you able to convey so much while also having to remain very still?

It was kind of challenging trying to figure out what the effect of that drug would be. I looked into it a bit, and you take certain poetic licenses when you’ve got long speeches but you think “How long ago did the guy inhale that stuff?” So we went back and forth and tried to dial that in.

We’ve seen Zoe step up in a big way in the finale by wielding a rifle pretty well, and saving Dan’s life. How is Dan feeling about her at this point at the end of Season 2? He must have questions for her.

She’s got some explaining to do with just everything she’s been doing. You can imagine leading a secret life for so long and then you let somebody in to know — I was going to say “to know who you are,” but I don’t even think Dan knows entirely who he is. But I think circumstances have led him to falling in love. This idea to not be authentic, he’s very good at it. He makes his life at not being authentic. He longs for somebody to really see him and to understand him, and so he’s fallen in love with her. That’s my thoughts. I think Dan’s surprised by some of the things that she does.

The scene in the finale where Dan sees his daughter Emily (a.k.a. Parwana) for the first time since he last saw her in Afghanistan, it’s really emotionally packed. Does Dan have any idea what she’s gone through as far as her time in Afghanistan?

I don’t think so. He can only imagine — but no, he has no real idea what happened.

Is it because of his love for Emily that he’s going to do what she’s asking to help save Harold Harper (John Lithgow), who is being held by his ex-wife Marion (Janet McTeer)? He doesn’t initially seem thrilled with her ask.

I think so. I don’t think he wants to go. He’s tries right up to the end to convince her otherwise, but it leaves it open for Dan’s next move. You see those cars and the guys are going to take him immediately. It’s not that he’s going with her because he loves her at that point. He’s kind of surprised. And he’s pissed! I mean, I’ve got three daughters; I know a little bit about that. I can be angry, but I still love them.

Emily’s even holding herself differently in that scene, since she has a level of power and responsibility that she didn’t have before given she now controls the valuable Meshbahar deposit. How does Dan see her in this moment?

I think, some of the thoughts might be, “Well, I taught her well. Now I’m facing an opponent who knows all of my ins and outs.” And Emily is so pissed off at me. She has a lot of resentment for me keeping all that truth from her.

How many takes did you get for that entire final scene with you, Amy and Alia?

There were a lot of takes on that scene. We approached it in many different ways, but there were a lot of takes.

We hear Emily say that Dan’s going to need Lou Barlow, and we realize it’s not a past alias of Dan’s that he enjoys inhabiting. Is it safe to say that’s true?

Definitely. I’ve got questions, and I talked to Jon Steinberg. I still don’t know the definitive answer of who that guy is and what he’s done, but I’ve got some inklings and some tips and it’s quite fascinating. The plot really gets even thicker.

Given the last scene sets up the third season with Dan agreeing to help rescue Harold, the third season renewal has to happen, right?

Well, we don’t know. We’ll see in a few days, I think. Maybe they’re waiting for that last show to give us the word. I don’t know.

This season you’ve gone through a lot on the show, whether you’re riding horses or physically taking out bad Russians. It’s a very physical show for you. How have you held up through it all, with your health issues?

Well, those health problems happened right in the middle of the whole thing. When I look at those fight scenes from the first few episodes, I wince, because little did I know that I had a nine-by-twelve-inch tumor in my stomach while I was getting punched. I got hit in the belly, and all that didn’t hurt. But we’ve got Tim Connolly as our stunt coordinator, and he’s wonderful to work with. I enjoyed doing the fight scenes.

My only request for Season 3 is we need more of the dogs, since they were not in enough of Season 2.

I’ll report that to Jon Steinberg, and see if we can help you out in that way. But they’re wonderful to work with. There’s six of them all together, and my favorite is Freya. Very sweet. But for each task, they switch them around and make them up to look like cool dogs.

In looking at your career, where does “The Old Man” fall as far as being challenged and what you’re proud of?

Oh, man, that’s a tough question. I know that corny thing that actors say about each of their projects are like their kids. They love each one, so you get so involved and it becomes so intense. Being an old man myself, my memory kind of fades, so I’m most into the one I’m working on right at the moment, and that’s “The Old Man.” It’s right up there with all my all my stuff. That’s my current love.

This interview has been edited and condensed.