See Jeff Bridges’s Candid Behind-the-Scenes Set Photos From The Giver
Since Jeff Bridges’s turn as a lovable alien in 1984’s Starman, the actor has used a Widelux panning still camera to document the making of most
of his films. For The Giver, which was filmed in South Africa last October, “my camera was breaking down a lot,” he says, “so I didn’t get as many shots as I usually do.” But he managed to capture Meryl Streep, Taylor Swift, Katie Holmes, and more, in the gallery ahead. Filming The Giver was particularly poignant for Bridges, who optioned it in 1995, with the hope that his dad, actor Lloyd, would play the aging mentor, the Giver. “I was looking through a catalogue of kids’ books, and I came across one with an old grizzled guy on the cover, and I thought, My dad could play that guy.” His father passed away in 1998, and after 16 years of delays, Bridges took on the role.
*This article appears in the August 11, 2014 issue of New York Magazine.
Brenton Thwaites twists his face to imitate the comedy and tragedy masks.
Meryl Streep
Katie Holmes
A scene presided over by director Philip Noyce.
The Giver’s library.
The film’s Ceremony of Twelve.
Thwaites and writer Michael Mitnick lying on the floor of the Giver’s library.
Jeff Bridges getting into character as Thwaites looks on.
“That’s my head. It’s a head that my make-up man has in his trailer,” says Bridges. “I do all kinds of crazy things to it—talk to it, mumble to it. He...
“That’s my head. It’s a head that my make-up man has in his trailer,” says Bridges. “I do all kinds of crazy things to it—talk to it, mumble to it. He’s like another guy in the room.”
A cast table read with Taylor Swift.
Noyce and Thwaites going over the script.
Loyd Catlett, Bridges’s stand-in, and Thwaites rehearsing the “transferring of the memories” scene.
Catlett, right, has been Bridges’s stand-in in more than 60 films.
Odeya Rush, left, who plays Fiona in the film, with Katie Holmes.
Meryl Streep, who plays the Chief Elder, is prepped for a scene.