‘The Big Lebowski’ celebrates 25th anniversary: The cast then and now

“The Big Lebowski” is officially 25 years old.

The movie, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, tells the story of Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski, whose life gets turned upside down when he is mistaken for Jeffery Lebowski, also known as The Big Lebowski. When he eventually meets the millionaire he was mistaken for, Jeff is tasked with finding his missing wife. 

Here’s a look at where the actors are now: 

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges was already an established movie star by the time he played Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski, having already been nominated for three Academy Awards and earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Just two years after playing the iconic character, Bridges starred in “The Contender,” for which he received his fourth Academy Award nomination. He continued to act throughout the 2000s, appearing in films like “Scenes of the Crime,” “Seabiscuit” and “Stick It,” before joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the villain Obadiah Stane in “Iron Man.”

Two years later, in 2010, Bridges received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his part in the HBO TV movie, “A Dog Year.” That same year, he won the Academy Award for best lead actor for his role in “Crazy Heart.” This was his fifth Academy Award nomination, and the role also earned him a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award.

In 2011, he was nominated for his sixth Academy Award for his role in the film “True Grit.” He also appeared in “Tron: Legacy” and “The Giver,” before starring in “Hell or High Water,” a role which earned him his seventh Academy Award nomination, fifth Golden Globe nomination and fifth SAG Award nomination. 

In 2019, Bridges was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, a lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions to the film industry, at the Golden Globes.

Most recently, Bridges starred in the first season of “The Old Man,” a thriller based on the book of the same name. The role earned him his sixth Golden Globe nod and a SAG Award nomination. The SAG Awards took place earlier this year, and while he didn’t win for “The Old Man,” he was able to reunite with his “The Big Lebowski” co-star, Sam Elliott.

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“I’m sitting with Jeff at the table and I haven’t seen Jeff in quite a time,” Elliott told “Entertainment Tonight.” “I’m really happy to be with him.” 

Aside from being an accomplished actor, Bridges is also a musician, having released two albums of his own, and has been featured on other musicians’ albums. He also wrote the 2013 book, “The Dude and the Zen Master” with Bernie Glassman, published two books of his photography, “Pictures: Photographs by Jeff Bridges” and “Jeff Bridges: Pictures Volume 2,” and narrated many documentaries.

Bridges met his wife Susan Geston in 1975 when she was a waitress on a ranch while he was filming “Rancho Deluxe,” and the two married a few years later in 1977. The couple shares three daughters together, Isabelle, Jessica and Hayley.

In October 2020, Bridges announced he was diagnosed with lymphoma and had begun chemotherapy treatments. Almost a year later, in September 2021, he announced his cancer was in remission. 

Julianne Moore

Before being cast as Jeff Bridges character’s love interest Maude Lebowski, Julianne Moore had already won a Daytime Emmy Award for her role in “As the World Turns” and was nominated for an Academy Award for her part in “Boogie Nights.”

Following “The Big Lebowski,” Moore starred in two critically-acclaimed films, “Cookie’s Fortune” and “The End of the Affair,” which led to her receiving two Golden Globe nominations in different categories. “The End of the Affair” also earned the actress her second Academy Award nod.

Moore went on to land acting roles in critically-acclaimed films, including, “Magnolia,” “An Ideal Husband” and “A Map of the World.” In 2002, she became the ninth actor in history to be nominated for two Academy Awards in one year. 

She was nominated for best actress for her role in “Far From Heaven” and for best supporting actress for her role in “The Hours.”

Moore continued to act in successful films throughout the early 2000s, including “The Forgotten,” “The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio,” “Freedomland” and “Children of Men,” which became the best-reviewed film of her career to that point. She made her Broadway debut in November 2006 in “The Vertical Hour.”

The actress has also acted in a string of comedies, including the critically-acclaimed “The Kids are All Right” and the star-studded “Crazy Stupid Love,” before starring as Sarah Palin in HBO’s “Game Change.” Her role in the HBO movie earned her a Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award.

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She then appeared in “Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One” and “Part Two” as President Alma Coin. The year ended with her starring in “Still Alice,” a role which earned her an Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG Award and BAFTA.

Moore has since appeared in “Suburbicon,” “The Glorias,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “When You Finish Saving the World.” Most recently, she appeared in the thriller, “Sharper,” and is set to appear in the romantic drama “May December.”

Aside from a career in acting, Moore is a children’s book author, publishing her first book, “Freckleface Strawberry,” in 2007. The book went on to become a series consisting of seven books. She has another children’s book outside the series, titled “My Mom is a Foreigner, But Not to Me.“ 

Moore met her first husband John Gould Rubin in 1984. After seven years of marriage, the couple called it quits and finalized their divorce in August 1995. Moore met her second husband, Bart Freundlich, in 1996 while he was directing her in “The Myth of Fingerprints.”

The two welcomed their son Cal in 1997 and their daughter Liv in 2002 before tying the knot in August 2003.  

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman began acting in the early ’90s and appeared in films like “Scent of a Woman” and “Boogie Nights” before playing Brandt, the titular character’s assistant in “The Big Lebowski.”

In 1999, Hoffman starred opposite Robert De Niro in “Flawless” and got his first SAG Award nomination for lead actor. Also that year, the actor appeared in “Magnolia,” which is frequently included on lists as one of the best movies of all time, and “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” one of the most commercially and critically successful films of his career.

He started the 2000s with appearances in “Almost Famous” and “State and Main,” as well as his Tony-nominated role in the Broadway revival of “True West.” After 154 shows, Hoffman then appeared in the play “The Seagull” alongside Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman. He then switched to directing, winning two drama desk awards for directing the plays, “Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train” and “Our Lady of 121st Street.” 

Hoffman got his first leading role in 2002, in the comedy “Love Pizza,” and followed that with a role in “Punch-Drunk-Love” alongside Adam Sandler. He then appeared in “Cold Mountain” and “Along Came Polly” before landing a role in “Capote,” for which he won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award.

In 2005, he appeared in the HBO miniseries “Empire Falls,” for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. His other roles include, “Mission: Impossible III,” “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” and “The Savages,” for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe. Hoffman received his second Academy Award nomination for his work in the film “Charlie Wilson’s War.” 

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The following year, Hoffman starred in two critically-acclaimed movies, “Synecdoche, New York” and “Doubt.” The second film awarded him his third Academy Award nomination, as well as BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG Award nods.

Hoffman directed his first feature film, “Jack Goes Boating,” in 2010, also starring in “The Ides of March” that year with George Clooney and “Moneyball” with Brad Pitt. In 2012, Hoffman made his final appearance on Broadway in the revival of “Death of a Salesman,” which earned him his third Tony Award nomination.

That same year, Hoffman appeared in “The Master,” a role which earned him his fourth Academy Award nomination, as well as SAG, BAFTA and Golden Globe nods. 

His final appearance on screen was in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One” and “Part Two.” Hoffman was working on the second part of the film when he passed away.

Hoffman met his wife, costume designer Mimi O’Donnell in 1999 and the two were together until the actor’s death in 2014. The couple were notoriously private about their personal lives, but it is known they share three children, a son Cooper and two daughters Tallulah and Willa.

In February 2014, Hoffman was found dead in his apartment at the age of 46. His death was ruled an accident caused by acute mixed drug intoxication. 

Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi was already an accomplished actor by the time he starred as Theodore Donald Kerabatsos, having already appeared in multiple Quentin Tarantino films and five Cohen Brothers films, including best picture nominee “Fargo.”

Throughout the early 2000s, Buscemi continued to appear on-screen in supporting movie roles, including “Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams,” “Big Fish” and “The Island,” as well as in the animated film “Monsters Inc.”

From 2004 to 2006, Buscemi appeared on “The Sopranos” in a supporting role, which earned him an Emmy nomination. He then lent his voice to more animated films, such as “Home on the Range,” “Monster House” and “Charlotte’s Web” and acted in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” and “Grown Ups” before landing a role on the HBO drama “Boardwalk Empire.”

Buscemi starred in the show for five seasons between 2010 and 2014. For his role on the show, he was nominated for two Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe Award and three nominations and five SAG Award nominations as a lead actor, including two wins. While on the show, he appeared in “Grown Ups 2,” “Rampart” and “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.” 

He also lent his voice to “Monsters University” and “Hotel Transylvania.”

Buscemi has returned for all the Hotel Transylvania sequels, and most recently appeared in “Hubie Halloween” and the TV show “Miracle Workers.”

In addition to acting, Buscemi has also dabbled in directing. He directed films in the late ’90s and early 2000s, including “Trees Lounge,” “Animal Factory,” “Lonesome Jim,” “Interview” and “The Listener.” He also directed episodes of “The Sopranos,” “Oz,” “30 Rock” and “Nurse Jackie.”

Prior to starting a career as an actor, Buscemi was a New York City firefighter from 1980 to 1984. In the 2014 documentary “A Good Job: Stories of the FDNY,” Buscemi looks at what it’s like to work as an NYC firefighter. He also volunteered for search and recovery efforts after the terrorist attacks in 2001. 

Buscemi has previously opened up about the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) he suffered after working as a volunteer firefighter on 9/11.

Buscemi married Jo Andres in 1987, and was married to her for 32 years until her death in 2019. The couple had one son, Lucian, who was born in 1990.

John Goodman

John Goodman rose to fame playing Dan Connor in the ABC hit “Roseanne” from 1988 to 1997, and had also starred in a few films before getting cast as Walter Sobchak.

In the 2000s, Goodman appeared in “Coyote Ugly,” and lent his voice to the hit animated movies “The Emperor’s New Groove,” “Monsters Inc.,” “Cars” and “The Jungle Book 2.”  

Goodman continued to act steadily on screen throughout the early 2000s, before transitioning to the stage in the 2008 production of “A Christmas Carol,” playing the Ghost of Christmas Present. He also acted as Pozzo in the revival of “Waiting for Godot” in 2009.

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He continued to voice characters in popular animated movies, including “Bee Movie,” “The Princess and the Frog,” “ParaNorman” and “Monsters University.” Goodman also had supporting roles in “Evan Almighty,” “The Artist,” “Argo” and “Pope Joan.”

He’s appeared in “The Monuments Men,” “Trumbo,” “10 Cloverfield Lane,” “Kong: Skull Island” and “Atomic Blonde.” Over the years, Goodman has hosted “Saturday Night Live” 13 times, becoming one of the most frequent hosts on the show.

In March 2018, Goodman returned to the role of Dan Connor on the reboot of “Roseanne.” However, after the show’s star Roseanne Barr posted a racist tweet about former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, the show was put on pause and rebranded. It premiered as “The Connors” in October 2018 and is still on the air.

In addition to starring on “The Connors,” Goodman stars as a Southern megachurch leader in the HBO comedy series “The Righteous Gemstones.” 

Goodman has been very open about his past struggles with alcoholism, saying he is “lucky” he was never fired while in the throes of his addiction. “I’d have to have a drink to get through the show,” he said on “Sunday Today” in 2012. He has been sober since 2007. 

He married Anna Beth Hartzog in 1989 after the two met at a Halloween party in New Orleans when he was filming “Everybody’s All-American.” The couple share a daughter, Molly Evangeline Goodman, who was born in 1990.

Tara Reid

Tara Reid didn’t have many credits to her name before taking on the role of Bunny Lebowski. Reid refers to this film as the one that jump-started her career and made her a household name.

“This is definitely the breakout role that opened up all the areas for me,” she told Page Six in 2018. “Without this I don’t think I would ever have had the success that I got, on such a big level.… Hollywood always wants to have that next big star, next big thing. And, by far, this is the movie that transformed me into that.”

After a few more small roles in films, Reid found mainstream success in 1999’s “American Pie.” She reprised her role in the 2001 sequel “American Pie 2.”

From 2003 to 2005 she appeared on “Scrubs” and starred in a few direct-to-video movies as well as TV movies, before returning to the American Pie franchise in the 2012 movie “American Reunion.” 

In 2013, Reid rose to prominence once again in the much talked about TV movie “Sharknado,” returning for its many sequels “Sharknado 2: The Second One,” “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!,” “Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens,” “Sharknado 5: Global Swarming” and “The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time.”

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Most recently, she appeared on an episode of “The Boys” and an episode of “Ghosts.”

In March 2000, Reid met and started dating TV host Carson Daly, with the two getting engaged in October of that year. In June 2001 however, they went their separate ways and broke off their engagement. 

In January 2010, Reid got engaged to German entrepreneur Michael Axtmann, but they called off their wedding a few months later.

Sam Elliott

Sam Elliott already had a long list of credits before landing a role as The Stranger in “The Big Lebowski.”

He continued to act steadily throughout the 2000s, in films such as “We Were Soldiers,” alongside Mel Gibson, “Hulk,” alongside Eric Bana, and “Ghost Rider” alongside Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes. He also had roles in the star-studded films “The Golden Compass” and “Did You Hear About the Morgans.”

In 2016, Elliott landed a role on season two of the Netflix show “Grace & Frankie,” playing Lily Tomlin’s love interest, as well as a role on Netflix’s “The Ranch.” He stayed on the show for its entire 80-episode run.

Two years later, Elliott landed a role in Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, the 2018 remake of “A Star Is Born,” starring Lady Gaga and Cooper. 

Elliott’s role in “A Star Is Born” earned him his first Academy Award nomination, as well as a SAG Award nomination in the best supporting actor category.

From 2021 to 2022, Elliott appeared as Shea Brennan on the “Yellowstone” spinoff “1883.” For his role on the show, Elliott won a SAG Award in 2023 for best male actor in a television movie or limited series.

He called his win at the 2023 SAG Awards “the most meaningful acknowledgment of my 55-year career” during his acceptance speech. Most recently, Elliott has had a recurring role on “Family Guy,” as the character Wild Wild West.

Elliott married actress Katherine Ross in 1984 and the two have been married for the past 39 years. They share a daughter, Cleo, born in 1984.

John Turturro

John Turturro had already starred in a number of successful films before getting cast as Jesus Quintana in “The Big Lebowski,” having been nominated for both a SAG Award and Golden Globe Award for his role in “Quiz Show.”

After the release of “The Big Lebowski,” Turturro appeared in Spike Lee’s “He Got Game,” his sixth appearance in a Spike Lee film, out of a total of nine. The other movies include, “Do the Right Thing,” “Jungle Fever,” “Summer of Same,” “She Hate Me” and “Miracle at St. Anna.” 

He continued to act throughout the 2000s, appearing opposite Jack Nicholson in “Anger Management” and in several Adam Sandler movies, including “Mr. Deeds” and “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.” Turturro also appeared in all the films in the Transformers franchise, “The Bronx is Burning” and Disney’s “Cars 2.”

From 2004 to 2008, Turturro made appearances on “Monk,” a role which won him a Primetime Emmy Award. Through the years, he starred in “God’s Behaving Badly,” “Partly Cloudy with Sunny Spells,” “Mia Madre” and “The Ridiculous 6,” in which he reunited with Adam Sandler.

The following year, Turturro starred in the HBO miniseries “The Night Of,” a role which earned him Golden Globe, SAG Award and Emmy Award nominations for best supporting actor in a miniseries. 

Throughout the later half of the 2010s, Turturro appeared in a number of projects, including his 2018 reunion with “The Big Lebowski” co-star Julianne Moore in “Gloria Bell.” He also starred in “The True Adventures of Wolfboy” and “Jesus Rolls.”

Most recently, Turturro starred in “The Batman,” Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pinocchio” and the first two seasons of the Apple TV + show “Severance.” His role in “Severance” earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor and a SAG Award nomination for outstanding performance by an ensemble. 

Turturro married his wife, actress Katherine Borowitz in 1985, and together they have welcomed two children, Amedeo and Diego Turturro.

David Huddleston

David Huddleston already had a reputation of a great character actor, having gained national recognition for his role in “Santa Claus: The Movie.” He also appeared in Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles” before starring as the titular character in “The Big Lebowski.”

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Huddleston – who served as an aircraft engine mechanic in the U.S. Air Force before studying acting in New York – went on to appear in a number of TV shows as a guest, including “Gilmore Girls,” “The Wonder Years,” “The West Wing” and “The Wild Thornberrys.” 

He continued to act throughout the early 2000s, appearing in “The Producers,” “Jericho” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Huddleston didn’t appear on-screen again until 2014 when he returned for “Locker 13.”

Huddleston married Carole Ann Swart in 1968 and was with her for 19 years until her death in 1987. In 1999, Huddleston remarried, this time to Sarah Cornelia Koeppe, and was married to her until his death in 2016. He has one son, actor Michael Huddleston.

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In August 2016, Huddleston passed away from advanced heart and kidney disease at the age of 85.