Beau Bridges: Game Time: Tackling the Past

Beau Bridges said it plainly: "I think the roads we take, the paths we take to reach goals and to try to finish tasks in a successful way, those paths …" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

Born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges, Beau Bridges initially set out to be a professional basketball player. He played his freshman year at UCLA — where he sat on the bench under legendary coach John Wooden — before transferring to the University of Hawaii, where he ultimately hung up his sneakers to pursue acting. Some of Bridges' best-loved roles include Frank Baker in The Fabulous Baker Boys, Major General Henry Landry in Stargate SG-1, and BB Hensley in Max Payne. He has also had recurring roles in My Name Is Earl, Brothers and Sisters, and NBC's Love Bites. Bridges is married to Wendy Treece and is the father of five children. In Game Time: Tackling the Past, he plays a basketball coach whose estranged son — a pro football star played by Ryan McPartlin — returns home after a family crisis. He spoke with Premier Guide Miami's Daedrian McNaughton.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What attracted you to your role in Game Time?

BEAU BRIDGES: I have a large family — I have five children — so stories that have family as a theme usually really get my attention, and this one certainly does. Right at the core of the story is this family and how they come together and how they get through difficult times. I also love sports. I love athletics. Ryan and I actually had that in common — we both played athletics on teams in our high school and college years. And so to get to play a coach was great. When I was younger and looking ahead at my future, my dad was an actor so I thought he seems to enjoy that, and I'd give that a try. But also, I thought another path I would enjoy would be as a coach working with young people. I've coached all my own kids' athletic teams, and was lucky enough to sit on the bench with John Wooden as my coach playing freshman basketball at UCLA. It didn't go any further than that, but that was a great experience — one of the great college coaches of all time. I remained friendly with him and in contact with him for the rest of his time on the planet, and that was just a real blessing. There was a lot of recurring themes in my own life that resonated in this story, and so I jumped at it. I also don't think there's enough entertainment for families these days — appropriate, strong, and profound stories that people need to hear.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Do you have family or movie night at home?

BEAU BRIDGES: Yes. Television is a time for the family to gather. I'm of a generation where we just had radio, and so I remember how exciting it was when I went to see the Lone Ranger for the first time when I was a little kid. And now of course technology is so sophisticated that it's such a huge part of our lives — so much so that I think sometimes young people especially tend to get isolated with the little thing they can hold in their hand to watch films and everything else. But in our family, we like to gather around the television and watch sporting events and films and shows, and it's a great time for people to come together.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Do you coach your children?

BEAU BRIDGES: Yes. I try. I try to coach them, but they're not really hearing it too much anymore. We have discussions more or less. What I find about my adult children is as they get older, they feel that they can now begin to coach me — which is sometimes a little hard to take. But I also welcome it because I realize that as younger people in this world, they have a better understanding of the way things work now. And so sometimes I actually go out and seek their advice on things because I think they do have a better understanding of the way the game is played these days.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: I learned this movie is somewhat in line with your college years. Will we see your shirt off in this movie?

BEAU BRIDGES: I do take my shirt off however. No, I'm just teasing.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Congrats on your Emmy nominations for Brothers and Sisters.

BEAU BRIDGES: I loved doing that show as well, and I feel that my nomination certainly was a good thing in my life, but I also feel that I'm kind of representing that whole show at this year's Emmys. I mean they did such great work, and of course my dear friend Sally Field was so amazing and getting to play with her was just fantastic. That's a shared experience with that whole cast and crew.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Looking back, do you think you would have been a more successful basketball player than an actor?

BEAU BRIDGES: No. I found out the hard way very quickly going to such a powerhouse basketball college what a little fish I was. And I realized how lucky I was to even make the freshman team and to be able to be around those guys. But what I came away with, especially being tutored by a man like John Wooden, was I learned lessons that were life lessons. I don't know if you're familiar with John Wooden's pyramid of success? It was something he actually developed as an English teacher before he became a coach, and it's basically all the qualities you need to find success. The two cornerstones are industriousness — which is hard work — and enthusiasm, which is joy. Coach always said that you could come to the task with hard work, but it's when it's brought in combination with joy that special things happen. And then the very pinnacle of the pyramid is divided in half into faith and patience — meaning when the big game is at hand, you have to be patient and you have to have faith. Faith in whatever you believe in and faith in yourself. I did get a lot out of my experience playing at UCLA, but as far as becoming a professional, I don't think so.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Communication is a very important part of any relationship. This film touched on that in some aspects — can you talk a bit about how important it was for the dad to communicate with his son?

BEAU BRIDGES: I think the roads we take, the paths we take to reach goals and to try to finish tasks in a successful way, those paths are taken much more easily if you're blessed to have a family. When you have your family there to support you, it makes it so much easier and more comfortable a ride. Or if you have friends that almost become your family — that is so valuable. And I think sometimes people, even though they may have a family there with them, they don't take advantage of their family, so the communication is lacking. And I think that's what our story is about in many ways — how important it is for family members to communicate with each other. Our family in this story, they grow apart because they're not communicating. Sometimes it's difficult because that family member means more to you than anybody else, so there are things and events that are difficult to talk about because you're worried about the consequences of talking the truth with a loved one. Without that communication, I think you can get lost and you can lose that wonderful support that happens from family.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What is one of the biggest challenges for a parent, and how was it played out in this film?

BEAU BRIDGES: One of the biggest challenges for a parent is that when your child is born, those first few months you provide everything for them — for their survival. And then very quickly, they begin to look for their independence, even as little babies. And there begins their journey to get away from you, to find complete independence. As a parent, that's what you want for them — you want them to evolve into an independent grown-up who can have their own life and sustain themselves independently. But it's also kind of heart-wrenching because you give so much to your child, you invest so much in them, and yet they're going away from you. They can't wait to get away from you, and that increases the older they get. It's kind of a double-edged sword. You want them to have their independence, you want to help give it to them, but then you're also mourning the loss of the closeness that happens when they're living in your own home. And in this story, that is magnified by the fact that there's a misunderstanding that comes down between my son and I, and I basically have lost him at the beginning of the story. He's gone. He's not communicating at all. He basically doesn't like me anymore. And so what the story really is about for my character is hoping that my son will return into my life in a positive way and realize that I do love him and have always loved him, but there was a misunderstanding.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Does this film reflect in any way your personal or family life?

BEAU BRIDGES: The fun of being a parent is, as your children become adults, watching them go out into the world and bring their own unique goodness to the community. I can say that about my grown children — they're just amazing. In many ways they are my immortality. They are carrying me on beyond what I can do. They're doing things that I only dreamed of. And I think that's part of this story as well. As for my character — I become aware of my sons as men who will hopefully carry on what I started but take it into a whole other level. And that's the real joy and the real payoff for all the challenges that go into being a good parent. Being a good dad is the hardest thing that I've ever tried to do, and I've failed many, many times, and my kids will point that out to me of course. But it's been difficult, but also tremendously rewarding. My wife was saying to me the other day that I've had children in my life for almost 50 years of my lifetime — which is a lot of years. But I wouldn't trade it for the world.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What's your advice for actors?

BEAU BRIDGES: I was very fortunate that I had my dad Lloyd, who was an actor firmly entrenched in the business and quite successful, and he helped me get that first job. And I recognize how difficult that first job is to get, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. What's important for any young person who wants to join the fraternity of actors is to get out there and do your thing. Get involved in your school theater. Get involved in your community theater, because the best way to get that first professional job is to have people see what you can do. If you sit there waiting for your phone to ring, nothing's going to happen. You need to get out there and work, work, work and try to associate with people who are professionals in any way you can. I would also like to recommend a book called Acting: The First Six Lessons by Richard Boleslawski, written in about 1933. It was the only book on acting my father Lloyd gave me when I was about 16. I've given it to all my kids. In fact, a year ago my daughter Emily and I adapted that novel into a play which we performed in Los Angeles, and we recently just got published by Samuel French. So if anyone wants to pick up that play they can. I would also encourage young actors to write. Our business is to tell stories, and if there's no stories to tell, then what's an actor going to do? As Shakespeare said, 'The play's the thing.' If you write, that's another way of creating work for yourself.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: You recently did some work with George Clooney. Was he very difficult to work with?

BEAU BRIDGES: No. He's just a real prince of a guy. He's a lot of fun. He's got a mischievous thing about him which I didn't see too directly — I heard about it mostly from other people. But he loves what he does. He's really good at what he does. He works hard. He's very respectful of all the other actors and the crew. Yes, it was a lot of fun. I did The Descendants with him, which is coming out probably in a couple of months.

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