Jeff Bridges Opens Up About Near-Death Illness: “Covid Made My Cancer Look Like Nothing”

(CNN)Jeff Bridges has a message now that he's on the other side of Covid and his cancer is in remission: "Love is the deal."The actor talked to People about contracting Covid last year while he "had a 12-by-9-in. tumor in my body. Like a child in my body.""Covid made my cancer look like nothing," he said of struggling for breath and being in extreme pain.

People, Bridges – known for his roles in The Big Lebowski, Tron and True Grit, among other films – recounted being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2020, after his doctors discovered a “12-by-9-inch tumour” in his stomach. He began treatment shortly after – a round of chemotherapy by infusion and then oral chemo – which fortunately worked quickly.“They got a cocktail that worked, and oh man it worked fast. That thing just imploded,” he said.But in January 2021, Bridges caught COVID-19.

Jeff Bridges is reflecting on the year that he called a “bizarre dream.” In a new interview with, the 72-year-old actor shared that he almost died after a battle with COVID-19, that was heightened due to his chemotherapy treatment -- after his diagnosis with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2020.  In October 2020, Bridges shared that during a workout, he felt something abnormal in his stomach. When he went to the doctors, it was revealed to be a 12 by 9-inch tumor. The actor said at the time that the «prognosis is good.» actor said he immediately started chemotherapy by infusion and oral chemo, which caused the tumor to shrink.

interview with People, the now-healthy 72-year-old said the last year and a half feels like “a bizarre dream” that he wasn’t sure he’d overcome. It all started when Bridges was doing a home workout and felt something unusual in his stomach. He would be diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.“I had a 12-by-9-inch tumor in my body.

Jeff Bridges is thankful to be alive after surviving non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, and COVID. In this week’s issue of People magazine, the Oscar winner detailed his difficult year and a half and how he "was pretty close to dying."  The 72-year-old’s terrifying health saga all started one morning while he was doing his usual exercises at home.The actor felt something strange in his stomach and was compelled to get it checked out by his doctor. "I had a 12-by-9-inch tumor in my body," Bridges recalled.

Zack Sharf Jeff Bridges revealed to People magazine that he was “pretty close to dying” after contracting COVID while on chemotherapy for cancer. The Oscar winner announced in October 2020 that he was diagnosed with lymphoma. Bridges told People that he had “a 12-by-9-inch tumor” in his body.

Jeff Bridges is reflecting on his health.

Gogglebox star Ellie Warner's boyfriend Nat Eddleston was fighting for his life back in March after being hit my a car on a night out but now, it seems he is in full recovery mode as he was spotted up on his feet.

Getting COVID was an especially scary experience for Jeff Bridges.

Homes Under The Hammer presenter Martin Roberts made an emotional return to work on Tuesday after undergoing emergency heart surgery.The presenter, 58, was rushed to hospital last month after experiencing chest pains and told OK! he was given “hours to live” before doctors saved his life. After being told there was "a massive amount of fluid" surrounding his heart, the former I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star had the life-saving op before being discharged a week later.Taking to social media, he shared his excitement at returning to filming after the life-saving surgery.

Ellen Barkin just testified against Johnny Depp in his trial against Amber Heard — and the things she had to say really don’t make the actor look good!

Emmerdale's Tony Audenshaw, who plays Bob Hope on the soap, opened up on This Morning today about the devastating loss of his wife to pancreatic cancer.The Emmerdale star spoke this morning to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby about the awful experience receiving his wife’s diagnosis. He said: “She was a really fit person, she ran a lot, and it was partly that which masked the symptoms.

Tom Cruise is notorious for performing his own stunts in his adrenaline-packed movies – and it appears his love of testing himself to the extreme started as a young child.MORE: Tom Cruise's children show support for famous dad with rare public messageThe 59-year-old opened up about the terrifying near-death experience he faced when he was just four years old after he jumped off the roof of his home trying to imitate a parachuting doll he played with.WATCH: Tom Cruise in the new official Top Gun: Maverick trailerSpeaking at the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick at the Cannes Film Festival, Tom explained: "I think I was about four-and-a-half years old, and I had this doll, and you throw it up in the air and a parachute comes down. I played with this thing, and I'd throw it off a tree, and I was like, 'I really want to do this.'"I remember taking the sheets off my bed, and I would tie a rope...

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaWestEnd Films has closed a series of new deals on “Out of the Blue,” an upcoming thriller that brings together Neil LaBute and Diane Kruger.Rights for the film, which LaBute writes and directs, have gone to Australia and New Zealand (Kismet Movies), France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Germany (Koch Films), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Italy (Eagle Pictures), Middle East (Phoenicia Pictures) Israel (Forum Film), Poland (Galapagos Films), Greece (Spentzos Film), former Yugoslavia (Investacommerce) and Portugal (Nos Lusomundo). WestEnd is also sharing a moody first-look image.Kruger, best known for her performances in “Inglourious Basterds” and “Troy,” leads an ensemble that also includes Ray Nicholson (“Promising Young Woman”), Hank Azaria (“Love & Other Drugs”) and Chase Sui Wonders (“Genera+ion”).

It’s a grim scene at the beginning of the trailer for “The Old Man,” a CIA revenge thriller starring Jeff Bridges. Bridges, a CIA hitman who thought he was out of the game calls his daughter (Ali Shawkat) says goodbye, says he loves her, and says they’ll never see each other again.