JEFF BRIDGES GOES TO THE MEET

House of Payne deals with real life issues and pain even though it’s a sitcom.

Jeff Bridges stars in Stick It as the hard-nosed coach of an elite gymnastics team who uses his combination of affection and discipline to encourage team spirit. Jeff says he visited an actual gymnastics competition and videotaped the coaches in action to prepare for character.

Jeff gave new meaning the film’s title Stick It. One of the quirks he picked up from a coach he studied was obsessive gum chewing.

“I met with Jessica Bendinger, the writer and director and she taught me about the world of gymnastics which I didn’t really know too much about. I was able to go to one of the national meets and it was rather peculiar I imagine people seeing me there. There’s all this wonderful flipping and tumbling going on and I’m there with my video camera videoing coaches. I totally turned away from the action I don’t know what they thought. I learned alot that day about how coaches operate and there is alot of affection and that kind of thing shown and encouragement to the athletes but there was also kind of a toughness that was interesting to observe and see the work for my character. I learned alot.”