Jeff Bridges supports fan theory that Donny wasn’t real in The Big Lebowski

Every now and then, directors and stars will confirm a popular fan theory, as when Stan Lee turned out to be a Watcher in the MCU and that the peddler in Aladdin was actually Genie. (And we’re not entirely unconvinced that the dad from Home Alone wasn’t a mobster…) Well we can add Jeff Bridges to the list, as he’s a firm believer in the circulated fan theory that Donny wasn’t real in The Big Lebowski. He even has the evidence to really tie it together.

As part of his tour with The Big Lebowski, Bridges said that Donny (Steve Buscemi) was never really there. And for whatever argument you have against it, Bridges has a counter that he thinks holds weight. “He’s a figment of Walter’s imagination… And the last few times I’ve seen the movie, I’ve run that theme and it kind of works, man. Because The Dude never — only one time does he ever acknowledge Donnie. And it’s when he [says,] ‘Thank you, Donnie.’ But that’s only to bust Walter’s chops. He knows his friend has this hallucination, this PTSD buddy, and he loves his friend.”

So what about Donny’s death in The Big Lebowski? For starters, we hear The Dude say, “They shot him, man!” after Donny has a heart attack outside of the bowling alley. This could play off The Dude just entertaining Walter, but that doesn’t explain the ashes. But Bridges imagines a missing scene where The Dude goes to the mortician without Walter, telling him to just throw any old ashes in the Folgers can. “He says, ‘Look, I got a friend who’s mentally challenged. He’s about to put this ghost in his mind asleep. I’ll give you 50 bucks…’”

All right, but what about when The Stranger (Sam Elliott) addresses Donny’s death near the end of The Big Lebowski? Yep, Bridges can answer that, too. “But now, The Stranger lives in a place outside of space and time. So he can be talking about Donnie…That’s how I rationalize the whole thing. But the next time you see it, and you’ve never run that scenario…check it out, it’s pretty interesting.”

While it’s just the sort of outlandish fan theory that could be fun to believe, there’s really just too much evidence against it. I’m not sold on Bridges’ take that he only talks to Donny as a way to help Walter cope, especially since it’s so fed up at the time of the aforementioned line. Some have also argued that Donny only throws strikes, which is also blatantly untrue, as he leaves one pin standing right before he dies. Others have tried to make the claim that Jesus’ team only has two members (which The Dude and Walter’s would without Donny), although this is also visually debunked. But come on, Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is totally a figment of Ferris’ imagination, right?

What do you think of the fan theory about Donny not being real in The Big Lebowski? Do you agree with Jeff Bridges or is he out of his element?

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