The Big Lebowski Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Jeff Bridges says the Dude from "The Big Lebowski" was basically him in high school.

This month marks the 25th anniversary of The Dude - The Big Lebowski was released on March 6, 1998.

How close was the Dude in "The Big Lebowski" to the REAL Jeff Bridges?  Pretty close, as it turns out. And half the character's clothes came from his own wardrobe. You have to love art imitating life!

Bridges said that when he first read the script, When he first read the script, Bridges said in many interviews that he was surprised at how well he related to the character. Hhe thought the Coen Brothers must have spied on him when he was in high school.  He added, about half of the Dude's clothes came from his own wardrobe.

Jeff Bridges says he was surprised when the movie hit theaters and pretty much bombed, because he thought it was going to be a hit.  Obviously, it now has a huge cult following.

Ethan Coen once said, he thought there was something attractive about having the main character not be a private eye, but just some pothead intuitively figuring out the ins and outs of an "elaborate intrigue”

Domestic audiences barely showed up for The Big Lebowski, with the odd comedic detective tale only earning $18 million. Audiences gave it a B CinemaScore. Critics said that it wasn’t as good as Joel and Ethan Coen’s last release, the Oscar-winning Fargo.

Bridges told Hollywood reporter, "I'm so happy to be in that movie.  I pretty much dug it all, man.  There's an aspect of the Dude I aspired to . . . he's authentic, isn't he?  He's who he is, and that's about it.  He's a lovely cat."

For the record, the hugely impressive supporting cast - John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Sam Elliott, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Tara Reid and Philip Seymour Hoffman - didn't hurt the eventual success of the film, and the cult following it has now.

Here are some of Jeff Bridges biggest films -

Watch 'The Mirror Has Two Faces' trailer here

Watch the amazing final speech from 'The Conteder' here