This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
PASADENA, Calif. - Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges agreed to reprise his role in the "Tron" sequel" almost three decades after the original because the movie-making process was, well, pretty cool.
"What got me to the second one is pretty much what got me to the first one. And that was that I wanted to mess around with all the new technology that was available to my industry," Bridges said. "Of course the technology [in] this new one makes the old one look like a black-and-white TV show."
The original "Tron" was filled with cutting-edge technology in 1982. And, yes, it looks rather crude today.
"Tron: Legacy," on the other hand, satisfied the Oscar-winning actor's curiosity about the new filmmaking process.
"I was so curious about what it is like making movies without cameras. It's so bizarre," Bridges said. "They would shoot in a space called 'The Volume,' which is all blue. And it's got hundreds of little tracking censors pointed at you. Not cameras but computer tracking sensors. The actors are in leotards with little balls on them, hundreds of dots on their face. Sometimes a helmet with four sensors pointing at your face.
"And everything from costumes to makeup to sets to even the camera angles is done in post, so it's very, very bizarre. But I wanted to experience that."