At RNC film fest, Jeff Bridges supports hunger campaign

The Dude got the RNC memo about navy blue blazers.

Blending in with heat-defying Republican fashion, Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges made the rounds Tuesday, looking much more distinguished than his signature role in The Big Lebowski.

Mostly, Bridges met privately with Republican leaders, bending ears and twisting arms in support of the No Kid Hungry campaign. Later, he would attend a reception for the Republican Governors Association, drumming up support to end childhood hunger in the United States by 2015.

Bridges' only scheduled public appearance was at Channelside Cinemas where the nonpartisan Impact Film Festival showed Hunger Hits Home, a documentary Bridges narrated. The actor's advocacy for nutrition stretches back to 1988 when he founded the End Hunger Network.

"The film you're going to see today gives a very realistic picture of what it looks like for a kid to be hungry in our country," Bridges said in brief remarks to nearly 50 attendees, many with cameras snapping.

"We've got 16 million kids struggling with hunger … and it's not a matter of us not having the resources. It's a matter of making those resources more available to kids who are in need. This film is the beginning of a deeper conversation that we can all have."

That conversation was left to others at Channelside, with Bridges skipping the post-show panel discussion.

Bridges will make the same kind of visit next month at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. He should be welcomed there, after donating exclusively to Democrats over the years. The Dude takes the hunger issue seriously, and he wouldn't abide staying on the sidelines.

"Talking to other artists here (at the convention), what we are about is entertaining people," Bridges said. "But also a part of being an artist, I believe, is inspiring people and informing them."