Jeff Bridges: Big Lebowski's Donny Was a Hallucination

A long-time theory among fans of The Big Lebowski has been that Donny, played by Steve Buscemi, is merely a hallucination created by Walter. It's a theory that The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges, agrees with — something he recently discussed in an interview. According to Bridges, Donny is a product of Walter's imagination, a hallucination likely stemming from his PTSD.

Bridges specifically points out how his own character, The Dude, almost never interacts directly with Donny, except for one instance when he says, "Thank you, Donnie," which Bridges believes can be interpreted as him playing along with Walter's delusion.

"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."

But what about Donny's death scene? To explain that, Bridges proposes a hypothetical moment where The Dude, fully aware of Walter's fragile mental state, visits a funeral director and asks him to fill a coffee can with ashes.

"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...'"

Bridges even offers a few more examples that could support the idea that Donny is just a figment of Walter's mind — a theory that's definitely intriguing. Still, some scenes where Donny interacts with other people during the bowling matches raise questions about the theory's validity.

What do you think?

Is Donny just a figment of Walter's imagination?