Actor Bruce Willis became an action hero after his breakthrough performance in the classic Die Hard film. The film helped solidify Willis as a movie star and went on to spawn an entire franchise.
As grateful as Willis was for the hit series, however, he admitted he eventually grew tired of action films in general. And the Die Hard series was partially to blame.
Bruce Willis became an action star after starring in ‘Die Hard’
A combination of persistence and luck factored into Willis getting one of his most iconic roles. Before Die Hard, Willis might have been most known for his starring role in the hit television show Moonlighting. So although he was eventually sought for Die Hard, the studio tried recruiting several movie stars for the film. Rumor had it that these stars included Richard Gere, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood, and many other celebrities who were more known than Willis back then.
“Oh, I think I was the 50th choice. They went to everybody,” Willis once quipped in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Since all of the more famous actors wouldn’t or couldn’t do the film, Die Hard would land on Willis. But Willis believed his inexperience as an actor at the time, coupled with his everyman vibe, actually added to his character.
“The thing about the first film you have to understand is I was doing TV, I’d only been in L.A. for a couple of years, I was still really learning how to act, so most of what went into making John McClane from a character standpoint was the South Jersey Bruce Willis — that attitude and disrespect for authority, that gallows sense of humor, the reluctant hero,” Willis said.
Willis might have been on to something, as Die Hard would go on to become one of cinema’s most important movies. The film and the franchise it inspired even surpassed Willis’ expectations, who had no idea the film would be a big hit. Although Willis noticed signs of the film’s potential later on.
“You know what, I started to get an idea when they started to show me cut footage of four or five scenes together,” he said.
Bruce Willis once became sick of action films thanks to his ‘Die Hard’ movies
Willis found himself becoming a leading man off the strength of Die Hard. He also continued lending his star-power to the franchise. He starred in the two sequels Die Hard 2 and Die Hard With a Vengeance, continuing his adventures as John McClane. After a while, however, Willis began to sour on the action genre. Die Hard played a part in his newfound attitude.
“They ran so many by me that I said ‘no’ to and other people turned into films. It was Die Hard on a plane, Die Hard at the White House, Die Hard at a Delicatessen, Die Hard everywhere! I just got sick of it. I got sick of running down a street with a gun in my hand going, ‘NOOOO,’” Willis once told BBC.
Willis soon developed a preference for action movies that brought something new to the genre.
Why Bruce Willis did action movies even though he became bored with them
For the most part, the action genre continued to disappoint Willis over the years. In a resurfaced interview he did with XLS (via Deadline), the box-office juggernaut continued to rattle off his complaints about the genre.
“Explosions are one of the most boring parts of my job,” Willis said. “When you have seen a few fireballs, it’s not exciting anymore. I know part of my audience enjoys the explosions, but to be honest, I’m a bit bored of it now.”
But at the time, an honest Willis admitted he continued doing those kinds of films because of the money.
“I am very clear with who I am,” he continued. “I work in all sorts of films, but the action movies are the ones that generate the most revenue. I like to earn lots of money from those.”
