He Was Hot And Cold
It’s pretty close to impossible to find a hero more beloved than Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard. But things were often different behind the scenes. Willis was notoriously hard to work with, and there’s a long list of folks who would rather not repeat the process. On the other hand, Willis proved to be a regular pussycat when it came to his family life.
Yet just as Willis was starting to mellow, an unspeakable tragedy struck him down in the third act of his career.
1. He Wasn’t Born In America
While to many, Bruce Willis is as American as apple pie, he was actually born in Germany. He came into this world in Idar-Oberstein on March 19, 1955, as Walter Bruce Willis. His mom was German, and his dad was an American soldier. Just two years after Willis was born, the family made a big move.
2. He Had A Problem
Once Dad got his discharge, he took the family back to his hometown: Carneys Point, New Jersey. In high school, Willis began to have a problem speaking. He had an embarrassing stutter. Taking matters into his own hands, Willis signed up for the drama club. Here, he found that he stuttered less when on the stage.
Willis had caught the acting bug, but he was a long way from making it into a career.
Ron Galella, Ltd., Getty Images
3. He Had To Work
Bruce Willis didn't have a rich family to fall back on, so he started working after high school. He worked at a nuclear power plant and as a private investigator. But he couldn’t forget how it felt to be on stage. Soon, he enrolled in a drama program at Montclair State University. After that, New York was his next destination.
His goal was simple: he wanted to be famous.
Screenshot from Blind Date, TriStar Pictures (1987)
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4. He Made A Long Trek
Instead of fame, Willis found work as a bartender. He toiled away trying to hit the big time, but it was a long wait. In 1985, Willis had an audition for Desperately Seeking Susan opposite Madonna, but had to drive all the way to Hollywood for the audition. After all that driving, he still didn’t get the part.
But he got something even better.
Screenshot from Desperately Seeking Susan, MGM (1985)
5. He Was Desperate
After not getting the role in Desperately Seeking Susan, Bruce Willis must have been feeling a little desperate himself. He found out that if he stayed one more day in LA, he could audition for a TV role. Unfortunately, they were seeing somewhere close to 3,000 other actors for the role. Hollywood icon Cybil Shepherd was already attached to the show.
What chance did an unknown like Willis have to get this part?
Noxell Corporation-makers of Noxema., Wikimedia Commons
6. He Wasn’t Wanted
The thing was, Shepherd had someone in mind for the role in Moonlighting, and it most definitely wasn’t Willis. She wanted Harley Wenton, and ABC supported her. The series creator, Glenn Gordon Caron, knew he liked Willis immediately and went to bat for Willis and won. However, the true story may be just a little bit different.
Screenshot from Moonlighting, Disney (1985–1989)
7. He Made Her Hot
In 2022, Shepherd came clean about how she first felt about Willis. She said that when Willis walked into the room, her temperature went up by about 10 degrees. Once that happened, Shepherd knew that Willis would be her co-star. She also knew that acting on her feelings would be a very bad idea for the show.
Willis has his own version of the story.
Screenshot from Moonlighting, Disney (1985–1989)
8. There Was A Secret Thing
Bruce Willis probably agreed that a relationship with Shepherd was a bad idea. But this doesn't mean nothing happened. In his book, Revenge of the Nerd, Moonlighting co-star Curtis Armstrong said that Willis suggested that something did happen between the two stars. This could explain how their relationship progressed over the years—in a completely different direction.
Screenshot from Moonlighting, Disney (1985–1989)
9. They Were Petty
As the hatred between Willis and Shepherd progressed, so did the pettiness. The story goes that everything had to be exactly equal for the two stars. It got so bad that members of the crew had to use tape measures to ensure that both trailer doors were the exact same distance from the entrance to the sound stage.
Despite all the hatred, they were actually making a hit show.
Screenshot from Moonlighting, Disney (1985–1989)
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10. He Was An Immediate Star
Moonlighting was a comedy-drama, and this was a new idea at the time. Many see it as the first successful “dramedy”. Not only did the success of Moonlighting help to reignite Shepherd’s career, but it also turned Willis into an immediate star. Willis knew he had to act fast to turn this success into something even bigger.
Screenshot from Moonlighting, Disney (1985–1989)
11. He Got Leftovers
Bruce Willis had his sights set on a movie, and an opportunity arose when Madonna backed out of Blind Date because they wouldn't hire her then-husband, Sean Penn. Willis got Penn’s part, and Kim Basinger took Madonna's. Critics did not like Blind Date at all, but audiences did. It ended up being 1987’s 23rd-highest-grossing movie.
Willis was on his way to superstardom.
Screenshot from Blind Date, TriStar Pictures (1987)
12. He Got Top Billing
The director of Blind Date, Blake Edwards, was happy with Willis and immediately wanted to make another film with him. In Sunset, Willis would play opposite another TV star, James Garner from The Rockford Files. Even though Willis was an up-and-comer, he got top billing over Garner.
This didn’t make for a good relationship between the two men.
Screenshot from Sunset, Tri-Star Pictures (1988)
13. He Speaks Off The Cuff
After making Sunset, Garner said he would never work with Willis again. He found Willis was far too into ad-libbing dialogue and not serious about acting. He even called him “high school”. Critic Leonard Maltin agreed. He clearly hated the film and thought Willis registered “zero”. He only had praise for Garner’s charisma.
It seemed that Willis was getting too big for his britches and had some lessons to learn.
Screenshot from Sunset, Tri-Star Pictures (1988)
14. They Needed A Star
In 1988, 20th Century Fox was looking for a blockbuster for that summer. It had a screenplay for an action film called Die Hard, but they were having trouble finding a leading man. Action go-tos like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone had already passed on it. When Fox offered Bruce Willis $5 million to play John McClane, most Hollywood insiders thought they were crazy.
Plus, they had to convince him to take the role.
Screenshot from Die Hard, 20th Century Fox (1988)
15. He Saw A Sign
Bruce Willis had his hands full with Moonlighting and couldn't see himself doing a demanding role like Die Hard while still making the TV show. That’s when Shepard had an announcement. She was having twins. Willis saw that Moonlighting would be shut down and took this as a sign. He would do Die Hard.
Then Fox got cold feet.
Screenshot from Die Hard, 20th Century Fox (1988)
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16. He Was Second To The Building
Because he had mostly done comedy, most couldn’t see Willis as a serious action film star. Even Fox was hesitant. In fact, some of the marketing posters showed the building as the star of the movie and not Willis. Playing second fiddle to a building did little for Willis's ego.
Well, his next venture wouldn’t help much.
Screenshot from Die Hard, 20th Century Fox (1988)
17. He Tried Singing
Being at the top of Hollywood wasn't enough; Bruce Willis also wanted to conquer the music world. He called his first album The Return of Bruno, and he brought in help from The Pointer Sisters and the Temptations. People magazine called one of the songs "surprisingly okay”.
Let’s hope his upcoming marriage is better than that.
18. He Did It In Vegas
While making both Die Hard and Moonlighting, Willis also took time out for a wedding. He wed Demi Moore at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, Nevada. Adding to the campy Las Vegas wedding was the officiant. It was “Tutti Frutti” singer Little Richard.
But none of this was as weird as how Willis met Moore.
19. He Was The Replacement
Bruce Willis first met Moore at a screening of the movie Stakeout. This film starred Emilio Estevez, who was actually Moore’s fiancė at the time. So, while Moore was supporting her fiancė’s career, she was also falling for Willis. When the dust cleared, Moore had dumped Estevez and was on the Willis express.
Now it was time for Willis to impress his new wife with a blockbuster movie.
20. Audiences Loved Him
With a TV star in the lead role, expectations for Die Hard could not have been lower. Critics were not sure what to make of Willis's performance, but audiences were in love with him as McClane. He was a different kind of action hero—he was fallible. Die Hard ended up being in the number 10 spot of the highest-grossing films that year, and it grossed $140 million. This confirmed it: Willis was an action movie star.
What he did next was a huge surprise.
Screenshot from Die Hard, 20th Century Fox (1988)
21. He Went Against Type
Bruce Willis could have followed up Die Hard with another action movie, but he didn’t. He decided to mix things up a bit with a drama. In Country tells the story of a Vietnam vet and his niece. While In Country is a “low-key” drama, it did earn Willis a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor. Willis had now done comedy, action, and drama.
It seemed that nothing could stop him.
Screenshot from In Country, Warner Bros. (1989)
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22. They Made A Bad Decision
Before the release of In Country, Moonlighting was facing trouble. The ratings were low, and the writers may have made a mistake. You see, they decided to have the two main characters consummate their relationship. Sadly, all the tension went out the window. They agreed to cancel the show.
But this was good news. Willis was free of Shepherd and now able to pursue films full-time.
Screenshot from Moonlighting, Disney (1985–1989)
23. It Doubled
Following the success of Die Hard, audiences were itching for a sequel and in 1990, they got it. It didn’t really matter that no one thought it was nearly as good as the original. Die Hard 2 did almost double the gross of the original. But Willis wasn’t the only one making huge box office.
Screenshot from Die Hard 2, 20th Century Fox (1990)
24. They Were A Power Couple
Willis's wife, Demi Moore, had a film out at the same time as Die Hard 2. This was the hugely popular Ghost with Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg. There was a moment when Willis's film and Moore’s film occupied the two top spots at the box office. Talk about your power couples.
Even so, Willis was still having trouble getting the roles he wanted.
25. They Didn’t Want Him
Versatile director Brian De Palma had replaced Mike Nichols in the director’s chair for The Bonfire of the Vanities. When he was having trouble filling one of the roles—Jack Nicholson had said no—Warner Bros forced him to hire Bruce Willis. Even though he may have felt unwelcome, Willis's salary said otherwise. He made the same as the star of the film, Tom Hanks.
But Hanks had more to complain about than just that.
26. He Wasn’t Popular
Multiple Oscar winner Tom Hanks has a reputation for getting along with everyone. But that stopped with Bruce Willis. Hanks didn’t like the way Willis bragged about his acting skills. In fact, most of the cast and crew didn’t enjoy working with Willis, including the director. Entertainment Weekly called the film “indecently bad” and it went on to receive five Golden Raspberry Award nominations.
Willis could wipe his feet of this film and hope for better for his next. Sadly, he would get worse.
Screenshot from The Bonfire of the Vanities, Warner Bros. Pictures (1990)
27. There Were Three Strikes
Hudson Hawk was Willis's idea, so only he could take the blame for this disaster. First off, you can add director Michael Lehmann to the people Willis clashed with. Secondly, the budget of Hudson Hawk soared from $42 million to $70 million. And the final strike? It failed with the critics and at the box office. The result of the strikeout film was that Willis got a Golden Raspberry nomination for worst actor.
Willis had gone out on a limb and failed miserably. It was time to work on fixing his career.
Screenshot from Hudson Hawk, TriStar Pictures (1991)
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28. He Clashed
After the disaster that was Hudson Hawk, Bruce Willis returned to what he knew: action comedy. He teamed up with Daman Wayans and director Tony Scott for The Last Boy Scout. On the set of this film, Willis had conflicts with Scott, Wayans and the producer, Joel Silver.
He also had some other, even stranger behaviour.
Screenshot from The Last Boy Scout, Warner Bros. Pictures (1991)
29. He Was Insecure
Some crew members reported that Willis would sometimes show up on the set of The Last Boy Scout in disguise. He had a strange reason for doing this: he wanted to ask the crew if they liked Willis and thought he was cool. Some crew members saw it as a joke, while others believed it was just plain sad.
But there was a creepier reason why Willis needed a disguise.
Screenshot from The Last Boy Scout, Warner Bros. Pictures (1991)
30. He Was Creepy
Sara Suzanne Brown had an audition to be an exotic dancer in The Last Boy Scout. For the audition, she and some other hopefuls had to dance in front of director Tony Scott. While this seemed like a pretty typical requirement, Brown swears that Willis was also in the room, watching from the shadows in a baseball cap.
Willis was about to come out of the shadows and start directing.
Screenshot from The Last Boy Scout, Warner Bros. Pictures (1991)
31. They Called Him A Name
On Striking Distance, Willis clashed with director Rowdy Herrington. He interfered with directing so much that members of the crew started calling him “Orson Willis”. Critics were not kind to Striking Distance, and the domestic box office was a disappointment. However, thanks to the international market, Willis could call this movie a financial success.
But what he really needed was a critical and financial hit. That’s not what he got next.
Screenshot from Striking Distance, Columbia Pictures (1993)
32. He Wasn’t The Worst
One thing that most people talked about regarding Willis's next movie—Color of Night—was a super-long love scene between Willis and Jane March. The other thing mentioned was how bad the film was. The Golden Raspberry people put it up for a shocking nine nominations. Willis didn’t win for Worst Actor, but the film did take home the top prize: Worst Picture of the Year.
Willis needed to try something new.
Screenshot from Color of Night, Hollywood Pictures (1994)
33. He Took A Pay Cut
Sometimes the best thing an actor can do to revitalize a career is to take a pay cut and work in an ensemble piece. The chance came to Willis with Pulp Fiction. The budget for this indie classic was a paltry $8 million, and it grossed an astounding $214 million. Those are the kind of figures that Hollywood executives like to see.
Maybe this could get Willis back on track as a leading man.
Screenshot from Pulp Fiction, Miramax Films (1994)
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34. He Went Back
With Willis back in the spotlight, it seemed time for a new Die Hard film. At this point in the franchise, a mixed critical response would do little to slow down the box office fervor of another entry. Die Hard with a Vengeance was a box office marvel. But Willis's bad rep was still going to make getting roles difficult.
Screenshot from Die Hard with a Vengeance, 20th Century Fox (1995)
35. He Had A Bad Reputation
Willis followed up the third Die Hard movie with 12 Monkeys, but getting this role wasn't easy. Director Terry Gilliam had concerns about Willis's reputation and his acting quirks. He agreed to hire him but made a list of Willis cliches that he forbade Willis from using. The list included Willis's trademark “steely blue eyes look”. Aww, that’s my favorite.
12 Monkeys was a hit. It seemed that Willis had found his sub-genre: quirky sci-fi.
Screenshot from 12 Monkeys, Universal Pictures (1995)
36. He Went French
The Fifth Element had “quirky” written all over it. French director Luc Besson wasn’t your typical sci-fi director, and, to work with him, Willis agreed to take a pay cut. Like in 12 Monkeys, there appeared to be no conflict on the set. It seems that both Gilliam and Besson knew how to handle Willis, and his usual hijinks were put on hold. The Fifth Element’s gross came close to tripling its budget.
But hang on, Willis's rollercoaster-ride career was taking a turn and heading downhill again.
Screenshot from The Fifth Element, Gaumont Buena Vista International (1997)
37. He Angered Disney
Willis followed The Fifth Element with two disasters: Mercury Rising and Breakfast of Champions. The hat trick came with the hockey movie Broadway Brawler. Willis's behavior on this film—which included getting people fired—was so bad that Disney shut it down completely.
Disney was angry, and Willis had to do something to save his career.
Screenshot from Mercury Rising, Universal Pictures (1998)
38. He Paid Back And Then Some
To make up for the disastrous Broadway Brawler, Willis appeared in Armageddon, The Sixth Sense, and The Kid. Added up, these films grossed over $1 billion. Let’s just say, Willis was off the hook when it came to anything he owed Disney. He’d made amends with the media giant.
Next was his wife.
Screenshot from The Sixth Sense, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (1999)
39. They Did It In A Day
Back in 1991, Willis had helped out with Moore’s film, Mortal Thoughts—but not all was well with the marriage. The couple now had three daughters, but in June 1998, they made the announcement that their marriage was over. With two high-profile A-listers filing for divorce, this was bound to get ugly. Yet to everyone’s surprise, they settled their divorce in just one day.
Willis wasn’t about to stay single for too long.
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40. He Met A Girl
Willis was at a gym one day, and a friend introduced him to a beautiful young woman. After she walked away, Willis said to his friend, “I’m going to marry that girl one day.” This was Emma Heming, and she had a career as a fashion model.
She was about to get swept away by an expert.
41. He Took Care Of Her
Willis and Heming started dating, and Willis was very attentive. When she casually complained that a set she was working on was chilly, he sent her a cashmere blanket. There was a ribbon around the blanket and a note that simply said “stay warm”. With behavior like this, it would be nearly impossible for Heming to resist Willis’s charms.
42. They Tied The Knot
In 2009, Willis married Heming in the Caribbean. Willis’s ex showed up for the ceremony along with their three daughters. This was truly a Hollywood success story. There seemed to be no problems between Willis and Moore, and Heming even stepped up to be step-mom to Willis’s three daughters. They were one big happy family.
Sadly, there was heartache in this couple’s future.
43. She Noticed A Change
Willis and Heming started their own family and had two daughters in 2012 and 2014. But soon Heming started to notice a difference in Willis. He didn’t seem like himself, and it also appeared that his old stutter was returning. She first questioned if maybe he was no longer interested in their marriage.
But this difference wasn't only felt at home. It was also affecting his career.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia Commons
44. He Made Some Bad Films
Sometime in the beginning of the 2020s, Willis started making low-budget direct-to-video thrillers and sci-fi films. He was mostly working with a production company called Emmett/Furla Oasis. Let’s just say that this company was not focusing on quality films.
Willis was about to pay a very unusual price.
Screenshot from Hart's War, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (2002)
45. He Got A Not So Special Award
Willis was no stranger to the Golden Raspberry Awards. He’d come close to winning this dishonorable award a few times. But now they were after Willis with a vengeance. They created a category just for Willis. It was the Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie Award (Cosmic Sin was the winner). You see, he had made eight films in that single year.
This tongue-in-cheek award was pointing to a serious question: Why was he working so hard on these bad movies?
Screenshot from Cosmic Sin, Saban Films (2021)
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46. He Was Not Himself
Some of the people working on these films noticed something: Willis was not himself. He couldn’t remember his lines, and worse still, sometimes didn't even know what he was doing on the set. In one case, the producer told the screenwriter to make Willis’s dialogue shorter and easier to say.
Clearly, something was wrong with Willis.
Screenshot from Cosmic Sin, Saban Films (2021)
47. He Got A Diagnosis
Doctors first gave Willis the diagnosis of aphasia, which is usually the result of a brain injury or a stroke. There are treatment possibilities for this. Sadly, what Willis had was much worse. In 2023, his family announced that Willis’s aphasia had progressed to the untreatable frontotemporal dementia. This meant that Willis had severe comprehension and language difficulties.
He was going to need the love of his family around him.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia Commons
48. He Is Surrounded By Love
As we know, Willis always kept a good relationship with Moore and the three daughters they had. Now, he is reaping the benefits. There is no shortage of love for Willis, as he has a blended family of support. Sadly, even with all this support, his family found it necessary to move Willis into his own one-level house with full-time care.
While Willis and his family dealt with this horrible situation, some ugly truths came out.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin, Getty Images
49. He Was A Victim
The Los Angeles Times has recently accused producer Randall Emmett of Emmett/Furla Oasis of exploiting Willis. They said that he—and other movie producers—had been trying to cash in on Willis's celebrity and using him in films even when his health was clearly in decline.
Willis has now retired from acting, but his legacy lives on.
World Poker Tour, Wikimedia Commons
50. He Was A Good Example
In May 2025, Willis's name came up in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs. But this was not as a co-accused. One of Combs’ girlfriends had texted Combs about Willis and his great relationship with Demi Moore—even after they’d divorced. Cassie Ventura just wanted Combs to be more like Willis.
Caroline Bonarde Ucci at https://www.flickr.com/photos/caroline_bonarde/, Wikimedia Commons
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