Celebrity Interview - Bruce Willis - Comments
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Bruce Willis
Poster: Amparo De La Game 01/08/2006
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AFTER TURNING INTO A RACOON IN OVER THE HEDGE (DREAMWORKS' LATEST CARTOON FILM), BRUCE WILLIS WILL ONCE AGAIN PORTRAY JOHN McCLANE IN DIE HARD 4 (2007).
In the latest, much-awaited saga of heroic John McClane, the New York cop played by Bruce Willis - who doesn't seem to know how or why but always seems to be in the most inappropriate place, at the worst time - comes out of retirement to take down an Internet-based terrorist organisation. The star spoke to H! during a promotional visit to Europe to help promote Over the Hedge, in which he is the voice of RJ the raccoon.
Before you became a raccoon, which cartoon character touched you in your childhood?
Well, it was the Disney era; that was the only animated cinema we had. You have to remember that I was a kid way before video was invented. You saw the film once and if you didn't go back to the cinema again you could never see the same film until it appeared on TV. Today everything can be seen on DVD. These days everything is easier.
Is it easier to be a raccoon than a tough guy like John McClane?
To put myself inside the character of this animal has been the hardest project I've ever worked on. Comparing it with a film in which I have to work with another person, whether I'm trying to be funny or not, at least you have a scene, a character and a story with actors accompanying you.
Is it easy to put a voice to a cartoon?
No way. It might look easy when you see the film but on the contrary. It's incredibly difficult. There were barely five people in a small sound booth. I think I must have asked them about 50 times if it's what they wanted, if they found it funny or if they wanted me to do it again. Sometimes I would forget about it, but when I got to see the film I realised there was a camera filming us all along. They captured a lot of my physical features and facial expressions. We worked for two years on Over the Hedge.
We have seen your daughters with you during the promotion for Over the Hedge... Does fame affect your private life?
Since they were small, I protected my children from the repercussions of fame. They weren't aware that daddy and mummy, Demi Moore, were famous until they grew up a little. But now I feel it's my obligation to introduce them to the world and I believe they are doing pretty well, without turning into classic spoilt Hollywood kids.
What kind of advice do you give your daughters as a father?
Honesty. That is a basic concept for me. I remind them constantly that they can talk to me about things, about anything. Perhaps it's because when I was a child, I never saw that kind of relationship between a father and daughter.
Do you talk about cinema, about your films?
We like to talk about music. Both Rummer and Scout are classic rock fans and I teach them about older music. At the same time, they teach me about current music. We make a good combination.
It's great to see how civilised your divorce is with Demi Moore. After her marriage to Ashton Kutcher, we see you all together posing at the premieres...
Yes, why not? I always get compliments about the way we've handled our divorce. A friend of mine, an actor who stayed at the same hotel as us on our last holidays, took things further. He saw Demi, Ashton and I having dinner together, and said, "Wow! This is evolution."
The way you recount this story, it must be nice - after having loved each other - to maintain a friendship like yours with Demi. Did you appreciate the compliment?
Of course. It's a very nice compliment. I do accept credit for living in a way which is best for my children. I think Demi and I have achieved something more than the normal case when parents get divorced. It was a very easy decision: we both love our children and want to keep on raising them together. As simple as that. If you put the kids before anything else, many things turn out easier.
It's surprising to see how, on the outside, you have a hard-man image, yet you are so outgoing in interviews...
Most actors pay too much attention to what they say, but sometimes I wish I could take back some moments when I spoke out too much about my private life. Some comments could have been taken out of context, or have been used in a sensationalist way and published with a different meaning to what I wanted to express.
Everybody is eagerly awaiting this latest episode of Die Hard 4...
There is a lot at stake, because cinema enthusiasts love John McClane, the character they've seen time and time again on screen, and I don't want to disappoint them. I can only say that, in this fourth edition, it will be called Die Hard 4, and that police officer John McClane and his daughter (who appeared during a few minutes of the first episode, and is now a young lady) will see themselves involved in a terrorist conspiracy which explodes during a party. A difficult role.
So you are changing from a funny raccoon character to making the audience tremble in a frenzy...
I think it's difficult to be amusing, to make people laugh. And I suppose we made it work, with adults as well as children. In Over the Hedge our aim was to make adults laugh, as we make fun of suburban life and lifestyle in general.
Your maturity has more to do with emotional change than physical deterioration?
You have to grow up to be able to know more about life. My 50 years aren't an obstacle for anything now. There are so many things in general that I can do now that I'm delighted about. I'm discovering that, as I grow older, it's easier to feel something that moves me to the point of shedding tears. And I'm not only talking about movies. In my real life, for example, I sometimes see my daughters and suddenly feel tears of joy in my eyes.
For example, when your 17-year-old daughter Rumer played the role of your daughter in Hostage?
My emotions were intensified by the fact that Rumer played my daughter. It was the worst nightmare as a father, to see my daughter taken by ransom. Although everything was enacted in fiction, I also felt it very real and there were occasions when I found it hard to separate the character.
Bruce Willis's best work is still to come?
I always thought I would do my best work between my 40s and 60s, if I were still lucky enough to be here. And it is difficult to still be here. I suppose I've simply been very lucky. Now, at 50, my best moments are ahead of me.
STAR-STRUCK IN MARBELLA
Bruce Willis achieved fame playing the roles of unfortunate men, normal guys trapped in the wrong place at the wrong moment. But his love life hasn't been like that at all. He arrived in Marbella with Maria Bravo, the local woman who was able to encourage the legendary Hollywood star to stroll through the streets of Marbella. He likes Spain - at least that's what he said at the time. After gaining early fame in 1984's Fool for Love and the TV series Moonlighting, his career soared quickly - receiving Emmy and Golden Globe awards. In 1986 he recorded an album which rose in the charts to fifth, but it wasn't until 1987 that he truly sealed his star status, in the Blake Edwards production of Blind Date with Kim Bassinger. From then on he was established as one of Hollywood's most versatile contemporary actors, cultivating all types of genre from comedy (Death Becomes Her, 1992) to action (Die Hard and The Last Boy Scout, 1991) and drama (Mortal Thoughts, 1991).
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