Last week, Kevin Smith came out and discussed working with Bruce Willis and described it as a very soul crushing experience on the Marc Maron podcast.
But you know, I could have told you Bruce Willis was likely difficult to work with based on earlier stories told by a certain director.
That director's name was Kevin Smith.
Because I remember a tale he told during his third An Evening with Kevin Smith DVD about working with Bruce Willis, and how it took 5 days for his small cameo featuring just 3 guys in a room to be filmed for Live Free and Die Hard. I remember his description of Len Wiseman before making the movie, full of excitement and joy at being at the helm of a Die Hard movie... and then that same man on set as a seemingly broken man.
Now if I can remember that, how come Kevin Smith couldn't?
I know that working with Bruce Willis probably seemed like an awesome idea, even after seeing how he worked on Live Free or Die Hard, he should have known that he was going to be difficult. All those qualities which he spun in his monologue a few years ago were going to be the same ones which bit him in the ass.
I don't think he is passing the buck about Cop Out by discussing Bruce Willis, but I think he just should have known better about him. I mean, the way he talked about how Willis treated him on Die Hard should have raised red flags.
And after Linda Fiorentio, he knows the horrors of working with someone who he doesn't get along with.
2 comments:
What's odd is that I've read awesome things from other directors about Bruce Willis. In "The Making of The Fifth Element" book, Luc Besson is practically glowing while talking about how professional and accommodating Bruce Willis was... Bruce even went so far as to assure Besson that if he needed him to come back and film a little bit that got missed, he'd be happy to do it. Terry Gilliam says he enjoyed working with Bruce Willis in "12 Monkeys." I'm sure there are many others. As much as I admire Kevin Smith and enjoy (most) of his films, I can't help but wonder if Smith brings it out in Willis (or vice-versa).
This might be a more recent phenomenon with Willis too. But that Evening with Kevin Smith monologue about Die Hard 4 sort of goes along with what Smith is saying about Willis' on set behavior.
I wonder if Willis needs a strong director who will push back a little on him to have a healthy working relationship... someone who he respects for standing their ground, because both Besson and Gilliam seem like the kind of directors who will fight for their vision of a scene.
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