Pressure's on for latest 'Die Hard' villain Sitting in a Chicago hotel suite recently, Willis was quietly but intensely reliving the day he filmed a key scene from "Live Free or Die Hard," opening Wednesday, the latest edition of the long-running franchise that turned his John McClane character into an American film icon. The scene took place in the New Jersey loft apartment occupied by tech-savvy Matt Farrell (played by Justin Long), a computer hacker known as "Warlock." Farrell is targeted by a mysterious terrorist ring -- out to compromise the FBI's supposedly un-hackable information management systems.
The action-packed, bullet-riddled sequence (with the terrorists out to kill their unsuspecting former ally Farrell at all costs) involved Willis and Long doing a lot of jumping and leaping and rolling around -- ostensibly dodging the deadly, high-powered gunfire. Willis chuckled as he recalled director Len Wiseman and his team pushing him to his physical limits. "I think they were daring me to do these stunts.
They said, 'You're a lot older now, maybe you shouldn't be doing these stunts.' Of course, I took that as a challenge and probably did more stunts than I should have," the actor said with a smile. During the shootout in the Farrell apartment, "I literally knocked myself out -- totally unconscious.
When I came to, I actually saw little birds flying around. It was like I was in some kind of funky Disney cartoon." Willis understands the anticipation fans have for this fourth incarnation of the "Die Hard" franchise -- coming a dozen years since the last film, "Die Hard: With a Vengeance.
" When asked about the new film reportedly being given a PG-13 rating, instead of the R rating given the three previous "Die Hard" pictures, Willis seemed fairly laid back. "First of all, the definition of what makes for an R film has evolved and changed over the years. We didn't go out and shoot a R rating.
I think it's more hard-core [as for the action] than the last one, frankly. It's a throwback to real stunts and action movies of the '80s -- just set in 2007. "Whatever they decide upon for the rating, so be it.
I'm more concerned -- and I'm very confident -- that we made a good, solid, piece of action filmmaking. As long as the audiences are happy, that's all I care about." The differences between Bruce Willis and John McClane are, to many observers, virtually non-existent.
Willis understands that and admits he and McClane do share a lot of personality traits -- particularly "the kinds of wise-ass comments that come out of our mouths so easily." But there are some things that McClane would say or do, "that I would never do or say," stressed Willis. "For example, there's a scene were I confront my daughter [played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead] and her boyfriend, parked in front of her house.
"In real life, I would never have a conversation about dating or men with any of my daughters -- or at least I wouldn't do it quite that way. Filming that scene that night was a bit pushed for me, just because I had a hard time envisioning that kind of of a confrontation ..
. but I realized that is exactly the kind of thing John McClane would brashly go about doing." As for why audiences have so long supported his "Die Hard" films -- and why they relate to McClane -- Willis hasn't analyzed it as much as he knows others have.
"I look at the films more along the lines of what works and what doesn't to move the story along. I know that when I go to see films, I like to see characters that don't take themselves very seriously. They don't see themselves as characters but are more concentrated on what they're doing as being the important thing.
"Now, that is one way McClane and I are very much alike: We both have a very serious irreverence for authority." The dark humor that has infused every single "Die Hard" film -- and a number of the other starring vehicles for Willis -- grows out of the actor's long association with police officers and the world they inhabit. "They're dealing with the worst things society throws at them every day, and they don't get enough credit for that," said Willis.
"Think about it. There's not really that many guys out there in the public safety business. It is a tough job, and they put their lives on the line every single day.
They're really the on the thing standing between us and total chaos. I couldn't say enough good things about cops I've gotten to know over the last 22 years. They don't get enough thanks.
" While Willis is comfortable talking about doing his own stunts, and trying to improve the image of the police in the world at large, he is less forthcoming about how he deals with fame. You get to a point where the best response to all that is to not take it seriously. What other people are saying about what you do or don't do just isn't important to me.
Acting is just a fun thing for me. I get a big kick out of it, and I love the fact I get to try new things. The rest of it is just usually a lot of bull----.
"As for my family -- my daughters, Demi, Ashton -- and all that. We are secure knowing who we are and what we mean to each other. I frankly don't pay any attention to what the press says about us.
It's just not on my radar -- and never will be.
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