All through his illustrious profession, Bruce Willis made a reputation for himself as one a premier film star. Not solely that, many have since lauded Willis for his generosity as a performer and particular person. The A-lister additionally, nevertheless, earned a popularity for being considerably headstrong when it got here to working with sure administrators. Filmmaker Rian Johnson had the chance to work with Willis on the acclaimed sci-fi movie Looper, and he simply opened up about what it was like working with the beloved star.
Looper is definitely one in every of Rian Johnson’s seminal movies, and it not solely struck gold on the field workplace but in addition obtained essential acclaim. (The movie even influenced Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival when it got here to time journey.) Quite a bit needed to come collectively for the bold movie to get off the bottom, after all. Throughout a current chat with Rolling Stone, Rian Johnson recalled making the flick and defined simply how essential it was for the Die Laborious icon to signal on. Johnson additionally revealed what he knew of his potential co-lead’s popularity at that time:
The best way that we acquired Looper made was Bruce stated sure. We had Bruce Willis with a gun in a sci-fi film. That acquired us our financing. I had heard all of the tales, too.
Bruce Willis’ relationships with administrators assorted, with some referring to him as a delight and others making observe of difficulties that they had working with him. Die Laborious 2 director Renny Harlin recalled having disagreements with Willis whereas making the movie. Cop Out director Kevin Smith stated he skilled “true darkness” when working with Willis on the 2010 comedy movie. Nonetheless, Smith later apologized to Willis for his remarks following the latter’s retirement from appearing in 2022.
When Rian Johnson mentioned his expertise with the Moonlighting veteran, he had nothing however optimistic sentiments to share. Johnson didn’t search to underplay the experiences that different filmmakers apparently had with the actor whereas sharing his personal. Nonetheless, he didn’t maintain again when explaining why Bruce Willis was such a pleasure to work with on Looper (which is out there to stream with a Paramount+ subscription):
After which he confirmed up on set, and I’ve by no means had a greater expertise with an actor. He was beautiful, he labored his ass off on it. He actually, actually labored arduous. He wouldn’t even return to his trailer in between takes. He frolicked on set. We by no means moved quicker on set than once we had been capturing with Bruce. It was the alternative of this picture of him. I’m not saying the opposite stuff isn’t true. However I acquired very, very fortunate. And I simply had great recollections.
I might’ve cherished to have been a fly on the wall whereas the 2012 thriller movie was being shot, if solely to rub shoulders with the impeccable solid. The movie additionally stars the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano and Jeff Daniels. Somebody could be hard-pressed to discover a higher assortment of actors.
Looper nonetheless stands as one in every of Bruce Willis’ greatest motion pictures. At current, Willis himself is retired from appearing, having sadly stepped away from the occupation resulting from his frontotemporal dementia prognosis. Numerous stars have honored him since then, with Rian Johnson doing in order nicely in 2022. He referred to Willis as one of many “all-time nice film stars of our era.” I’m glad Willis and Johnson had been in a position to work collectively and that it was a fruitful partnership.