Last week, the family of Bruce Willis announced that the actor would be retiring from the acting world due to a diagnosis of aphasia, a neurological condition that affects the ability to communicate in those who suffer from it.
During the last years, Bruce has recorded many films, participating in up to three action films each year, but those who worked with him in these productions assure that it was time for the actor to retire, since the effects of his illness were already seriously affecting your job.
How were Bruce’s last movies?
Some directors and actors who were colleagues of Bruce in his last films assure that the actor struggled to remember his dialogues, entered the scene when it was not his turn and, in general, he looked lost and confused.
One of the instances where Bruce was clearly not feeling well at all was on the set of out of death (2021), when the director asked that the actor’s dialogue, which was initially very long, be cut. At the time, the writers did not understand the reason for this request, but the reason became very clear the day after Bruce came to the set.
After working with Bruce one day, I realized there was a much bigger problem than I had imagined and understood why I was asked to shorten his dialogue.
His deterioration was evident.
Mike Burns, one of the last directors to work with Bruce, knew of the actor’s condition, but his team claimed he was well enough to continue shooting movies. Mike assures that when recording Wrong Placefelt genuine concern for Bruce’s health.
It did not seem to me that it had improved, I thought that it was worse than ever. When we finished recording, I said, ‘It’s over. I will not do any more movies with Bruce Willis’. It reassures me that he’s going to take some time.
While the actor’s representatives went to great lengths to streamline filming, stipulating conditions such as working no more than eight hours a day and trying to get his scenes shot in as few days as possible, it was obvious to everyone involved. in the movies that the actor’s health was not optimal.
Bruce’s team claimed that he was very happy to be on the sets, but that it would be better if we could shoot his scenes first so he could leave early.
Incidents and accidents on the sets
Even with all this, it was clear that the actor was less and less fit to be going from set to set. In addition, it was difficult for the production teams to see how the health condition of a great actor deteriorated before their eyes. For example, on the set of white-elephant he went so far as to ask why he was on a set, since he couldn’t remember. As if that weren’t enough, many of his dialogues were communicated to her through a headset, since she couldn’t learn them.
After shooting ‘White Elephant’, we decided that we would not shoot any more movies with Bruce. We’re all huge fans of him and we didn’t feel like the way we were working was the right way and it felt like it was a sad end to what was an amazing run and we weren’t comfortable with it.
One of the more serious incidents that showed how serious Bruce’s condition was involved a prop gun that went off too early, so the scene went wrong and had to be replayed, but the same thing happened in the second take. Fortunately, no one was injured.
not everything was bad
It is worth mentioning that not all of his recent experiences were negative. when he recorded Paradise City Along with his old friend John Travolta, it was noted that he enjoyed the days of filming and it was one of the times in which the crew of the film he saw it more fully.
He was excited to work with John Travolta and you could tell his classic charm was still there. He gave his best and we made sure that both he and John had a great experience shooting the movie.
In addition, the people with whom he worked assure that Bruce always did his best. He came to the sets ready to work and give his best despite his health problems, which is a huge testament to the actor’s great work ethic.
Bruce is one of the greatest actors of all time and I have nothing but respect and admiration for him and his extensive filmography, but it’s about time he retired.