By Christina Radish
In 20th Century Fox’s Live Free or Die Hard, New York City Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) is given what should be a routine assignment, when he is asked to bring in a young hacker, Matt Farrell (Justin Long), for questioning by the FBI. McClane soon discovers a criminal plot is in place to take down the entire computer and technological structure that supports the economy of the United States, and the world, and it’s up to the reluctant hero to take down the conspiracy.
Returning to a character that was first introduced to audiences nearly 20 years ago, Bruce Willis talks to MediaBlvd Magazine about becoming an action hero again, at the age of 52.
MediaBlvd Magazine> With the ability to make any kind of movie that you want to make, why did you decide to revisit a character, 12 years after the last time you played him?
Bruce Willis> I could’ve very easily chosen to retire undefeated. The first three Die Hard films have earned somewhere around $1.3 billion in international revenues and DVD sales. But, in retrospect, I was never as happy with the second and third film as I was with the first one and I always wanted to do one more to see if we could come close to the quality, the feel and the level of drama as the first film. The potential to fail was really high, and it feels good to know the film is really strong and really powerful. It really satisfies me to know that I did what I set out to do. I’m a gambler by nature. I’d rather take a risk than not.
MediaBlvd> With all of the possible storylines that were talked about over the years, why did this story feel right?
Bruce> It just seemed like the right time. It was a good script, and a bunch of different elements conspired to bring it together. At a certain point, it’s just a leap of faith. I said, “Let’s take a shot.” I liked what Len had to say about the film and I was pretty confident in the fact that, if we got a good story, we could improve upon that, which is ultimately what we did. The really rewarding thing is to know that we have a great film. When I saw the first cut of this film, I was so impressed and relieved, at the same time. It really is counter-programming to what’s out there this summer.
MediaBlvd> In the first three Die Hard films, John McClane was a reluctant hero who didn’t really want to be in the situation he ended up in. Do you feel that he’s the same way this time around?
Bruce> Now, he’s extra reluctant. Part of the mythology of Die Hard is that John McClane loves his country and loves his family, and he’s not going to let anybody hurt anyone that can’t really defend themselves. Given a choice, if he did not have to do what he does in this film, or in any of the Die Hard films, he wouldn’t do it.
MediaBlvd> How did Len Wiseman originally come to your attention, and how did you decide that he was the right director?Bruce> My daughter, Scout, turned me on to Underworld, and we sat up one night, watching it. I thought it was great. Then, a couple weeks later, 20th Century Fox asked me to sit down with him. It was a pretty easy choice to make. We both had similar ideas and goals, as to the kind of Die Hard we wanted to make. It’s actually one of my favorite Die Hard films. We both wanted to stay away from the CG aspects, which would have been a really easy to do with a film like this, in order to compete with every other CG film that’s out this summer.
MediaBlvd> Were there any improvised lines in the film?
Bruce> We didn’t shoot this film in sequence. Very few films are shot in sequence. If we had shot the film in sequence, we might have stuck a little bit closer to the dialogue, but we had to shoot alternate takes of almost every scene, in case the scene that was going to be scheduled a month from now, turned out to not be in the film.
MediaBlvd> In this Die Hard, your character is a very protective, and at times over-protective, father. Can you relate to that aspect of his personality?
Bruce> I can relate to it, but it’s overly dramatized in the film. My relationship with my daughters is a lot more up-front than that. What Demi and I have done, as parents, is try to send the girls out into the world with as much information as we can, about what those 16 and 18-year-old boys are thinking. Hopefully, that’ll keep them safe. The character of Lucy McClane was not actually in the original draft of this film. It was an idea that came to us as we went along, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead really did a great job in the film. She helps out, towards the end of the film, in a way that is both funny and is a McClane-ism.
MediaBlvd> Are you as involved in your own daughters’ dating lives?
Bruce> No, not at all. I just tell them I want to meet their boyfriends. That’s the only thing that I ask for. If they bring a little group of guys over to the house, and they have a pool party or whatever, I’ll put one of them in charge. I just say “Dude, you’re in charge. If anything happens to one of my daughters, I’m coming to you first, and then I’m going to kill all your friends right in front of you and you’ll be last.”
MediaBlvd> Do you ever go back and watch the old Die Hard films?
Bruce> I looked at them just before we started shooting this, and I really like the first one. I looked at the second and third one and said, “Can’t do that, can’t do that, can’t do that.” One of the rules we had was that we banned ourselves from being self-referential. If you go back and look at the second film, there’s so many references to the first film, and I hated that. It was just really a stupid thing.
MediaBlvd> You used to say that you couldn’t be an action guy at the age of 50. What do you think about that now?Bruce> I know a lot of cops that are actually my age. If you’re in shape, I’m living testament to the fact that you can do a film like this and still survive. I had to work out a lot to get my muscles to the size that they protected my bones, so my bones wouldn’t shatter when I dove onto the concrete floor, but I lived through it. I got beat up, and you see that happen on screen. But, I’m glad I didn’t wait a couple more years to do this. There was a lot of healing. I wish I had kept a running log of the wear and tear, and how much of my actual hide got scraped off.
MediaBlvd> Is this the last Die Hard film?
Bruce> No, I don’t think so. 20th Century Fox is already talking about doing another one. I told them I would only do it if Len is involved. The last film was out in 1995, so it’s been 12 years since Die Hard 3. It’s been 21 years, in the span of all four films. You can see me when I’m 31, and you can see me when I’m 52. There are moments in the film where you see me getting up a little slower, and I do things that I probably shouldn’t be doing. But, I was in a much better shape on this one than I was on the last one, since I was supposed to be a beat-up, alcoholic cop in that one.
