Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Willis was not only one of Hollywood’s highest-paid stars, but also one of its biggest.

It was not only Die Hard either.

Willis moved through comedies like The full programScience fiction stories like The Fifth Element and worked with a number of film writers such as Wes Anderson with Moonrise Kingdom.

It wasn’t just the action spectacle, it was the star.

In his latest book, film author Sean O’Connell portrays Willis as the last of the classic Hollywood film stars. Bruce Willis: The cinematic legacy of an indestructible Hollywood icon.

O’Connell, who also wrote books about Zack Snyder’s Justice League and the 2000s Spider Man The trilogy is about his interest in the former action star and Willis’ legacy.

What caught your attention about Bruce Willis?

“I have always been a big fan since his Undeclared work days. I appreciated his sense of humor. I liked his sarcastic tone that he brought to comedies, but also in the action genre in Die Hard.

Then, over the years, I grew to appreciate the risks he took as an actor and the way he pushed himself to work with really talented filmmakers and explore different genres that helped him grow as an actor.

I think he often gets lumped in with the Planet Hollywood guys, (like) Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sly Stallone. But I always thought he was a much better actor than those two and took on more versatile roles.

“When he announced his retirement, I thought it would be a good time to look back at his body of work, to critically evaluate his career and prove that he is more than just action.”

With the increasing production quality of television and the fact that actors now move back and forth between television and cinema, it’s hard to say who is a real movie star. Willis was a guy who made the big movies but also dared to do interesting mid-budget work.

“The one thing I learned about him from researching his career and rewatching these films is how often he would find a script he really liked or a director he really wanted to work with and use his star status to work with those people. Like when he worked with M. Night Shyamalan on Sixth senseM. Night wasn’t M. Night at that point. His career was still in its early stages.

“If he does that pulp FictionQuentin Tarantino’s farewell to Reservoir Dogs. He’s got it, but he’s not Quentin yet. And Bruce is giving these guys a chance.

“When I wrote about it in the science fiction field, both Terry Gilliam and 12 monkeys and Luc Besson for Fifth Element say they wouldn’t have been able to make the kind of movie they were able to make if Bruce hadn’t stepped in for them (and) interfered in the studio’s affairs because they had a movie star.

“That guaranteed a (good) opening weekend. And that kind of power doesn’t exist in the industry anymore. No other star or actor is really able to get something through the pipeline like Bruce.”

We talk about Die Hardbut I’m curious how he approaches other action movies. I’m sure they hire Bruce and want John McClane, but how did he avoid playing the same character every time?

“I think that’s something he struggled with throughout his career, because that film was so influential that it influenced the entire genre.

“How many rip-offs from Die Hard we have, and all these other action stars who then turned around and tried to become identifiable? That was the birth of Keanu Reeves speed.

“I think it was difficult for Bruce to distance himself from this John McClane personality. Even in some of his biggest hits, like Last Scoutit’s still a variation of John McClane. It’s still someone who’s kind of an underdog, maybe a little unlucky, trying to fight his way through against impossible odds.

“And instead he takes McClane into the Die Hard sequels and he changes him. And I think by the end of the film, they’ve kind of strayed away from what made John McClane so special. Die Hard Franchise.”

Looking at Die Hardwhat did you learn by looking at it with a more critical lens as you prepared to analyze his performance for the book? Did you notice anything new?

“It’s really funny. I’ve analyzed this film in depth because I think it’s a perfect film. And when you’ve spent your whole career studying films, you ask yourself: Why? Why is this perfect? ​​How come this works on every level?

“How is it that it evokes these feelings in you and that it is because of the connection between the script, the acting and the cast, as if everything just fits.

“It’s just one of those moments where all the pieces fit together so perfectly that you end up with the perfect vision of a film coming together.

“I think a lot of that is down to Willis’ casting. You could put anyone else in the role of John McClane, but it wouldn’t be the same movie. It wouldn’t be as successful. Bruce was exactly what this movie needed.”

I think the interesting thing about Willis, and this is highlighted in your book, is that he was versatile. He could do a comedy and then become an action star. He could do a science fiction film and then compete in a drama. He didn’t specialise. Why is that not possible today?

“I think a lot of it is because the industry isn’t willing to take risks anymore, right? I don’t know if we’ll ever get another Jim Carrey or even an Adam Sandler. Someone who becomes a brand, because the film industry doesn’t do that.

“Everything is cyclical. We could well go back to the ’90s when people were branching out and establishing themselves as leaders. But right now everything has to be a proven franchise, a safe brand that they can roll out.

“That’s why this summer is nothing more than a continuation of things that are very familiar to us.”

Willis was always someone, especially in his prime, who you could throw into a movie and expect to make it a little better.

Even the films he tried that didn’t work (like) Purgatory of Vanities. Movies where at least on paper you understood what he was trying to do… Maybe it’s missing the point a little bit, but he wasn’t a paycheck guy, and that’s what kind of blows my mind over the last three years with these movies (that he’s done) down in Georgia, that he was just shooting for paycheck roles, and I didn’t think he had to do that.

“So, in all my research into what drove him to take on those roles, and even the diagnosis, the diagnosis tells us why he’s not good at it. It tells us why his performance kind of drops off, but it doesn’t really get into why he had to take on those roles.

“I don’t understand why no one stepped forward from their camp and just said, ‘Hey, you don’t have to do that.'”

You’ve featured so many of his films. Was there one that you felt wasn’t in the book and was underrated?

“The childIt was one of his only forays into the world of family comedies. Look who’s talking was a big hit for him in the early days, but after that he doesn’t do that much family comedy. In a film like this he doesn’t really play the father, but in The childhe does and it’s really cute.

“It’s sweeter than I remembered, and he’s very funny in it and kind of optimistic, and I wish he would do that a little more often.”