I think the aphasia is just a symptom of another health problem. I noticed that in all the recent photos of him, he's wearing something on top of his head. I'm wondering if it was a tumor that was removed and the aphasia is a side effect. All the best to him and his family. ****Additional information from the LA Times*** Hollywood had noticed a decline in Willis' decline in recent years. His contracts limited his work to just a couple of days and limited to only eight hours, although he would often only work four. Requests to reduce the amount of dialogue and he was fed lines via an earpiece. Willis did 22 films in four years.
Awful news. I wouldn't call myself a fan but Moonlighting was great fun back in the day, as was his turn on Friends. So were the first two Die Hard movies. Not sure what else to say.
besides fifth element being a top five movie for me i also loved hudson hawk, looper, cin city, moonlighting was a great series i had forgot about, i need to see that again.
It's weird, when the announcement was first made I was ambivalent but as time passed last night this started bothering me more and more as I remembered how huge a part of my life Willis was for so long. I mean first off, Moonlighting! In my late teens this was my favourite show. I just wanted to be David Addison! And then we got Die Hard. Arguably one of my favourite films of all time. And then Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, The Last Boy Scout, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable... It's such a shame he's been forced to retire, but at least now his recent film choices and lack of screen time make a lot more sense. His family appear to be being incredibly supportive of him and it says something that he and Moore stayed so close also. I hope they continue to look after him well.
I just read up on that, what a horrible diagnosis. I'm sorry he's going through that and wish him the best. Thank you for all the fun that you gave us over the years!
I always loved funny Bruce Willis more than serious action Bruce Willis. Yeah, I'm the guy that liked Hudson Hawk. It was too goofy not to love. Poor guy. He was also great playing against type in Death Becomes Her.
The Razzies have rescinded their recent award to Bruce Willis, stating that if a person's medical condition is a factor of their performance, then that's not appropriate for a Razzie. Sounds like backtracking from bad publicity to me. It's been pretty obvious that his health has been a factor in his performances for quite some time. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/m...ce-willis-award-aphasia-diagnosis-1235123166/
Though I haven't seen it in ages, Hudson Hawk is one of those films, like The Last Action Hero, that's way better than its reputation suggests. I haven't seen any of the direct to video stuff he's done. The last film I saw him in was Glass and before that (setting aside the Split cameo) it's probably Red 2, Die Hard V and Looper. His performance had seemed a little flat in Glass but it hadn't seemed like he was phoning it in as he was accused of doing in all the DTV stuff. I remember an interview with him when Die Hard V came out and he did come across quite oddly, I've no idea how long he's been having issues or if it was just an off day (and clearly he wasn't overly happy with how the last Die Hard movie turned out.) Die Hard V is a terrible film but none of that's the do with Willis who seemed his usual self, similarly Red 2 and especially Looper which he's excellent in. I don't suppose we'll ever know how long it's been a problem.
^ The other thing about Willis in interviews is that he’s dead in one ear, due to an explosion that went off too close to him onset and he sometimes used to struggle to hear & could come across as rude or curt. Of course, that was the official explanation. With hindsight now, I wonder if that deafness was really just early signs of the aphasia.
He did apologise for the One Show interview. There are still a few snippets out there but the full interview doesn't seem to be on YouTube anymore. Of course there have been rumours of Willis being difficult to work with for some time, though I note Kevin Smith has retracted his 'petty' comments from 2010. Though obviously quite a few directors have worked with him multiple times.
Wow, I have to retract my review of Cosmic Sin, then. I mean, it was a ridiculously bad movie besides Bruce being in it, but I understand why Bruce was the way he was now. Damn.
He's great both ways, but count me in with "Death Becomes Her" being the most memorable despite his action movies' awesomeness, of which "Die Hard" is as much of being one of the best as it was a trendsetter and trope-maker.
I look to my parents and their siblings to see what various aliments they've had as they've grown older. At some point I'm probably going to need to have my hips and knees replaced. Other than that, everyone is pretty healthy.
Sadly Bruce has now been diagnosed with dementia too. https://variety.com/2023/film/news/bruce-willis-dementia-aphasia-retire-1235525599/
This is an excellent article about how his decline may have been masked by his more silent, impassive performances of the last 20 years or so (compared to the wisecracker of his early days). I remember also allegations that he was rude and then there was the infamous appearance on BBC’s The One Show. This was later explained away by him having supposedly lost hearing in one ear due to an onset explosion that went off at the wrong time. However, all of that really looks now, with hindsight, to having been due to the at least one, if not both, of the two conditions. https://www.vulture.com/2022/08/silent-bruce-willis.html
That would make sense, though it is worth bearing in mind that Willis hadn't always been the easiest person to work with sometimes, even back in the day. I guess we'll never really know at what point illness was having an effect but certainly the last ten years or so seems likely.