Now that Bruce Willis has revealed his diagnosis of aphasia, a condition that affects his “cognitive abilities,” a former colleague is apologizing for some complaints made about the star’s on-set difficulty years ago.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, shortly after the 67-year-old’s health update and retirement were announced, Kevin Smith, who directed the actor in the 2010 buddy comedy film Cop Out, expressed:
“Long before any of the Cop Out stuff, I was a big Bruce Willis fan – so this is really heartbreaking to read. He loved to act and sing and the loss of that has to be devastating for him. I feel like an a**hole for my petty complaints from 2010. So sorry to BW and his family.”
Such a classy move from Kev all these years later!
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Check out the filmmaker’s tweet (below).
Long before any of the Cop Out stuff, I was a big Bruce Willis fan – so this is really heartbreaking to read. He loved to act and sing and the loss of that has to be devastating for him. I feel like an asshole for my petty complaints from 2010. So sorry to BW and his family. https://t.co/npSgvkb5v7
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) March 30, 2022
Smith was characteristically talkative about his experience filming with his childhood hero. It’s probably the most infamous account of Bruce’s bad behavior on set.
Back in 2011, the Clerks director vented on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast about his frustrating experience directing Bruce. When asked what it was like to work with the Die Hard alum, the 51-year-old described it as “difficult” and a “f**king soul-crushing” time.
The podcaster recalled a time when a fan yelled out his “yippee-ki-yay” catch phrase while driving by — to which Bruce responded that those fans were the worst.
He also blasted Bruce’s laziness and seeming lack of professionalism, claiming he “wouldn’t even sit for a f**king poster shoot,” adding:
“Were it not for Tracy [Morgan], I might have killed either myself or someone else in the making of f**king Cop Out.”
You can hear the full segment on the podcast to learn more about why Kevin was “beyond disappointed” after working with his former idol (below):
This was, of course, a full 12 years ago. And there were stories of him being difficult during filming long before that. But still, his current condition — which is likely caused by a degenerative disease — now makes things a little blurry. How much of what Kevin saw as laziness was the beginnings of a loss of cognitive abilities? Or the effort to hide it?
A slew of other directors told the Los Angeles Times this week that over the past couple years Bruce’s problems have been far more overt. But he kept working. It was whispered behind the scenes even before the aphasia reveal that Bruce was knocking out all these direct-to-video movies to make hay while sun was shining, as it were — making a nice nest egg for his large family before he couldn’t work anymore.
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As mentioned, on Wednesday, The Sixth Sense star’s wife Emma Heming Willis released a joint statement with his ex-wife Demi Moore and their children Rumer, Evelyn, Scout, Mabel, and Tallulah Willis, revealing:
“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”
His family is determined to help him through this “challenging time,” they concluded:
“This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support. We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him. As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up’ and together we plan to do just that.”
We are sending so much love to the Willis family. We cannot imagine how difficult this must be for Bruce and his loved ones.
[Image via Warner Bros/YouTube & Kevin Smith/Instagram]
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