Although he has now retired due to illness, actor Bruce Willis entertained us for years in dozens of action films, with the Die Hard series being among the most famous.
Bruce Willis appeared five times as John McClane, and during the filming of the second movie, he had a disagreement with director Renny Harlin for one specific reason.
According to Far Out Magazine, director Harlin revealed in an interview with Empire that the famous actor refused to say a particular line while shooting the film.
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Willis didn’t want the audience to see him only as a comedic actor, so he told the director that humor in the sequel was out of the question.
This confused the director, as McClane’s humor in the first movie was a big part of why audiences loved him.
Specifically, the scene in question is from the film where McClane is sending a fax to someone in Los Angeles, and an employee is giving him a flirtatious look.
McClane notices this, smiles, points to his wedding ring, and says to her, “Just a fax, ma’am. Just a fax.”
It seems that this particular line really bothered the actor, and he didn’t hesitate to stand up to the director about it.
In the end, Willis agreed to say the line, but only under one condition
Harlin explained that Willis’s behavior led to an uncomfortable situation between them, as they just couldn’t reach an agreement. The director added that Willis disdainfully told him, “That’s so cheap and stupid. I refuse to say it. These one-liners and witty comments are crap. When lives are on the line, you can’t say something like that,” to which Harlin responded, “Yes, not in real life, but this is a movie. This is Die Hard.” as reported by Far Out.
However, the actor still didn’t agree with the director, and it was only after an urgent meeting with producer Joel Silver that they reached a compromise: Willis could film as many takes as he wanted, as long as he did one take the way Harlin envisioned it.
The director recalled, “He did it reluctantly and not very happily, but he did it. The line is in the film, and people love it. It’s not just funny; it shows that he cares about his wife. It makes him loyal and truly honorable. Because it’s not just about saving the world—it’s something much more personal.”
The plot of the 1990 film Die Hard 2 takes place one year after the events of the first movie.
This time, McClane tries to prevent a group of rogue military operatives from taking control of Washington Dulles International Airport, where he is waiting for his wife to return from a trip.
