Bruce Willis' co-workers reveal he misfired prop gun, forgot lines amid aphasia diagnosis

Concern grew among audiences who had seen Bruce Willis' work after the actor's family announced that he was stepping away from acting following his aphasia diagnosis. It has now emerged that the veteran alarmed his co-workers on set in recent years while they were shooting or working for the films before diagnosing the cognitive disorder.

Many of his colleagues have opened up on the incidents around the Die Hard star's alleged struggles on sets. This included misfiring a prop gun on sets and forgetting his lines.

Bruce Willis allegedly misfired prop guns on sets, forgot lines amid the announcement of an aphasia diagnosis

Bruce Willis, as per a report on The Los Angeles Times, fired a prop gun on the wrong cue on the sets of the movie Hard Kill in Cincinnati two years ago. Actor Lala Kent, who played the role of Bruce Willis' daughter in the film, claimed that there was a scene involving him protecting her from the antagonists, where she was supposed to duck after the former said a dialogue, after which he was supposed to fire.

However, Kent stated that during the shooting, he fired the gun without saying the dialogue. She could not see what was going on because her back was to him and thought it was not a big deal the first time. However, the same thing happened even after she asked director Matt Eskandari to remind him about his lines. 

The incident was denied by the movie's armourer and one of the producers of the movie, Randall Emmett, but two other crew members recalled Kent's worry and that Willis had 'fired on the wrong line.' A crew member also revealed that they always ensured that no one was in the line of fire when he was using the prop guns.

Out of Death director, Mike Burns claimed that he sent a letter to his screenwriter to cut down 'Bruce's page count by five pages' and 'abbreviate his dialogues' to avoid him having monologues. He also felt there was a 'bigger issue at stake' after working with Bruce Willis on the first day of the shoot and that 25-pages of dialogue was fit into a single-day shoot.

After completing the movie, Bruns asked an associate of Bruce Willis about the actor's health and was told that he was doing better, as he wanted to start their next collaboration Wrong Place. However, Burns felt Willis was 'worse' and decided to not work with the actor anymore.  

White Elephant director Jesse Johnson felt Bruce Willis was not like how he used to be. He also claimed that upon asking Willis' health, his team replied that it was best if they shot only till lunch and let him leave early. Another crew member said it was not annoyance but worry about portraying Bruce Willis in a 'bad' light. The person also stated that Bruce Willis did not understand the dialogue that he was asked to deliver. Bruce Willis also reportedly said on the sets, “I know why you’re here, and I know why you’re here, but why am I here?”

Bruce Willis' long-time stunt double Stuart Wilson, as per a report on The Sun, said that the latter seemed 'sidetracked' when someone spoke to him, and though he believed such things happened, it made people wonder if there were other issues, as he'd also be tested for various things at that time.

He highlighted that Emmy-winner would also pick at food after ordering a lot. He also stated that Bruce Wills used an earpiece to help him deliver his lines, especially the lengthy ones, though he clarified that it was not uncommon.

Image: AP