{"id":1964172,"date":"2023-07-04T18:52:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T22:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stunt-crew-had-to-make-sure-bruce-willis-wasnt-dead-after-first-die-hard-scene-new-book-says\/"},"modified":"2023-07-04T18:55:06","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T22:55:06","slug":"stunt-crew-had-to-make-sure-bruce-willis-wasnt-dead-after-first-die-hard-scene-new-book-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stunt-crew-had-to-make-sure-bruce-willis-wasnt-dead-after-first-die-hard-scene-new-book-says\/","title":{"rendered":"New book reveals Stunt Crew&#8217;s concern for Bruce Willis&#8217; safety in first &#8216;Die Hard&#8217; scene."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstunt-crew-had-to-make-sure-bruce-willis-wasnt-dead-after-first-die-hard-scene-new-book-says%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1964172&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Stunt crews had to check on actor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/daughter-tallulah-says-family-missed-early-signs-of-bruce-willis-dementia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bruce Willis<\/a> after his first \u201cDie Hard\u201d scene \u2014 to make sure that he had survived it.<\/p>\n<p>The film\u2019s screenwriter, Steve de Souza, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/07\/04\/die-hard-crew-feared-bruce-willis-was-dead-after-first-scene\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recounted the tale<\/a> to author Nick de Semlyen in his new book, titled \u201c<span id=\"productTitle\" class=\"a-size-extra-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Last-Action-Heroes-Triumphs-Hollywoods\/dp\/059323880X\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23NX8UZLCV9L0&#038;keywords=Last+Action+Heroes&#038;qid=1687895258&#038;s=books&#038;sprefix=last+action+heroes,stripbooks,62&#038;sr=1-1&#038;tag=nypost-20&#038;asc_refurl=https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/07\/04\/die-hard-crew-feared-bruce-willis-was-dead-after-first-scene\/&#038;asc_source=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood\u2019s Kings of Carnage<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>De Souza said that casting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/i-was-an-absolute-puddle-bruce-willis-wife-reveals-what-their-9-year-old-taught-her-about-his-disease\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Willis<\/a> was a long, drawn-out affair \u2014 and it almost didn\u2019t happen. Initially, no one even wanted the script. \u201cJames Caan told me directly, \u2018I read the script, and this guy\u2019s running away for the first twenty-five pages,&#8217;\u201d de Souza explained that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maher-companies-celebs-decided-to-be-a-little-evil-on-china-and-become-their-bitch\/\" title=\"Maher: Companies, Celebs Decided to Be 'a Little Evil' on China and Become Their 'Bitch'\">action stars<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-bestows-medal-of-honor-on-korean-war-vet-skorean-president-on-hand\/\" title=\"Biden Bestows Medal of Honor on Korean War Vet; SKorean President on Hand\">day couldn\u2019<\/a>t wrap their minds around an action movie hero who didn\u2019t charge in, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/makhia-bryant-adultified-because-she-was-a-big-girl-rutgers-professor-says-describes-attempted-stabbing-as-regular-old-everyday-community-confli\/\" title=\"Ma\u2019Khia Bryant \u2018Adultified\u2019 Because She Was A \u2018Big Girl,\u2019 Rutgers Professor Says; Describes Attempted Stabbing As \u2018Regular Old Everyday Community Conflict\u2019\">guns blazing<\/a>, from the start.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the context of these \u2019roid-rage, superhuman heroes we had at the time, this character seemed like a p***y,\u201d de Souza said of John McClane.<\/p>\n<p>Clint Eastwood reportedly nixed the role because he didn\u2019t get the sarcastic humor, and Richard Gere\u2019s recent conversion to Buddhism had led him to seek more \u201cspiritual\u201d projects. Other reports have named a number of actors who declined the role, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charles Bronson, Harrison Ford, and Al Pacino.<\/p>\n<p>Willis turned it down at first, citing a conflict with his hit show \u201cMoonlighting\u201d \u2014 but when Cybill Shepherd announced her pregnancy, his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/robert-f-kennedy-jr-pulls-out-of-moms-for-liberty-conference-days-before-speech\/\" title=\"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. withdraws from Moms for Liberty event shortly before scheduled speech.\">schedule changed<\/a>. Still, he wasn\u2019t a shoo-in. His agent demanded a $5 million payday \u2014 and said that Willis as prepared to walk if they didn\u2019t come through. Desperate producers, afraid that the whole project would be shelved otherwise, forked over the cash.<\/p>\n<p>But according to de Semlyen, getting Willis onboard was only half the battle \u2014 then he had to survive shooting one of his first scenes.<\/p>\n<p>The scene, in which an explosion sends the actor flying, was dangerous enough that it was scheduled early in the filming in order to leave time to recast Willis\u2019 role if something went wrong.<\/p>\n<p><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs he waited, rubbing his hands together and wearing only a pair of black trousers, a white firehose was looped around his bare midriff, a Heckler &#038; Koch MP5 submachine gun hung via a strap from his neck, and a viscous gel slathered over his exposed skin,\u201d de Semlyen wrote, explaining that the gel was to prevent Willis from catching on fire himself as he jumped from a ledge, landing on an airbag that was positioned below the frame.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs he did, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stunt-crew-had-to-make-sure-bruce-willis-wasnt-dead-after-first-die-hard-scene-new-book-says\/\" title=\"New book reveals Stunt Crew's concern for Bruce Willis' safety in first 'Die Hard' scene.\">large plastic bags<\/a> of gasoline were detonated, unleashing a fireball that blew Willis, he claimed, right to the edge of the bag,\u201d de Semlyen continued. \u201cWhen I landed, everyone came running over to me and I thought they were going to say, \u2018Great job! Attaboy!\u2019 And what they were doing is seeing if I\u2019m alive because I almost missed the bag.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stunt crews monitored Bruce Willis after his initial &#8220;Die Hard&#8221; scene, ensuring his survival. Steve de Souza, the film&#8217;s screenwriter, shared this story with author Nick de Semlyen in his book &#8220;The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood&#8217;s Kings.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":1964173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1964172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1964172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1964173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1964172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1964172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1964172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}