Bruce Willis is perhaps best known for his testosterone-laden roles in the Die Hard trilogy and Armageddon, but the Hollywood actor admits that off screen he’s a family man with a truly soft side. As Bruce’s eagerly-anticipated film Bandits opens across the US, the Sixth Sense star talks about his two latest on-screen co-stars: real-life daughters Scout and Tallulah.
In Bandits Bruce plays a bank robber on the run but it’s Scout’s cameo contribution that’s caught attention. In the well-reviewed buddy flick, which co-stars Billy Bob Thornton and Cate Blanchett, nine-year-old Scout delivers a credible and humorous performance.
While Scout and Tallulah make a splash in the Barry Levinson film, Bruce admits co-star Cate Blanchett – the object of both his and Billy Bob’s on-screen affections – nearly steals the show. The 46-year-old actor says Cate was not just the first choice for the Bandits lead but the only choice. “She’s my favourite actress,” he told ABC News’s Diane Sawyer. “She really is. I don’t think there’s anything Cate can’t do. She’s funny. She’s comes up with great ideas every day.”
Bruce made last week’s Los Angeles premiere a family affair, showing up alongside his three children and ex-wife Demi Moore. Though the high-profile couple split in October 2000, Bruce says the girls remain firmly at the centre of his universe. The family was the picture of happiness at the star-studded bash.
The Hollywood premiere for Bandits was among the first blockbuster events since the September 11 terrorist attacks. Many studios were quick to cancel such glitzy outings, but MGM chief operations officer Chris McGurk felt strongly about going on with the planned celebration. “When you have a quality director, quality screenplay, quality actors, you don’t sit and cut corners,” he said. “You invest behind the quality elements.”
Samuel L Jackson, Julie Delpy, famed Hollywood executive Michael Ovitz and Pearl Harbor director Michael Bay also attended the October 4 premiere.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
