It has been over a year since Bruce Willis’s family announced that the action star would officially retire from his acting career after being diagnosed with a speaking disorder called aphasia and subsequently with frontotemporal dementia. While the star and his family are dealing with the grim reality one day at a time and staying positive, Willis’s peers and fans have sent an outpouring of love and wish for his speedy recovery.
Following Willis’s health update, director Michael Bay who worked with the actor in the 1998 cult space film Armageddon, sat down to reminisce fondly about his experience with the action star on set. Bay recalled the Die Hard actor’s mischievous side that almost got the cast and crew into trouble.
Bruce Willis Had A Blast On Armageddon Set
In 1998, Bruce Willis played Harry Stamper, the leader of a newbie astronaut team in the cult space film Armageddon. Directed by Michael Bay, the movie became an iconic blockbuster thanks to Willis’s charismatic presence and his penchant for pure action. Bay in an interview, recalled some of the memorable experiences with Willis on set when the actor showed his mischievous persona while filming at the NASA headquarters.
“He goes to me, ‘Mike, we’re gonna do one take; the second take, I’m going to make a run for it and I’m going to go inside the shuttle.’ Bruce is about to break into the space shuttle … and these guys, all in suits, fully masked up, they’re like [wagging his finger side to side], ‘Uh, uh, uh!’
Bay continued his praise for the actor by saying that Willis’s energy and positivity on set rubbed off on the entire cast and crew, creating a summer camp-like ambiance. The director hoped that the Jackal actor would make a full recovery and wished him well for the same.
Bruce Willis’s Armageddon Was The Biggest Film Of 1998
When Michael Bay’s Armageddon was released on 1st July 1998, it was already under pressure to perform with films like Deep Impact having received rave reviews from audiences and critics just a few months before. While it started off with a smaller opening weekend collection of 36 million dollars when compared to Deep Impact’s 41 million dollar weekend, it went from strength to strength in the coming weeks. The game changer for Armageddon was its influence on international audiences who lapped up Bruce Willis’s charisma.
In the end, Armageddon finished its run with a massive 553 million dollars in global collections thereby making it the most successful film of the year. It also cemented Michael Bay’s reputation as a master of commercial blockbusters while further elevating Bruce Willis as one of the most sought-after action heroes in Hollywood.
Source: Variety
