“That was probably the most intense two weeks of my life”: Karl Urban & Bruce Willis’ Fight Became So Graphically Brutal That Director Had to Scrap It from Movie

Written by: Priya
Karl Urban & Bruce Willis’ Fight Became So Graphically Brutal That Director Had to Scrap It from Movie

Bruce Willis has given a vast number of impeccable projects that remains close to fans’ hearts. Initially getting recognition for working in the rom-com series, Moonlighting, he built a formidable action-star persona by appearing in more than 100 films. However, there is an action-packed project starring him that had a scene that went excruciatingly brutal for it to even be in it.

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Bruce Willis in Die Hard
Bruce Willis in Die Hard

Also Read: MCU Director Brought Chris Hemsworth’s $180 Million Film to A Halt Because of Karl Urban: “He literally stopped directing the movie”

The project in question is Robert Schwentke helmed Red which starred an ensemble cast including The Boys actor, Karl Urban. The duo got engaged in a fighting sequence which eventually had to be toned down.

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Karl Urban and Bruce Willis’ Fighting Scene Was Cut Due to its Intense Brutality

Karl Urban and Bruce Willis in Red
Karl Urban and Bruce Willis in Red

Also Read: Karl Urban Gave $41.5M Movie Co-Star the ‘Dredd’ Stare for Trying to Make Him Break Character With a Joke

In a 2010 interview with MTV, Karl Urban opened up about his experience working with Bruce Willis in the action-comedy film, Red. In the movie, the duo got engaged in a fistfight which the former mentioned took 2 weeks to film due to its gritty theme.

“We had a fight scene that was probably the most gritty, arduous, difficult, intense two weeks of my life.”

He mentioned that the fighting sequence was quite a fun part, especially for him who got an opportunity to throw the action star.

“We gave each other a really good crack, we really did. It was all done within the bounds of safety, but I felt very grateful to be working with him. The most fun I had was throwing Bruce around an office, smashing stuff up.”

Meanwhile, the latter chimed in to share his experience stating

“We were in a room full of guys that all had the same like mindset.”

He admitted that everyone worked to make it ‘look brutal’ without any interference.

“We all wanted it to look brutal and no one really came in on those nights when we were working and said, ‘Now look, this is too brutal.'”

It all got way too far as he mentioned that the scenes were eventually toned down due to their fistfight becoming an extremely graphic sequence.

“They did cut down a couple of things that were just too much, too brutal, but we were all on the same page. It’s like we were playing sports again. We represented the graphic part of the graphic novel.”

While their action sequence was highly filtered due to their brutality, the lead actor was shocked to hear from the actual CIA guy when he was working to understand his role further.

Bruce Willis Was Shocked on Hearing Real Life CIA Agent’s Experience

Bruce Willis in Red
Bruce Willis in Red

Also Read: The Boys Star Karl Urban in Talks to Play Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2⁩

Given the chopping down they experienced in the film, it was nothing in front of the real experiences that a real-life CIA agent went through. In the same interview, Willis confessed that he met a guy who used to work for the CIA during his research for the film and the experience he told him was quite shocking for him.

“We had the opportunity to actually talk to a guy who worked in the CIA and was alive and worked during the time that you were allowed to kill people — a license to kill,” he said. “That guy is still alive and we got to talk to him. He told us some things. Shocking, shocking [things].”

Though he did not reveal his exact experiences, it was clear that he worked hard for his role. He plays the role of Frank Moses, a former CIA black ops agent who is tagged R.E.D. (Retired, Extremely Dangerous). Craving action, he reunites with his old team to capture an assassin who has vowed to kill him.

Red is available on Prime Video.

Source: MTV

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Written by Priya Sharma

Priya Sharma is an entertainment niche content writer at FandomWire. A Journalism and Mass Communication graduate from the University of Lucknow, she has written over 1000 articles on Animated Times and Fandomwire combined and holds experience in event management too. She has a healthy(?) obsession with the Hallyu culture and is also exploring anime as well. When not working, she indulges herself in binge-watching K-dramas, playing Ukulele, and trying to seek the attention of her cute buddy, Shiro.