15 Essential Bruce Willis Performances (and Where to Stream Them)
Bruce Willis’ family revealed on Instagram on Wednesday that the 67-year-old actor is “retiring” from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia , a condition that affects the ability to either understand language or communicate (or both).
As a result of this, and with great consideration, Bruce is giving up on a career that meant so much to him.
Fans were quick to express their concern for the actor on social media and share their favorite Bruce Willis performances. Since his breakout role in the Moonlight television series, and especially since his transition to film with 1988’s Die Hard , Willis has been reliably represented on the big screen. (In the late 80s, actors rarely moved from one media to another, and it’s hard to imagine an actor doing it nearly as successfully.)
In many of his most popular roles, he plays a slightly cynical working-class “common man” who tends to do the right thing, even if it takes a little prompting to do so. This personality (and, okay, a lot of crap in his filmography) has left him in the eyes of some cinephiles and critics, but it’s worth remembering that he has appeared in an impressive number of bona fide, genre classics. He’s hardly a Daniel Day-Lewis chameleon, more like Humphrey Bogart: always recognizable but often surprising, with an equal penchant for action, comedy and drama. Some of his best roles are remembered for the way Willis and his co-stars play into or subvert our expectations. If his career is truly coming to an end, he has left us with an impressive and varied legacy, including these 15 important performances.
(Unfortunately, his standout performance in the genre-defying, fourth-wall-breaking ’80s TV hit ” Moonlight ” is nearly impossible to watch: the show is off-air, the DVDs are long sold out, and my mom’s VHS tapes have evaporated years ago..)