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Bruce Willis aphasia battle: Actor once misfired LOADED gun on set, say reports

'Hard to Kill' co-star Lara Kent revealed how Bruce Willis once fired a loaded gun before the cue

Bruce Willis, the action icon who was recently diagnosed with aphasia is retiring from acting. Willis’ family released a message on his Instagram account, claiming that aphasia is affecting his cognitive ability. Amid news of his aphasia fight, reports have emerged that Willis reportedly misfired a loaded gun on set and questioned directors, "What am I doing here?" Now a number of Willis's coworkers have spoken about his deteriorating condition.

Willis’ family recently announced about the brain damage that caused his aphasia. Aphasia is a medical condition that causes one to lose the capacity to speak or understand what someone is saying. Rumer Willis, Willis' daughter, posted a joint statement on her Instagram account that read, "To Bruce's amazing supporters, as a family, we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him."

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After the reveal, many of his co-workers came forward to open up about how they were suspecting Aphasia to Los Angeles Times news. His management team, including agents at Creative Artists Agency, made sure that he shot for no more than two days on a given project and that his filming be limited to eight hours a day, although the actor often shot for only four production insiders told the Times.

Lala Kent, who previously worked with Willis, 67, said how he misfired a gun on the wrong cue while on set in 2020. Insiders also claimed that the majority of Willis’s action scenes, “particularly those that involved gunfire,” were left to a body double. The incident that Kent talks about happened on the set of 'Hard Kill'. Willis unexpectedly fired a gun loaded with a blank on the wrong cue, according to two people familiar with the incident, reports the Times. Kent, who played Willis’s daughter in 'Hard Kill', said that he shot a gun before saying the line that was to be her cue to duck. Willis made the same error on the second take as well. A crew member confirmed that Willis “did fire the gun on the wrong line,” adding, “We always made sure no one was in the line of fire when he was handling guns.” 

Willis was also said to be perplexed on the set wondering why he was there. Two of the crew members mentioned that incident and claimed that Willis asked, "I know why you're here, and I know why you’re here, but why am I here?" A crew member claimed, “Someone would give him a line and he didn’t understand what it meant. He was just being puppeted.” In fact, Willis’ crew told the 'White Elephant' director Jesse V Johnson, that "it would be best if we could finish shooting him by lunch and let him go early."

Meanwhile, Mike Burns, the director of the 2021 picture 'Out of Death', is said to have urged the scriptwriter to make Willis's lines "brief and sweet." He also gave no explanation for a last-minute rewrite of the 'Die Hard' star's character. In a June 2020 email to the screenwriter, Burns said, "It looks like we need to knock down Bruce's page count by about 5 pages." Out of concern for his health, Burns added, "We also need to abbreviate his dialogue a bit so that there are no monologues, etc."

None of Willis' representatives have as yet responded to the claims made in the Times report. 

Many fans have shared their sadness regarding the famous action star’s health condition and retirement. One fan wrote on Twitter saying, “How scary! I never realized that this condition could just happen. I thought for sure it would have been from a head injury or stroke. But apparently it doesn't appear that there was any predisposed cause.😔♥️ I'll be praying for him and the family!!!” while another said, “Found out an hour ago. watched him in Moonlighting and knew straight away what a huge talent he was. I too am thinking of Bruce and his family. Stay strong x.” Another fan wrote, “So sad to hear this. I am glad that he has family and friends that serve as a strong support system and wish he and his family all the strength they need going forward. His presence will be missed on the big screen.”