Actor-filmmaker Kevin Smith rose to prominence in the mid-1990s with his low-budget comedy buddy film Clerks. Throughout the following decades, he went on to work with notable names in the industry, including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jeff Anderson, and Bruce Willis. However, his collaboration with the latter for the buddy cop action movie, Cop Out did not turn out to be the best experience for him.
While the movie became the highest-grossing film for the director at the time, he described his experience working with the Die Hard star as “soul-crushing.” However, he later reflected on his comments after Willis announced his retirement after being diagnosed with aphasia.
Kevin Smith’s Experience Working With Bruce Willis
Kevin Smith and Bruce Willis first collaborated in the fourth installment of the popular action franchise Die Hard. Following the 2007 film, they came together to work on the 2010 action comedy film Cop Out, along with Tracy Morgan and Seann William Scott.
The movie follows an NYPD cop tracking down his rare basketball card with the help of his partner, which has been stolen by a gangster obsessed with memorabilia. While he was eager to work with him initially, the filmmaker went on to claim that Willis was “difficult” to work with on several occasions.
He also explained the same in his autobiography, Kevin Smith’s Secret Stash (via Screen Crush). Smith said,
“Cop Out could have been a great experience if it were not for the fact that I met true darkness in Bruce Willis – I love making movies, and he does not, at all.”
The actor and director of the 2010 movie reportedly faced some creative issues on the set. The Sixth Sense star said during an interview with Time Out (via Far Out Magazine) that they had some “personal issues about how we approached work.” He said that he didn’t want to stretch the matter by replying or calling out the filmmaker.
Kevin Smith Apologized to Bruce Willis
Kevin Smith’s collaboration with Bruce Willis did pretty well at the box office, but it received negative reviews from the critics. Apart from stating that Willis was difficult to work out, Smith even went on to claim that the 68-year-old Hollywood star failed to support the film.
“A lot of people are gonna be like, ‘Oh, you’re just trying to blame the movie on him,” he said during an appearance on WTF With Marc Maron before adding, “I had no f*cking help from this dude whatsoever.” However, he reflected on his words after the star of his 2010 movie announced his retirement after being diagnosed with aphasia in 2022.
Taking on to Twitter, he said that he was a big fan of Bruce Willis and was heartbroken with the news of his retiring from acting. “I feel like an a*shole for my petty complaints from 2010. So sorry to [Bruce Willis] and his family,” he said, apologizing to the Hollywood star.
Cop Out is available on Prime Video.
Source: Kevin Smith’s Secret Stash: The Definitive Visual History via Screen Crush
