When Bruce Willis announced his retirement from acting in 2022 due to his condition, his dream to play one role in a film franchise ended. Willis was a big fan of the James Bond films. After watching Javier Bardem portray an exceptional villain in Daniel Craig’s Skyfall, Willis openly stated in 2013 that he was up for playing a big baddie in the next Bond film.
However, the role of the crime organization leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the next film, Spectre, went to Christoph Waltz. Bruce Willis never got the call from James Bond makers, who wrapped up Daniel Craig’s iteration of films in 2021 with No Time to Die.
Bruce Willis’s One Dream Role Will Remain Unfulfilled
In February 2023, it was announced that Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. The Die Hard actor had already announced his retirement a year earlier, a news that saddened many fans of Willis. As Willis and his family battle with his dementia condition, fans poignantly remember the role that he badly wanted to play in a major IP.
Willis was used to playing the action hero role, while occasionally excelling in dramatic roles like that in The Sixth Sense. He had tried playing the bad guy in a few movies but this time he wanted to play an outright world-threatening villain, going against Daniel Craig‘s James Bond. He revealed this desire in an interview with the Daily Express.
The Pulp Fiction actor told the news outlet that he always thought playing bad guys would be fun. But when he got to do a few such roles, he realized that it was not as fun as he thought it would be. Willis shared at the time that he will continue playing the good guy until he gets a James Bond villain offer. What piqued his interest in 007 was the film Skyfall and its villain Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem. Willis shared with the Daily Express in 2013:
“I always thought it would be more fun to play bad guys. I tried it a couple of times but it really wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be so I’ll stay good unless there’s a James Bond villain offer. That last movie really renewed my love for 007.”
After Bardem, Christoph Waltz and Rami Malek played the villains in the next two Bond films. The James Bond IP is currently looking for new actors to take over from Craig, who retired from the role in 2021. Not just Bruce Willis, but other actors have also shown interest in playing a villain role in the films. According to The Sun, House of the Dragon star Matt Smith expressed his interest in portraying a James Bond villain.
The Latest Update On Bruce Willis’s Condition
Bruce Willis’s friend and Moonlighting creator Glenn Gordon Caron revealed in October that the actor was not fully conversational and lost his language skills. He shared with the New York Post that the actor was able to recognize him, even if it was for a few minutes. Another source reported to Closer magazine a few months ago that Demi Moore, Willis’s ex-wife, was devastated after he couldn’t recognize her.
The source added that Willis was suffering from personality changes and mood swings as a result of his condition. The latest update on his health condition comes from Moore. During her appearance on Good Morning America, she shared, “I think, given the givens, he’s doing very well.” Moore recently wrote a heartfelt tribute to the actor on his 69th birthday on March 19 (via The Independent).
All the James Bond films are now available for streaming on MGM+.
