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0ntheTownNEW YORK POST, TUESDAY, JUI,Y

llARD": Bru ce Wiltis anil Bonnie Beilelia st6r as a d,etecti,ne and his estrenge(t ui'fe, Inset: ,r" *"*, Orffii""*ilil.

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Wilhs' n&u) mou'i'e,He,rd," rneA iust be thep oint in hisfilm career

By FRANK TOYECEiiiu.u "t"to""'kiddingr The guy's beenon so much bY the Press,ian't resist teasing. On thishe is, in fact, contemplative,a little tired and,of all, bewildered.third starring feature, themovie "Die Hard," opena

Friday. Willis, who hasbefore courted lhe Press, isdoing interviews. The word,street, if your street haP-to be Hollywood Boulevard,"Die Hard" is make-or-for the star af TVistwo previous movie vehi'1987's "Blind Date" and last"Sunset," were critical

bombs and financial flops' In anlndustrv where a film must earndomestic rentals of at least twiceits budget in order to turn aprofit, the $16 million "Blindbate" netted iust $15 mtllion."Sunset." budgeted at approxi'mately $17 million, grossed iustover $4 million. "Die Hard," Wil'lis knows, is wha' his movie c&-reer miSht do itselt."I'm talking about this fllm be'cause I'm really proud of tt,l' the33-year-old Wtllis quietlY 8,s'serts, "It was a good experiencefor me to do 'Blind Date' and'Sunset,' lrut I never got the Per-sonal satisfactiol that I wa8looking for. In this fitm I reauygot to atretch, to use a lot more ofrnv ima.clnation as an actor. Icr-eated i character that I ltkeand that I think really s,PPeals to

an a.udience."He did indeed. Under the effec-tive hand of director John{..Predator"} McTiernan, "Dreifa"a." in Previews, Pushed -allthe audlences' buttons. wll[Bnlavs frazzled New York CitY de''teciive John Mcclane, come toL.A. to Derhaps reclaim his es-transed- wife (Eonnie Bedelia)'Yet ; band of high-tech crtmi-nals (led bY the chilling AlanRickman) have taken her near'emDtv offlce buildtng hostage'Mc'clirne, separated from theother caPtives, becomes a mo-s-ouito whb has to sting his weu-drmed captors as best he car."we sDent a lot of work on mak-inc John Mcclane a vulnerable,or-dina"y guy," Willts says. "Peo-Dle know someone llke him -ire's not like some superhero,

some Rambo. He's tired and hefeels pain and he's afraid."Sort of ttke Bruce Willls on theeve of "Die Hard." For the firsttime in a long time, his career is&t stake. Up to now, WiUts'Pro-feBsed reticence, and his han-dlers' prudent de8ire to keep himfrom overexposure, h&ve oftenled to charges of arrogance'

which Wtllis' kid-in-a-candYstore behavlor did nothing to dipel. Now, he concedes, he waiartly reacting to hls own fears

"Innuer wantedanUbody tobe ableto wnte tlLe crd'gh.anil-bu.rnstory -uouknntn:'Bm'ce"WtttbTTagcalWBlows It Al'l! "gnuc_E wrr,u"I never walted anybody toable to write the crdsh-and-bustory," he says plaintively. "Y

know: 'Bruce Wiuig TragicaBlows It AU!' ."It scared me," he adds laterefleqting on ihe decompregsiride he took when "Moonliglng" rocketed him to the sta"You feel llke someone's gontake it awa.y. Yoir questiCo'ltlnt,cd, q lolk,ot'{ N

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. TUESDAY, JUTY 12, r.988

truthtlqr eeoedrng pfgyou deserv lt as a'being, whether you de-it talent-wise as an actor.finally gotten beyond beingof it - and I've gotten be-betng afraid of teUing peo-I was afraid."Tte fear a.nd the succesg cameWiUis, born in Kassel,to a U.S. Army fathere Cerman mothei, andin blue-collar Carney'sN.J., left college in 197? toan actor in New York -snagged a railroad flat or49th Street, and did playsmovle bit parts while tend-bar at Kamikaze, B.J.'s 38-Cafe Centrsl and else.

In 1984, a successful off-Broad-stint ln Sam Shepherd'sfor Love" got him signeda maJor talent a,gency. Heto Los Angeles for what hewould be the typical TVand along with gueston "Miami Vlce" and the"Tlle Twilight Zone," hethe pllot for "Moonlight-AU of sudden, hls checkghavlng lota of zeros.There's no way I could de.he goes on. 'There's no 'there's nothlng alry-can tell you about how tofamtly went through atime when all thls ffrst

"BUXD Dtlt'f : Willis' first ston'ing leaturC role, witltKim Basinger, floppeil at tlrc bou office.happened because they dldn'tknow how to deal with me. ard Ihad to keep teUing thm, ,Every-body else is putting me up on thispedestel. You can't do that; youJust gotta. keep treatlng me llkeyou always did.' Because if not,I'd have lost it. I ned that kind ofgrounding thing."These days, he says .happily,that grounding thlng is his wlfe,actress Demi Moore, and theirfirst child, due around SeDtem-ber. "I dunno," he says, finallygrinnlng tha,t Bruce wlulE crti-"all thts stuff we're tal-klnEabout, I really wanna tell yoithat I really like my life, man, Ireally do. I'm expecting a. babtl.rIt's a humbling experlence, man.ifio*t, r*u to be humbled, y'."Having a baby really makesyorr want to .b ltle best person

you can be. And that wasn'tways apriority h my llfe."Not long ago, he relates, wlstopped by his old New Yapartment - stitl under lrstiU furnished with couchegthings that the brokeactor made himself. "l

actor agrees, still in his"And it ,ros beeL"CfiDY Adrnr L orr trrcrllbnllcr collml tlll latrlna lcltd.t.

a,nd lack of privscy, could bworse, he is told. "Yeah," tll

Nobodvcaterslike tlieCopaNOW lhru SUN. JULY l7lnrroducing Neri Sox SensotionCHRlsTOPHER

WEDDINGSHAVE YOURSAt The. WORLD

and sat up on the roof one nighIt was just going into fall, anthere was a really nice skyllneou know New York, maIL"I just sat there, absorbingall, thinkiDg, 'Here's whereused to livp. Right here,' "Willis'life, for aU its pressure

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