One day after showing up on set and shooting scenes

Aug 27, 2015 14:51 GMT  ·  By
Bruce Willis on set of the Untitled Woody Allen Project, from which he was fired the next day
   Bruce Willis on set of the Untitled Woody Allen Project, from which he was fired the next day

Here’s something you don’t hear that often: Bruce Willis got himself fired from Woody Allen’s latest film, now in production, after just one day on set. Attached to this article is a photo of Willis on set, in character and in full costume, and hours later, his rep cited “scheduling conflicts” for the fact that he would not return to the set again.

The Untitled Woody Allen Project, scheduled for a 2016 release, also stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively and Parker Posey. It went into production this week in Los Angeles, and it was a surprise to see Willis in it as well, mainly because he seems to have lost all inclination to make anything other than action flicks.

Bruce Willis, over and out after just one day

Granted, Willis is one of the biggest action movie stars of all time, but he’s also got potential to carry off leads in comedies or even heavier movies, like dramas or thrillers. When fans saw him on the Woody Allen set, they were thrilled that he was finally doing a movie for the art of it and not for the paycheck.

As Vulture puts it, that didn’t last long: Willis is now out of the project.

The official line is that he left because of a scheduling conflict, because he’s doing a Broadway play, “Misery,” this fall. However, previews don’t take place until later on, which means he can’t be possibly be required to do rehearsals just yet.

And then there’s this to consider. “Willis was photographed on set yesterday, in costume, sitting in a car driven by Jesse Eisenberg, in front of a camera rig, doing what we can only assume is acting. Actors tend to notice scheduling conflicts before they begin filming,” Vulture writes.

Moreover, the agents notice said scheduling conflicts before they even take the offer to the actors they represent, so this can’t have possibly been it.

Bruce Willis and the reputation of a grouch

Rumor online has it that Woody Allen, a famously easy-to-work-with director, got tired of Willis’ unprofessionalism and attitude. Because Allen is non-confrontational, he chose to give Willis the boot after just one day instead of trying to work with a man he probably deemed impossible.

Vulture says that the production won’t be affected by his departure, as Allen will shoot around the character until he comes up with a replacement.

However, negative buzz around Willis has been around for a couple of years now. It started in 2013, when he was promoting “RED 2” and “A Good Day to Die Hard,” and he acted out on the press tour, talking back to reporters, being rude to them and flat-out refusing to answer their questions while displaying an aggressive manner.

Also that year, Sylvester Stallone went off on Willis on Twitter, saying he wouldn’t appear in “The Expendables 3” because he was “greedy and lazy, a sure formula for career failure.