<p>Stunt crews had to check on actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daughter-tallulah-says-family-missed-early-signs-of-bruce-willis-dementia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bruce Willis</a> after his first &#8220;Die Hard&#8221; scene — to make sure that he had survived it.</p>
<p>The film&#8217;s screenwriter, Steve de Souza, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/07/04/die-hard-crew-feared-bruce-willis-was-dead-after-first-scene/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recounted the tale</a> to author Nick de Semlyen in his new book, titled &#8220;<span id="productTitle" class="a-size-extra-large"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Last-Action-Heroes-Triumphs-Hollywoods/dp/059323880X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23NX8UZLCV9L0&amp;keywords=Last+Action+Heroes&amp;qid=1687895258&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=last+action+heroes,stripbooks,62&amp;sr=1-1&amp;tag=nypost-20&amp;asc_refurl=https://nypost.com/2023/07/04/die-hard-crew-feared-bruce-willis-was-dead-after-first-scene/&amp;asc_source=web" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood&#8217;s Kings of Carnage</a>.&#8221;</span></p>
<p>De Souza said that casting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-was-an-absolute-puddle-bruce-willis-wife-reveals-what-their-9-year-old-taught-her-about-his-disease" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Willis</a> was a long, drawn-out affair — and it almost didn&#8217;t happen. Initially, no one even wanted the script. &#8220;James Caan told me directly, &#8216;I read the script, and this guy’s running away for the first twenty-five pages,'&#8221; de Souza explained that the action stars of the day couldn&#8217;t wrap their minds around an action movie hero who didn&#8217;t charge in, guns blazing, from the start.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the context of these ’roid-rage, superhuman heroes we had at the time, this character seemed like a p***y,&#8221; de Souza said of John McClane.</p>
<p>Clint Eastwood reportedly nixed the role because he didn&#8217;t get the sarcastic humor, and Richard Gere&#8217;s recent conversion to Buddhism had led him to seek more &#8220;spiritual&#8221; projects. Other reports have named a number of actors who declined the role, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charles Bronson, Harrison Ford, and Al Pacino.</p>
<p>Willis turned it down at first, citing a conflict with his hit show &#8220;Moonlighting&#8221; — but when Cybill Shepherd announced her pregnancy, his schedule changed. Still, he wasn&#8217;t a shoo-in. His agent demanded a $5 million payday — and said that Willis as prepared to walk if they didn&#8217;t come through. Desperate producers, afraid that the whole project would be shelved otherwise, forked over the cash.</p>
<p>But according to de Semlyen, getting Willis onboard was only half the battle — then he had to survive shooting one of his first scenes.</p>
<p>The scene, in which an explosion sends the actor flying, was dangerous enough that it was scheduled early in the filming in order to leave time to recast Willis&#8217; role if something went wrong.</p>
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<p>&#8220;As he waited, rubbing his hands together and wearing only a pair of black trousers, a white firehose was looped around his bare midriff, a Heckler &amp; Koch MP5 submachine gun hung via a strap from his neck, and a viscous gel slathered over his exposed skin,&#8221; de Semlyen wrote, explaining that the gel was to prevent Willis from catching on fire himself as he jumped from a ledge, landing on an airbag that was positioned below the frame.</p>
<p>&#8220;As he did, large plastic bags of gasoline were detonated, unleashing a fireball that blew Willis, he claimed, right to the edge of the bag,&#8221; de Semlyen continued. &#8220;When I landed, everyone came running over to me and I thought they were going to say, &#8216;Great job! Attaboy!&#8217; And what they were doing is seeing if I’m alive because I almost missed the bag.&#8221;</p>

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Stunt Crew Had To Make Sure Bruce Willis Wasn’t Dead After First ‘Die Hard’ Scene, New Book Says