Demi Moore and family celebrate Bruce Willis’s birthday
Ailing screen action hero Bruce Willis could be set to make a poignant farewell appearance in a big Hollywood blockbuster – even if he is too ill to act.
His friend, iconic filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, wants him for a cameo role in his tenth and final film The Movie Critic, which starts shooting in September, according to a senior production source.
Willis, 68, officially retired last year after struggling on sets for more than a decade before being diagnosed with the degenerative brain disorder aphasia.
In February this year, his family announced he is now suffering from frontotemporal dementia, which robs victims of cognitive abilities.
Last month, however, the Die Hard legend appeared looking fit and happy in a video posted by his daughters following a family visit to Disneyland – and Tarantino is hoping he is well enough to perform a brief cameo.
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The two became firm friends after Tarantino cast him as ageing, on-the-run boxer Butch Coolidge in his 1994 crime classic Pulp Fiction, which helped Willis reestablish himself as a major star following a career slump.
At the time, Tarantino declared: “Bruce has the look of a 50s actor. I can’t think of any other star that has that look.”
Now he wants to pay tribute to his old pal, according to the production source, by offering him a small role in The Movie Critic, which will be set in 1970s Los Angeles.
“Quentin hasn’t approached Bruce’s family yet – and will completely bow to their wishes if they say he’s too sick,” said the source.
“If that’s the case, he aims to try to work a brief clip from one of Bruce’s many previous movies into the film.”
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Willis is being cared for by his wife, former model Emma Heming, 45, with whom he has two children, as well as his ex-wife, G.I. Jane actress Demi Moore, 60, and their three grown-up daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah.
A family spokesperson declined to comment on the possibility of him appearing briefly in Tarantino’s film, but our source pointed out that the nod of appreciation would be a “fitting end” to a glittering career of 129 films.
Willis first found fame in the 80s TV comedy drama Moonlighting opposite Cybill Shepherd but the source added: “His final few films all went straight to video or streaming because of his condition.
“Quentin wants to pay tribute to him with a quick glimpse for his legion of fans back on the big screen where he belongs.”