Kevin Smith - Re: Bruce Willis 

"Life's too short, kids. Do the shit that makes you happy!" What a dude.

2019 and Kevin Smith's Bruce Willis stories never get old.

I will say this about Bruce Willis. When it comes to famous people to run into. He’s been one of the coolest I’ve met. I’ve heard otherwise but he was awesome with me. I just asked to shake his hand (and this was before good camera phones), he literally said “is that all, you want a picture?” I was speechless. I didn’t have a camera on me and a pedestrian literally took the shot and emailed it to me. Can I find it 20 years later. Nope 😔

I love how such an amazing director always speaks like a fan.

"Can you give us a Comicon exclusive?" Me: No way he does it. *sees 6 minutes left in video* Me: Its. About. To. Go. Down.

Honestly this is why you don't meet your idols. They always let you down.

I'll scream "Hudson Hawk!!!!" At him.

"....some of that sh**..you know, I'll wait until he's gone and sh**. He deserves his life and he deserves to be happy." Kevin you almost beat Bruce there. ;)

If only Kevin did a movie with Steven Seagal. Imagine the stories that would produce lol

I’m 100% on Bruce Willis’s side on this one. It takes an amazing amount of energy to meet everyone’s expectations all the time. This is an incredibly weird thing to hold against someone. The way he set up the story i thought he (kevin) was going to say Bruce shoved him in front of the truck or something of that magnitude… Nope. He just didn’t act in the way that Kevin wanted him to act. He wasn’t flattered by being objectified. This is not unlike a woman who gets catcalled on the street, and when she expresses she doesn’t like it, gets called a bitch by her so-called admirers. Basically, why should Bruce enjoy never being called by his name but inly being called the movies he’s been in? That does sound annoying. Like being reduced to a consumable. He resisted it. And he actually was letting Kevin “in” to his actual human experIence by answering him honestly, “no, i dont like being yelled at, being reduced to the title if a movie I acted in. Thats not me.” (In the same way a woman might say, i don’t like having strangers yell out “nice tits!” Thats not me. ) The main thing Kevin is angry at Bruce for is not acting like the “consumable” that the fans wanted him to be. I dont blame Bruce for resisting this. It actually shows WHY he is such a great actor. He is holding on to his humanity and resisting buying into the façade and reduction that people want to make him. Treating someone more than human is a short distance from thinking of them as “less than human”. As this resentful rendition makes painfully clear. I’m embarrassed for Kevin Smith. Who clearly is tellint this out of a place of great neediness and insecurity, even in the midst of his accomplishments. Kevin should take his own advice: the sanctimonious and very judgey: “do what makes you happy; life is too short.” Clearly this objectifying and hero worship and judgeyness and resentment does not make Kevin “happy” . Maybe he should stop.

“Never meet your heroes.” Sad, but usually true.

2:07 for the actual question.

If you where as famous as Bruce for over 30 years,you would get tired of people yelling at you know matter how appreciative you where to have the fans.

Have a friend who worked at the Royal York downtown Toronto. It’s TIFF, and stars are galore. She’s working the check-in desk and who happens to stop by but the man not mentioned in Kevin’s story. Needless to say, she says this man, not mentioned here, is by far the most arrogant SOB she’s ever met. Cooler than school.

Bruce Willis strikes me as an actor who is bitter about the fact that he does not have a varied career. In his early days, he did a lot of different stuff - but since the nineties, he has been type-cast as an action star, and we only really see him in stuff that is either already associated with him... Or an action role. And I don't think he's had a break-out successful film in a while. Now, I don't think from this or anything Kevin Smith has said that we should make Bruce Willis out to be some evil person. In fact, I think if we add the context of that bitterness...the "prick-ishness" of Bruce Willis starts to make a lot of sense. We all deal with being unhappy in different ways. I'm not saying it's sympathy-worthy. I think in this situation, a fan has the right to be heart-broken. And there are actors and other celebrities out there who will sign every autograph with a beaming smile. But I don't think we can hold everyone to that standard.

Kevin Smith is the voice of reason when it comes to liking your movie star heroes. Kevin is pretty cool.

I absolutely love Kevin Smith. You can actually tell that kevin is a absolute gentleman. And one of the first to call Bruce Willis out for his B S.

When Kevin tells a "what-if" story... It actually happened. Make pretend if you will

Great ending question!!!

I would’ve thought Bruce’s comment was hilarious if I was there. So cantankerous lol, love it.

Whoever's seen this obviously now shouts Die Hard if they ever see Bruce Willis.

For an update look up "Kevin Smith on Bruce Willis after aphasia announcement, WONDERCON 2022" any animosity they had is now gone.

I saw once Kristen Stewart at a red light in West Hollywood and instantly I got smiley and excited to see her live next to my car, realizing I made some portraits of her some years ago. And I thought: oh damn is that girl I made the portrait of, how cool, I smiled and waved like a kid, and in response she rolled her eyes and tured away.

You know why actors get that way? Because people idolize them so much. When all they do is pretend to be other people.

Holy shit this hits different now.

Fucking hell this could be a 30 second story

I love how he put that kid in the spot like that. XD Like, he was clearly prepared to bail him out of the question was bad, but then the kid rose to the occasion with that "comicon exclusive" but. Fantastic.

I am going to scream “Unbreakable” at him and see how he reacts

"Oh shit it's SPIKE THE DOG MAN I LOVED RUGRATS GO WILD I GOT THAT SHIT ON VHS"

Bruce didn't admonish the people shouting it, was just honest with Kevin about how he felt about it. I like Kevin but I am more inclined to agree with Bruce on the issues with filming Cop Out. Kevin has made movies but Bruce has been involved in a lot more movies. I imagine a Director smoking weed at all during filming would seem like "all the time" because that is just not professional and should not be done at all. Bruce is a fantastic actor but obviously a bit of an introvert who does not want that kind of attention where Kevin feeds off it. Kevin not understanding that is his issue. I still like Kevin but I am with Bruce on this one.

There are, for me, a few pop culture figures who have seemed more like family that doesn't visit very often rather than celebrities. Robin Williams, Dr. Suess, Mr. Rogers and I also include Kevin Smith.

Amazing!! Legend Silent Bob!! Thank you!!

He gave you a comic-con exclusive that was in the book.

I love Kevin Smith.

kevin smith is the man

Skip to 1:57 to avoid the pre-amble.

Alright so plan B I'll scream moonlighting at him.

He should feel fortunate to have succeeded, where other talented people try for decades and fail. He should be humbled he was in an iconic role that shot him to fame, and people still love, not bothered by the fans that made him.

You can’t tell Keven Smith isn’t pompous. No wonder Howard Stern doesn't want him on his lame show any more.

Back when Kevin Smith actually didn't like something or someone that's come either directly or indirectly out of Hollywood.

I wish this video would go so viral that from then on anyone who recognized Bruce would scream nothing but "DIIIE HAAARD!!"

Someone should shout out to Willis, "I see dead people!!!"

It's actually not that bad a story, Kevin's just telling it like it's the most soul crushing thing ever. Willis would've had decades of morons addressing him as movie titles, like he's not even a person. If you consider yourself a real actor - which Willis has proven to be - people yelling "Die Hard!" at you whenever you leave the house would do your head in. He got bluntly honest & told Smith he hates that. Smith replied comparing it to Clerks fandom, which needless to say is nowhere near the worldwide phenomenon Die Hard is. Knowing Smith doesn't get it and never will, he simply walked away. He's not a super prick, they were just on different pages, which seemed to be every Smith vs Willis prob in a nutshell.

Kevin and Bruce are friends again! Check out the latest Fatman Beyond.

sometimes people are different with industry insiders than they are with fans. we are different with fellow employees than we are with our clients. I would happily call bruce "harry stamper" in a heartbeat and from what i have heard of his reputation with the way he treats his fans, he would probably smile and wave. i think for kevin, the movie business is an obsession and that is truly wonderful, but for some actors it is just a profession they enjoy.

lol that poor guy having to stand there while Stoned Kevin Smith talks on and on ^_^

The one thing I will say about Bruce Willis, is that I was watching an interview with him and other famous actors, and the narrator asked Bruce if he had any advice for actors trying to make it in acting. I will never forget his response, as it applies to everything in life. He said nobody is there to tell you to get your a$$ out of bed and go on auditions. He said people complain how hard it is to make it when hard work is what you need to succeed.

Im 76 years old & love Kevin Smith,i used to love Bruce Willis until i heard how he is in real life twords the people he works with,i can understand his hatred of his fans simply because when your as big of star as a Tom Cruise or Bruce Willis you cease to be a person to your fans,insane fans stalk mega stars & will interrupt a mega star having dinner with their familys for stupid shit,ive seen it in person when Frank Zappa was mobbed at the dinner table with his wife & kids,i watched him fake it for his fans while the familys meal got ice cold & was ruined,so i can sympathize,however,when working Bruce isnt around insane fans so his outbursts are childish bully shit that any regular man would get his face blew out for talking shit ,Tom Hanks is another mega star who treats people badly .

That kid is awesome.

The more I hear these stories the more I love Bruce Willis.

And now Bruce has lost his memory

5:26 went all Blair Witch for a sec...what is happening?!??!!

I would feel the same way as....Bruce Willis. That would drive me insane.

It's odd that he frames this telling of the glazier truck story as a fantasy when he had previously told the story as something that happened. It would have been nice to hear a "fantasy" that might have been legally tricky.

Kevin Smith, What a Dude, Funny As Fuck . . . . : 0 )

we don't say that about batman when he's out fighting crime.

Yeah and I guess karma is a bitch too. That's what you could said to Bruce Willis. But he might not understand what you're saying now.

Well now that Bruce's mind is gone to lunch I suppose Kevin has more wiggle room to spill some of these stories hopefully.

I'd imagine 30 years of people yelling at you in public gets old. Novelty at first and fun but probably gets old.

How's Kev feel about Bruce supposedly having early onset dementia?

Kevin told me to imagine the worst possible thing Bruce could've said and I imagined that Bruce admit he just murdered, cooked and ate the last fan to shout, "Diehard!" at him after torturing him for years in his basement. Hyperbole is such a letdown. But I'm glad Bruce Willis isn't a cannibal.

I'm the same way. I love seeing people being passionate about stuff they love. I mention it a lot, but there's this one video on the Elders React channel about Elvis that gets a smile out of me every. single. time. It's the one old lady gushing over Elvis the whole time, you'll know her when you see her. I hate the Fine Brothers, but that's one video I'll give them a view for over and over. And if that happened, which I'm not saying it did because it totally didn't surely, I wouldn't want a thing to do with the prick either. I still enjoy his films, though. This is why I don't really like knowing too much about celebrities and it's kind of my own fault going down this rabbit hole to find this out, but most of the time it just ruins your enjoyment of their content. Fortunately being a prick isn't enough to ruin his films for me. If he had done something *truly* heinous, like Bill Cosby levels of horrible, though, it could ruin it for me. I don't blame others for trying to push past it and enjoy something they always have despite it, but when it gets that bad, I just can't.

In summation...Fuck Bruce Willis? YES?! O>o

Recently on comedy central their will be a roast of Bruce Willis!

best part of the video is when jason comes back to snatch kevins name card 9:43 wonder if thats going on ebay or in a collection.

I’ve never understood grown adults geeking out over a celebrity.

We're getting closer to BWT being over

Woe heartbreaking. What a sad moment

"yippee ki yay'"

I'm from Idaho. There is a ranch dealer up north that sells Bruce all of his supplies. One day way back when he and Demi Moore show up to pick up said supplies, and of course people want autographs, which Demi Moore was MORE than happy to give. It's Idaho it's not like there is crowds at the ranch supplier. So while she is signing a handful of autographs he's paying the supplier (who didn't seem to know who Willis was) a few people kind of line up next to him for an autograph. After he pays the man he just PLOWS by the people like they didn't fucking exist, in a B line straight for his truck.

Legendary

I love Bruce Willis even more

Kevin really blew this thing out of proportion lol what a baby

Has the comics book men come out on dvd

Respect for Kevin Smith just went up and I imagine if this story was about Bruce Willis I imagine I would lose respect for him. Obv I haven’t but I imagine I would. If it happened. Which it didn’t.

Kinda think that was hilarious Bruce said that

Ya know I love kevin Smith I actually put him on a level for different reasons with bruce willis meaning I would actually value meeting both of them about the same. I would say tho generally speaking I would absolutely personally hate having to deal with the amount of attention either of them get from random people on the street. It would be so cool for like a year and then I would just dread going out for a pack of smokes lol. So I really dont blame this fictional bruce willis for being annoyed the guy has been dealing with that stuff since before I was really a conscious being and that shit gets old lol.

He’ll never tell the rest of the stories now I guess! 🤣

You have to remember these actors are only pretending to be awesome. They aren't in real life. Actually they're the opposite in a lot of cases. Bruce Willis is that prick.

bruce is hands down my favorite actor alive. he has the full range, comedy , dramatic, action, talker, silence- you name it. am i surprised he acts like a prick to most people...not extremely. that being said...this isnt such a bad evil story. yea he has been given wealth and fame, but there is a flip side to it. old memorable movie roles tend to dominate your life. to the point where they suffocate your real self. not that he should deal with it by being unfriendly..but i understand

I genuinely don't mean this in a mean way - we're all gonna die; why pussyfoot around the causes of death? - but the shape Willis has been in all his adult life and the shape Smith's been all his adult life, we may never get to hear the real stories if Kevin's waiting for him to pass on first.

Kevin, I WOULD DO THE SAME THING!!!! ITS NOT INSULTING FANS, BUT IF THEY CANT EVEN SAY HIS (MY) NAME AND RECOGNIZE HIM (ME) FOR HIM (ME) THEN I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH HIS ANGER!!!!!!! SAY THE NAME NOT THE MOVIE TITLE AS IT OBJECTIFIES THE PERSON AND NOT IDENTIFIES THE PERSON!!!!!!! HE LOVES HIS FANS BUT HE HAS TO BE CALLED BY HIS OWN NAME, AND ABOVE ALL.... HE WAS BEING SARCASTIC!!!!!!!!

Imagine if people yelled the same fucking movie title at you for 30 years everywhere you went anyone would hate that.

Here after the news. These comments did not age well.

Who is the guy Kein Smith is talking about ?

Great buildup for a let down of a story.

Any chance Bruce might have been being a tad sarcastic in this minuscule life moment that Mr Smith has decided to elaborate on so brilliantly but negatively?

Honestly, doesn't sound that bad. At least he didn't say that shit to the fan's face or anything.

Wow way to drag out a story for such a minor thing. I was expecting something terrible.

In my imagination, Bruce sounds like a DB!

The depth and extent of his Bruce grudge would make you think that Bruce Willis is a really bad guy, but he just sounds a bit grumpy and anti-fan. Which is fine. Not everybody likes fans; some people find them annoying, and I can see why they might. Good for you if you get off on it, but it doesn't make Bruce Willis an asshole to get sick of it.

honestly, I like Kevin Smith. and I think Bruce is an asshole. BUT, I could totally understand the idea of hating people that yell shit at you. it would be obnoxious. think about it. you're a member of a classic rock band and someone sees you and yells the name of the ONE song that they know. the song that EVERYONE knows. yeah, it's better to be recognized for something than not at all, but after years and years of that, it's gotta be tiring and annoying.

This was something i already suspected about Bruce. Im not a fan of his or die hard much anyway. But after hearing this i lost what little respect i had for Bruce. I understand being a celebrity is hard asf and you cant do normal people things etc and get talked too and asked for pics etc daily. But thats what you signed up for. And you should love and respect your fans who are the sole reason your a celebrity in the first place. If they dont like you or buy your films and work then your nothing. So you should love and respect the fans you have imo.

what's "calm E Comm"

Wow! What a great imagination this guy has....but that sort of thing would never happen.

Just make pretend guys.

This story reminds me of how Jerry Lewis became the older he got. Terribly bitter and rude, to the point of meanness.

Kevin is a movie genius!

I guarantee you that exchange made Bruce hate Kevin more than anyone else in the world in that moment

When I hear people say that they don't know if Between Two Ferns is real--if the guests are really that off-put or angry--my eye-roll rivals Liz Lemon's. But after hearing some of Kevin's stories about Bruce, I kind of wonder about his appearance on it.