On Wednesday, March 30, 2022, the world received the news that a cinematic era was coming to a close. The acclaimed actor Bruce Willis, star of a whole host of iconic films from the action classic Die Hard to the sublime comedy Moonrise Kingdom, would be retiring from acting. A sad moment for all who admired his work, it also marked the beginning of an outpouring of love for the actor and his long career of outstanding films. It is his commitment to taking on each role with a dedicated intensity that made each time he appeared on-screen a joyous one. He could go toe to toe with the greatest stage actors of all time while also fitting right in for more emotionally driven work that showed his range.

Lest we all forget, it should go without saying that Willis has been in some of the most fantastic films of all time. From Pulp Fiction to The Sixth Sense and beyond, he can do horror and action, science fiction and drama, all with a cutting sense of humor and gravitas that remains unmatched. There just are so many moments that make Willis such a deceptively dynamic performer. He plays characters that draw you in with a wicked charm and others who blow you away with their genuine sense of heart. In all his roles, Willis instills each film with an energy that could bring any story to life and leave you in awe of just what he brings to the table. He is irreplaceable and will always be, a presence all his own.

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Image via Vertical Entertainment

His career first began on the stage and on television in the great series Moonlighting before he was launched into the stratosphere when he played the unlikely hero John McClane in the aforementioned Die Hard. Scrappy and snarky, it is through his portrayal that it remains one of the greatest action films of all time to this day. Packing both wit and a lot of ass-kicking, Willis is a man struggling with his divorce while also trying to prevent a catastrophe on Christmas. You know, just everyday holiday stuff. Full of the snappy lines we all remember, he makes the film as enduring as it is all these decades later. It also is quite funny, a sign of his comedic chops that he put to use many times over his career.

This was most clearly seen a few years later in the underrated cult comedy Death Becomes Her. The film saw Willis really letting loose in playing the bumbling Dr. Ernest Menville, absolutely crushing the role alongside the similarly great performers of Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn. Even as it got torn apart upon its initial release, a newfound appreciation has been gained for how goofy and biting it is. The anarchic energy of it all is something to behold with Willis making the most of every scene he gets even when he is just hanging out. It doesn’t always come up when people think of his greatest roles, though comedy is a tough nut to crack, and yet he does so with ease.

Following that, he was part of director Terry Gilliam’s visionary science fiction film 12 Monkeys. Playing the time-traveling James Cole, Willis was able to imbue the character with a deeper sense of soul that makes it one of his very best. What makes it all the more wonderful is that he wasn't the first choice for the role, but Gilliam was won over by the way Willis could capture both the strength and the vulnerability of the character. This ends up being integral to the way the story takes on a more cyclical tragedy. Even as his co-star Brad Pitt would be nominated for his supporting role in the film, it would not be nearly as arresting and memorable if it hadn’t been for Willis in the lead. This was also felt in the ghost story that is M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. In a multilayered performance that only gets better upon rewatches, you feel Willis’ caring and captivating presence in every single frame. It is both measured and melancholic, gently tearing your heart to pieces with such a grace that you don’t notice it happening until it completely overwhelms you in the final moments.

Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element
Image via Columbia Pictures

That is before we even get to Shyamalan’s other masterful film, Unbreakable, where Willis reunited with the writer-director. It ended up being one of his most complicated roles that still holds up because of the actor’s commitment. It approached its material with a more somber sensibility that would not have been the same without Willis in its lead. That was followed up by the heavily stylized film Sin City that, while very different from anything the actor had done before, still benefited immensely from his presence. The same could be said of Looper which saw a supporting Willis still taking on some heavy lifting of both the dramatic and action-centric moments without blinking an eye. Whether having a quiet chat in a diner or in a big shootout, he was fully locked into every scene he got.

Even with this impressive filmography, the film that will stick with me the most is when Willis played the hilarious yet kind Captain Sharp in Moonrise Kingdom. From scene to scene, he would go from delivering a killer one-liner to dropping one of the more profound observations of the melancholic film. It serves as the ultimate testament to Willis’ ability to hit all the emotional marks needed. It feels like the culmination of all his experiences bottled into one, picture-perfect role. There are so many great films that were lucky enough to have Willis in them and many fans will most certainly have other ones that remain their favorite that have not even been mentioned here. That is the true sign of the brilliance of a great actor: you just keep coming up with films they did that will endure the test of time long beyond any of us.