10 Movie Stars Who Should Never Promote Anything (Ever)
5. Bruce Willis
People really, really want to like Bruce Willis. When eyebrows are raised at his rudeness and obnoxiousness, people will point out he's got a natural stutter, and finds speaking in interviews challenging, or they'll remind you about the sheer volume of press necessary to promote a movie these days. Well, the former's not a problem when he's acting in films, and he wouldn't be the first actor to get through interviews by treating them as another form of performance.
As for the latter, I can understand how that would be difficult, but it's not like he's the only man whos ever been asked to take part in a junket. The key thing is that hes only ever this rude, disinterested or sarcastic when he considers the interview - or the interviewer - beneath him. Watch him on Letterman: he's fine, on good form; a funny raconteur, taking shots at himself and his career, engaging happily with Dave and the audience. Then watch the above clip or this notorious segment from the One Show in February 2013, in which he appears so bored by the show he's on and the film he's promoting, you think he's going to fall asleep mid-sentence.
Willis notes that he understands that doing interviews and press is about selling the movie well, youd never know it, as most of the people watching him try to promote Red 2 or A Good Day To Die Hard would be less likely to watch the films afterwards, not more. And in fairness, perhaps he's unwittingly doing his audience a public service. I know I could do with the two hours I spent on the last Die Hard movie back.