12 Die Hard Easter Eggs You Probably Missed
4. FBI Agents Johnson And Johnson Are A Rag On Reginald VelJohnson
Reginald VelJohnson, who plays troubled cop Al in the first two Die Hard films, has taken a lot of crap for his time on screen. His character's obsession with Twinkies passed over into real life, with friends and fans alike since going so far as to buy a box of them and toss them into his car while he was inside, commenting “we knew you wanted some of those”.
He's used to it, though. He was being ragged on all through shooting the original Die Hard. His cop character is harangued by FBI Special Agent Johnson and Agent Johnson, who take over operations from the LAPD and generally mess everything up. The fact they're called Johnson and Johnson (“no relation”) is one of the films great, ridiculous jokes.
It's also a joke at VelJohnson's expense, since John McTiernan found his surname so amusing that he decided the screenwriters should make sure people say Johnson – the more “normal” version of the actor's surname – as much as possible. Sort of an Easter Egg, sort of a cruel prank. VelJohnson likely drowns his sorrows in all those Twinkies.