3. Peter Jay Novins - The Twilight Zone (1985)
One of Willis' earlier roles was in an episode of the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone. Bruce's segment was titled Shatterday and was actually the first segment of the first episode of the rebooted series, meaning that he, essentially, had to launch things on his own. Maybe it's because the '80s Twilight Zone is so lackluster when compared to the seminal original series, or maybe it's just a bad episode, but either way, Bruce spends most of the running time shouting at himself on the phone (the premise of the story is that a duplicate of himself tries to steal his life) and it simply feels like he's trying too hard. It's a good premise for a story, but it's squandered on a boring half-hour of television with a terrible ending. It might have worked better with someone else in the lead, but Bruce isn't exactly an actor who excels when telling long monologues. He's better at doing things the action way, in quick bursts. Casting him in a role where he has to talk to himself on the phone for 30 minutes just isn't sensible. Looper proved that Bruce going head to head against himself can be fantastic entertainment - you just need to cast someone else as one of the Bruce Willises.