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Capital-Bunch3769 t1_j2cbd8t wrote

Absolutely. Netflix has a solid episode of their “behind your favorite movie” anthology or whatever the show is called that focuses on die hard. Willis was like their last choice and casting him was a huge risk. They were so concerned men wouldn’t believe him to be a hero as opposed to a tv rom com star, they removed him from the posters and other promotional materials.

And for anyone throwing out Bronson in death wish or Eastwood in westerns, we need to consider context. Bronson killing a bunch of street thugs at his leisure isn’t the same as Willis taking down a terrorist organization without weapons or shoes. And to your point OP, Eastwood was a certified badass back then. An ‘Everyman’ wouldn’t be an Everyman if every man was just as capable as every other man (I don’t even know if that makes sense). Eastwood wasn’t an Everyman in those flicks, he was generally the baddest dude around. Swap him out for Schwarzenegger and I don’t know that Arnold is more intimidating on a horse with a poncho and a pistol.

In terms of him being a cop, he’s been on the force for just 7 years and is afraid of flying. He’s not a navy seal. I mean carl Winslow is far more seasoned and about to retire, but he’s not shimmying through an air duct.

Fun fact: the first choice for john McClane was frank Sinatra as he played the character in the movie’s “prequel”

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hogua t1_j2dhenu wrote

Fun fact: the first choice for john McClane was frank Sinatra as he played the character in the movie’s “prequel”

He was the first choice only due to contractual obligation. Sinatra was in The Detective and Die Hard is based on a novel that was the sequel to The Detective. At the time he was offered the role in Die Hard, Sinatra was 70 years old, and, as expected by the studio, he declined the role.

Others who were offer the role included:

Sylvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds, Nick Nolte, Mel Gibson, Don Johnson, Richard Dean Anderson, Paul Newman, James Caan, and Al Pacino.

When the role was finally offer to Bruce Willis, he had to decile due to contractual obligations to continue filming Moonlighting. That changed when Cybil Shepard s pregnancy cause Moonlighting to go on an 11 week hiatus. Willis was then able to film Die Hard during that hiatus.

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