European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Twentieth Century Fox Bruce Willis in a reprise As the resilient one Man gang named detective John Mcclane takes on terrorists who have seized an International Airport in Quot die hard 2, a the sequel to the 1988 blockbuster film. Bruce Willialm stardom by Kenneth turan new York times somewhere in Manhattan there is an apartment with Bruce Willis name on it. A Railroad Flat where for $175 a month he bivouacked As one of new Yorkus Small army of aspiring actors it still remains and not by Accident in the Man s family. Quot its like a museum of Bruce Willis the Early Days a he says at once Wistful and amused. Quot its been Only six years since the whole thing really turned around for me and i like to keep that attitude to remember what it was like.  that Guy More than All this movie Star celebrity . Willis is sitting in a tangible reminder of that celebrity a sleek Gray trailer parked outside the sound stage where he is starring As a Boozy freeloading journalist in one much talked about movie Brian de Palma a Bonfire of the vanities and discussing another one die hard 2. Though he is insistent on his privacy Willis is a Man who says what s on his mind and when he Speaks at length the different strands of his personality. Intertwine the appealing insouciance of the wisecracking kid from South Jersey who became moonlighting s David Addison alternating with the serious actor who got a major break doing Sam Shepard s fool for love off Broadway. Holding everything together is an insistence on respect an honest irritation with people who do not understand the code he lives by or who make the mistake of trying to push him in directions not to his liking. And when he gets irritated he gets wound up and you Are Likely to hear about what is getting under his skin. Yet More than anything else Bruce Willis comes across much As he must have when he lived in that hell s Kitchen apartment in Manhattan. Quot when i go Home at night Quot he says Quot i done to feel like a big movie Star a big celebrity a big Box office draw. I feel like just a  in die hard 2, Willis reprises his role As detective John Mcclane a resilient one Man gang. This time around he reluctantly rescues an entire Airport from a Nasty Bunch of former elite . Military troops who use terrorist tactics in an Effort to free a Central american strongman being flown to Washington to face drug charges. Though the first film was a major hit of 1988, Willis was not especially eager to repeat the role. Quot a sequel is a strange animal its another chapter in a movie you be already seen a Little taste of the repetitiveness of to Quot he says. Quot the first film was like walking into the Woods for the time. Now there was a path with landmarks and there was t the excitement of creating something new. And frankly i did t know what the hell we were going to make a movie about a die hard 2 was co produced by Lawrence Gordon who discovered that 20th Century Fox already owned a script based on a novel by Walter Wager called 53 minutes that could be tailored to fit John Mcclane s Persona. Then Willis says he lure became the Challenge of Quot can we top ourselves take a shot at making a better film Quot the result the co screenwriter Steven e. De Souza told Willis a bought to do for airline travel what jaws did for taking a swim in the  getting die hard 2 to that Point turned out to be a logistical Nightmare because Snow an essential element of the script ended up being maddeningly elusive. Quot it turned out to be the worst Winter for Snow in the past six or seven years a Willis says. Quot we tried four different locations where there was Snow and within two Days it All  As a result die hard2was shot even More out of continuity than most films. Quot there is a scene where i climb up a ladder push up a grate and come out on a runway Quot Willis says. Quot it lasts a minute and a half on screen and the audience will think its All in one place but it was shot on nine different locations across the United  though his Success As Mcclane made his casting seem a natural in fact Willis had never done a full bore action film before the first die hard. Quot the role satisfies a lot of male things in me Quot he says. Quot As a kid i used to play army All the time running around in the Woods and making believe i was in combat Quot he says referring to the 1960s television series that starred Vic Morrow. Those Woods were outside what Willis smiles and Calls Quot the twin communities of carneys Point and Penns Grove  he grew up As a strictly Blue Collar kid but he says Quot at a very Early age without any prompting i found i enjoyed entertaining people. When i was 8 years old i did an old vaudeville skit at a cub scout Jamboree. The audience sees me making up a mixture of eggs and water and thinks in a going to throw it on them but what i throw turns out to be confetti. I got a big laugh and i remember thinking a this is a Good thing. This feels Good Quot in the context of organized education however this translated into being Quot the class Clown constantly annoying the teachers Quot Willis says. Quot i was perceived As being a troublemaker but i really see it As the first tendrils of creative  making things More complicated was the fact that As a youngster Willis had a serious stutter. Quot that a where i honed my sense of humor Quot he says. Quot it was if i can make you laugh you wont notice that i stutter and i found that i never stuttered when i was on stage. When i was Able to be someone else i did no to have to think about  Willis ended up at Montclair state College a new Jersey school with a Fine theater department. Quot three weeks into my first semester t auditioned for a College play and Felt a this is  i never took any required course i took nothing but theater for two years cutting classes to go to new York and  in 1977, he got a Small part off Broadway and left school for Good. Bar tending working at health clubs doing commercials but not being a waiter a i could t stand serving people food Quot Willis survived seven years in new York an experience he considers Quot the College of life. After that nothing will Ever scare you  he Quot studied a Tittle Quot with Stella Adler but  afford any kind of sustained lessons instead concentrating on learning by doing. Quot every Job was a Little better part in a Little better play a he remembers. Quot i got a lot of Confidence because i chose to do something against anybody a better judgement and  that Confidence was a key Factor in Willis beating out 3,000 other actors for the career making role of David Addison opposite cybill shepherds Maddie Hayes in the cult hit Abc to series  show however went from Triumph to ordeal for Willis Over a four year Span that began in 1985, and he views it today with decidedly mixed emotions. Quot i was very amazed i survived Quot he says weary at even the memory. Quot the one hour weekly two character show is the hardest format that exists on to there a no Relief from it. Moonlighting gave me the Opportunity to work in front of a camera to learn about what i did Well and what i needed to work on but i also Learned about the limits of the Media. Quot my training As an actor had geared me toward service in the performance but this was All about hurrying up and service the Page count. If we did no to do 10 pages a Day we got behind. And because of televisions time and Money constraints you Only really get to the obvious Choice the clich6 Choice. It does t afford you the Opportunity to try new things. A i d never experienced mental exhaustion before this. After 18-hour Days id come Home so spaced out so stressed out from it id be shaking. No matter what it is that you do no matter what it is that you love if you do it 18 hours a Day 5 Days a week 12 months of the year you la get tired of it. Moonlighting came close to grinding my desire to work out of  while other actors have had difficulty making the transition from television to feature films Willis a who made his first two features Blind Date and Sunset while on hiatus from moonlighting and who took on die hard on fairly Short notice during the time cybill Shepherd was on maternity leave a did it Alt so simultaneously that he hardly thought about the switch. What he did think about what in fact he had a serious amount of trouble becoming used to was the intense scrutiny focused on his life when he became a celebrity. He is still somewhat rankled for instance at the fuss that was made Over the $5 million he earned for the first die hard. Helping to give Willis a kind of equilibrium these Days is his marriage to actress Demi Moore. The couple have a daughter Rumer Glenn named after the writer Rumer go Denand Willis agrees that the Onset of family life has been Quot a stabilizing  Page 16 a the stars and stripes monday july 16, 1990 t