Jerry Bruckheimer has nothing but praise for Bruce Willis when looking back at filming the 1998 blockbuster Armageddon, which Bruckheimer produced.
The legendary producer told People magazine, in an interview published Tuesday, that the Die Hard star was extremely kind to everyone working on the film set, especially the crew members.
“Bruce is such a good guy,” he said. “He was so generous to the crew.”
Bruckheimer specifically remembered Willis, who he called a “giving guy,” always contributing to cash giveaways for the crew at the end of each week.
“They’d have drawings, and he’d throw a lot of money in the hat, and the crew members would always take away some nice extra cash at the end of the week, whoever won,” the Top Gun: Maverick producer added.
Armageddon, which also starred Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Buscemi and Owen Wilson, follows a group of oil drillers that NASA recruits to fly into space to save the planet after they discover that a massive asteroid is quickly heading toward Earth. The Michael Bay-directed movie scored four Oscar nominations.
Bruckheimer isn’t the only Hollywood notable to praise Willis in recent years, following the Pulp Fiction actor’s retirement from acting in 2022 after being diagnosed with aphasia. The following year, his family confirmed his health condition had worsened. He has been battling frontotemporal dementia since then.
In May 2023, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared some sweet words regarding Willis, calling him “fantastic.”
“He was, always for years and years, is a huge, huge star,” Schwarzenegger told CinemaBlend at the time. “And I think that he will always be remembered as a great, great star. And a kind man.”