Why didn’t Antoine Fuqua enjoy working with Bruce Willis in Tears of the Sun?

It may seem important that directors and actors respect each other at the very least when they’re making a movie, but Hollywood history is full of cases where this simply hasn’t happened. One of the most famous disputes nearly turned fatal when Werner Herzog threatened to shoot (with a pistol) the eccentric star Klaus Kinski. During the filming of the movie “Alter the Wrath of God”. No weapons were waved during the filming of “Hook,” but it is known that Steven Spielberg did not enjoy his time collaborating with Julia Roberts (they have not worked together since). Then there’s David O. Russellwho fought and/or terrorized stars such as Amy Adams, Lily Tomlin, and George Clooney; If there’s any justice, O. Russell, a massive talent who hasn’t made a watchable movie since 2010’s “The Fighter,” won’t be allowed to return behind the camera until he learns how to act like a decent human being.

One actor who is known for clashing with his directors is Bruce Willis. The sadly retired actor (who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023) had a rough time filming the terrible “Cop Out” with Kevin Smith and was so upset with Lee Grant directing “Broadway Brawler” that the Disney studio shut down the entire movie. low production (Which forced Welles to make a movie called “The Sixth Sense.”).

Willis also quarreled with director Antoine Fuqua during the filming of the 2003 Nigerian war film “Tears of the Sun.” This was Fuqua’s first film since the commercial and critical triumph of “Training Day,” which earned Denzel Washington his first Oscar for Best Actor, so the timing of Welles’ dissatisfaction was a bit surprising. Fuqua was one of the best directors in town, and it was supposed to be a prestige action film. What could go wrong?

In a 2004 interview with the BBC At the time of the screening of Fuqua’s “King Arthur” (not to be confused with Guy Ritchie’s “Kind Arthur: Legend of the Sword”), the director spoke about his controversial experience with Welles on the set of “Tears of the Sun.” When asked which actor was the “biggest pain in the ass” he had ever worked with, Fuqua replied:

“Bruce Willis. I’m a pain in the ass, that’s okay. We didn’t get along. We got along off camera, but during ‘Tears of the Sun’ we didn’t get along. Some guys don’t.” When it comes to work – you have different work ethic, different opinions, different points of view, different approaches to filmmaking – and we weren’t friends off camera – Bruce is great – but we don’t get along when it comes to work, and that’s pretty much it.”

For his part, Willis had the right to be aggressive. During the filming of the film, he lost consciousness when a projectile from a staged explosion hit him in the head. He subsequently sued Revolution Studios for damages. Fuqua continued to maintain that his off-camera relationship with Willis was cordial, though he hinted at it He lost a power struggle With the star on the final cut of the film.