Just over a year after his family announced his departure from acting, Arnold Schwarzenegger has a heartwhelming supportive message for Bruce Willis in his retirement. After 40-plus years of starring in the likes of the Die Hard franchise, M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable Trilogy, also known as the Eastrail 177 Trilogy, and Rian Johnson’s Looper, among many others, Willis’ family revealed in March 2022 that the Golden Globe winner would be retiring from acting due to an aphasia diagnosis.
While speaking with CinemaBlend to promote his Netflix show FUBAR, Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked about Bruce Willis’ retirement. The actor, who shared the screen with Willis in the Expendables franchise, had a heartwarming and supportive message for his action genre compatriot, including the feeling that action heroes never completely go away, seemingly holding out hope Willis will return in the future. See what Schwarzenegger said below:
I think that he’s fantastic. He was, always for years and years, is a huge, huge star. And I think that he will always be remembered as a great, great star. And a kind man. I understand that under his circumstances, health-wise, that he had to retire. But in general, you know, we never really retire. Action heroes, they reload.
Bruce Willis’ Hollywood Retirement & Legacy Explained
Willis’ retirement came as a heartbreaking announcement for many longtime fans of the actor, namely given it was tied to his health with his aphasia diagnosis, a brain disorder often resulting in the trouble to find words as well as losing the ability to speak, read or write. While not outright confirmed by any of his family, theories have explained Willis’ focus on direct-to-video movies in recent years as stemming from his preparation to step away from acting.
The months following his retirement announcement saw a number of Willis’ former co-stars and collaborators share their support for the actor on social media, including The Sixth Sense‘s Haley Joel Osment and Shyamalan and Pulp Fiction and Look Who’s Talking‘s John Travolta. Even those who had openly expressed dislike of Willis shared their regrets for having done so, including Cop Out‘s Kevin Smith and the Razzies’ Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie category.
More recently, Bruce Willis‘ family have sought to share hopeful updates on his condition following his retirement, incuding the confirmation of a more specific diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia and sharing a heartwarming video of celebrating his birthday with those closest to him. Though it seems unlikely Willis will return to acting as Schwarzenegger hopes, it is nonetheless moving to see the Expendables star become the latest to share their support for the Golden Globe winner.
Source: CinemaBlend
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
