Matt Adcock Meets Bruce Willis

Matt Adcock Meets Bruce Willis

He’s the one actor who has probably inspired me more than any other. In 1988 Die Hard changed action films forever and blew me away (I was 17). Even before that I had been hooked on Moonlighting and now here he is sitting a few metres in front of me. Trying to keep me cool I ask him some questions but before I can he is already making quality small talk:

“You should know that I’m rooting for England in the World Cup!” he says with a winning smile. That’s a great way to get the English media ‘on side’ and it works a treat. So Bruce Willis is in London to promote Over The Hedge – the new animated film from Dreamworks in which he voices a loveable rascal raccoon named RJ.

So what was it like providing the voice for the furry lead character?

“Well I honestly thought I was voicing a rabbit for some time… So I was bewildered when I saw RJ on screen. It’s quite tough doing voice over work – in most films I get cool props, guns and stuff plus other actors to react to. For this it was just a microphone!”

But did you enjoy it?

“It was fun to get into RJ mode. He is a devil may care character, the David Addison (from Moonlighting) of the animal kingdom. There are lots of funny things that kids will be able to relate to, but much is written specifically for the adults.”

And what do your teenage kids think of Over The Hedge?

“They actually loved it and gave it 6 thumbs up and I should tell you that my kids can be very critical of my work! But the teenagers are one of the three main groups who will dig this film – obviously along with children and their parents.”

Now, you’ve often played underdog heroes who overcome horrific odds to save the day. Were you tempted to have RJ get a gun so that he could take out the huge nasty bear that menaces him in the film?

“You bet, and not just the bear. I actually took out the whole family starting with Vern, then I set their log on fire for good measure – but I don’t think that made the final cut somehow.”

It certainly wasn’t in the version I saw. So has the film changed the way you look at animals?

“You know, I think that we humans have forgotten that we’re basically animals too – just we’re top of the food chain. But if you went to Africa and tried to take on a lion out in the open – he’d take you out, he’d look at you and think ‘food’.”

Animal or not, Bruce Willis is certainly pretty near the top of the Hollywood food chain at the moment. Over The Hedge certainly won’t do any harm to his reputation either, even if I must confess that I’m already hotly anticipating his return to action in the much talked about Die Hard 4!

Earlier Post about Bruce Willis

Darkmatters: H O M E