17 years after the birth of his youngest child with ex-wife Demi Moore, the 'Die Hard' actor was thrilled to have another daughter in his mid-50s.
We know Bruce Willis as the macho John McClane from the Die Hard movies. The action star wasn't much different from his on-screen character in real life when he was younger but he's changed over the years. He was reportedly grumpy, "rude, surly, and cantankerous" and very difficult to talk to, according to journalist John Hiscock, who was writing for the Mirror UK.
Talking about interviews, he once told Hiscock, "If I didn’t have to do it, I wouldn’t." However, years later, when he was interviewed again by the same journalist things were vastly different. "Back in those days I was a smart-ass and hard to be around," he said.
In another interview, he said something so sweet that it won't be expected from a man like him. In 2012, when his wife, Emma Heming, was expecting their first child, Mabel Ray Willis, he was excited about this new leg of his life. "All I want right now," he told Esquire during an interview, "is to be with her, to stare at her belly."
He became a dad for the fourth time in 2012, 17 years after he had his last kid. His third child with ex-wife Demi Moore, Tallulah, was born in February 1994. Willis and Moore eventually parted ways in 2000 but continued to be friends. He married Heming in 2009.
As a 57-year-old dad to a baby, he took it very well. He carved out a new job for himself, apart from being an actor. "My job is just trying to make my little baby laugh,” he told Mirror UK.
"She sticks her hand in my face and pulls me over by the ear. I’m very sentimental with my children and I indulge them to a very high degree. One of the things that makes becoming a father that much easier for me is that I pretty much stay in shape and I can run and jump and play, and being a father at this point in my life is great. I feel like I have the same amount of love I used to have, if not more. I like getting up early and I like looking after Mabel and it’s just very exciting – it makes me very happy," he said.
About his wife, he said, "Emma is just great. Just great. She’s a great mother and she truly is very smart and very reserved and I just love her so much. She had a great modelling career when she was younger and you should see her in a bathing suit."
He made it clear that he wasn't attracted to her only for her looks. "She’s the boss and she’s the smartest of us both and I acquiesce to just about everything she thinks. I ask her opinion more than I ask anyone else’s," he said, proving that he trusted his partner more than himself.
By the time Mabel came, he was also a dad to three adult daughters and he had his worries about them. He doesn't mince his words about it. "There was a time when I didn’t quite know what kind of adults they were going to turn into. But they turned into really great women and they have great morals and great ethics and they’re also kind, polite and intelligent and I couldn’t be more pleased. We always raised them to have their own voices and to speak their minds and their opinions. And now that they’re older I hear every opinion they have and I’m pleased with it," Willis said of daughters, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah.
In 2014, he became a dad again when his fifth daughter, Evelyn Penn Willis was born, and over the years his two families have come together beautifully. Moore had attended Willis' wedding to Heming and then their vow renewal in 2019. It was on Willis and Heming's 10th wedding anniversary. Heming's Instagram is a beautiful display of how well their blended family work.
Currently, Willis is isolating with Moore and their daughters. Heming, Mabel, and Evelyn were also meant to join them but a health mishap prevented that from happening. The family is enjoying their time in lockdown by doing some fun family portraits and giving each other makeovers.
References:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/going-out/film/bruce-willis-on-being-a-dad-again-1588235
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a14060/bruce-willis-interview-0612/
