Bruce Willis, Tom Hanks, Jon Hamm turned down major film offers, changing Hollywood history

In the '80s, "Die Hard" seemed impossible to cast, with Hollywood heavy hitters like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood, Richard Gere and more passing on the role as NYPD detective John McClane. Bruce Willis was not the team's first, even second or third option for the role — and Willis' agent, Arnold Rifkin, took full advantage of the opportunity, hiking up the actor's acting price to $5 million, according to a new book, "The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage." "All the possible action people turned it down," producer Larry Gordon said, per author Nick de Semlyen's book.

Die Hard feared that Bruce Willis had been killed in a botched stunt on set of the 1988 movie, accounts in a new book claim.According to an excerpt from The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, And Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings Of Carnage by author and Empire editor Nick de Semlyen, Willis narrowly missed landing on a safety air bag from a height in his first major stunt.The book, which is out in the US now and is released in the UK on August 24, is described as a “behind-the-scenes story of the action heroes who ruled 1980s and ’90s Hollywood”.In it, author de Semlyen recounts the worries on the set of what would become the film that launched Willis’s A-list career.For the scene, which was shot early in production in case Willis became incapacitated or worse – allowing time for a recast – the actor was required to hurl himself off a ledge and onto an airbag below as large bags of gasoline were detonated, unleashing a fireball behind him.“As he waited, rubbing his hands together and wearing only a pair of black trousers, a white firehose was looped around his bare midriff, a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun hung via a strap from his neck, and a viscous gel slathered over his exposed skin,’ Semlyen writes in his book.When Willis asked crew members what the gel was for, he said that he was told that was for preventing him from catching on fire.Willis recalled of the jump: “When I landed, everyone came running over to me and I thought they were going to say, ‘Great job! Attaboy!’ And what they were doing is seeing if I’m alive because I almost missed the bag.”Meanwhile, in other news, Willis was celebrated by his wife Emma Heming Willis and ex-wife Demi Moore with touching tributes recently on the first Father’s Day since

“The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage” by Nick de Semlyen (Crown).“In the context of these ’roid-rage, superhuman heroes we had at the time, this character seemed like a pu–y.”The character in question, of course, was John McClane, who transformed Bruce Willis from a wise-cracking, Chandler Bing-esque TV banterer into an action movie legend with the 1988 now-classic. Even though it almost killed him.

Tom Hanks' niece Carly Reeves is revealing if the A-list star has seen her reality TV show appearance on "Claim to Fame" -- the one where she had a major meltdown after being eliminated. The 39-year-old actress was the first contestant to be ousted from the ABC competition series in which relatives of stars try to guess each other's famous family members while keeping their own celebrity relations secret. During the premiere episode of the show's second season, Reeves had an emotional outburst after fellow contestant Hugo deduced that she was related to the A-list actor.

Tom Hanks‘ niece Carly was the first contestant eliminated on season two of ABC’s reality competition series Claim to Fame and she launched into a screaming fit as she made her exit.

Jon Hamm is speaking out about his marriage!

We often see actors talk about roles they almost had but for whatever reason, it didn’t work out. Recently, Jon Hamm talked about “Gone Girl,” for example.

Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, took their two daughters to visit his wax figure and Hollywood star.On Sunday, the mother of two posted photos and videos to Instagram of Mabel, 11, and Evelyn, 9, excitedly seeing the actor's wax figure with one of them saying, «Guys, it’s dad!»In the photo shared on her Instagram Stories, Bruce’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame could be seen, with their feet surrounding it. He received the honor back in October 2006.Emma then shared a throwback photo of her and her daughters visiting theDie Hard actor's wax figure five years ago. The precious moment comes amid Bruce's heartbreaking battle with frontotemporal dementia, a progressive neurological disorder that impacts both cognition and behavior.

Jon Hamm married his Mad Men co-star Anna Osceola this weekend at the location of the show’s 2015 series finale.Back in March reports emerged that Hamm and Osceola were engaged, having been romantically linked since 2020, and were believed to have met on the set of the show’s seventh and final season.Osceola portrayed Clementine in the show’s final episode, who works at a remote wellness retreat ad man Don Draper (Hamm) attends.In the episode, titled ‘Person To Person’, Don is on the verge of what appears to be a mental break, before he experiences enlightenment about his life and career while meditating on a hilltop.On Saturday (June 24), the couple got married at Anderson Canyon in Big Sur – the same California location where filming took place, according to photos obtained by TMZ.Hamm’s co-star, John Slattery, who played Roger Sterling in the Emmy Award-winning series, was reportedly in attendance, along with guests Larry David and Tina Fey.Since Mad Men, Hamm and Osceola starred together in the 2022 crime comedy film Confess, Fletch, alongside Marcia Gay Harden and Kyle MacLachlan.Hamm discussed his relationship with Osceola during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show last year, where he said he could see himself getting married.“I’m in a relationship right now and it’s comfortable,” Hamm said. “It’s a feeling of taking care of someone else and being taken care of.”Hamm was last year cast in a leading role in the fifth season of Fargo, alongside Juno Temple and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Emma Heming took her daughters on a fun family outing.

Bruce Willis posed with his baby granddaughter, Louetta, in their first public pictures together since Rumer gave birth. The sweet images, captured by his oldest daughter, 34, show Bruce dressed in a black, white and grey plaid shirt, a black baseball cap and dark trousers. Whilst eight-week-old Louetta is wearing a pretty blue and orange floral print jumpsuit.

Rumer Willis celebrated a most meaningful Father's Day. The 34-year-old shared touching photos of her dad, Bruce Willis, holding his first grandchild — her newborn daughter, Louetta.«Fathers to the old and new,» Rumer captioned an Instagram carousel.

Bruce Willis was celebrated by his wife Emma Heming Willis and ex-wife Demi Moore with touching tributes this weekend on the first Father’s Day since his dementia diagnosis.The action star’s family issued a statement in March 2022 announcing that he was set to retire from the profession as he battled aphasia. Earlier this year, they then revealed that his condition had progressed to frontotemporal dementia.“While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,” more shared in a statement at the time.The Die Hard actor’s family have now shared new tributes in honour of Willis for Father’s Day this weekend (June 18).

Rumer Willis shared a heartfelt message for two important fathers in her life, both old and new.

Rumer captioned the post. “His sweetness and love for her was so pure and beautiful.” “Papa I’m so lucky to have you and so is Lou,” she continued.

Rumer Willis is making every moment with her dad Bruce Willis count. On Sunday, she shared a sweet photo of Willis holding her daughter Louetta Isley, celebrating his first Father's Day since his dementia diagnosis in February.

“Gone Girl” almost had a different star.

Watch Below: Demi Moore on her relationship with Bruce WillisMarking the first Father's Day since the actor went public with his frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the Die Hard star was showered with love on social media. "Father’s Day is a time I get to reflect on my deep appreciation and respect I have for Bruce as I watch him father our little ones," Emma wrote on Instagram. "Where it might not be “conventional,” what he’s teaching them will span generations. Unconditional love, kindness, strength, compassion, patience, generosity, resilience.""Happy Father’s Day to the greatest dad I know, who will forever be the gift that keeps giving within our family." Alongside the caption was a photo of the dad-of-five with his 11-year-old daughter Mabel.  Bruce and his daughter Mabel.Bruce's ex-wife Demi Moore, with whom he shares three daughters and split from in 2000, also took to Instagram to pay tribute. Sharing a throw-back photo of the actor with his daughters, Demi wrote: "Forever grateful to you BW for giving me these three beautiful girls.

Bruce Willis is getting showered with all of the love he deserves this Father's Day by all of his loved ones, including his ex-wife Demi Moore and wife Emma Heming Willis. Though it isn't the actor's first Father's Day since his decline in health and previous aphasia diagnosis, it is the first since his diagnosis was confirmed to be frontotemporal dementia (FTD) instead, which his family shared with the public in February.

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan teamed for two rom-com classics: 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle and 1998’s You’ve Got Mail.