The famous actor Bruce Willis rose to fame thanks to his performance as John McClane in the successful Die Hard movie franchise, which spanned from 1988 until 2013. Fans of the series may wonder how much the actor was paid for his role in the films. Here’s what we found out.
Reportedly, Willis was compensated with a whopping $5 million for his portrayal of McClane in Die Hard, which at the time was considered an unprecedented salary for a leading man in a film. In fact, according to Alan Ladd Jr., the former chairman of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, this amount was so high that it could potentially upset the balance of the entertainment business.
When Ladd first heard about Willis’s compensation, he was “stunned” and believed that such a high salary would set a new standard, causing other actors to demand even more in future productions. He even speculated that if they were to negotiate with other big-name actors, such as Tom Selleck, they might ask for even higher pay after a successful project, just like Willis did.
