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Press Conference Interview With Anthony Hopkins And Bruce Willis On Red 2

It's one thing to watch John McClane and Hannibal Lecter share the same screen, but to actually see Bruce Willis and Anthony Hopkins on the same stage in New York City was an absolute treat. So many classic films and storied years were brought together in one simple private conference, all thanks to the genius production team who put together RED 2. For a sequel which some people initially questioned, everybody involved seems to be feeling pretty good about this action flick - and with good reasoning.

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After the laughter in the room subsided, the man finally got his question out and asked Bruce if shooting a gun is second nature to him by now:

Bruce Willis: Safety is so important. Safety is not shooting your fellow actors, not shooting yourself, not having a gun go off while it’s in your pocket – you don’t want that to happen. Safety is really my biggest concern. Sometimes I work with kids, and you definitely don’t want to shoot the kids, so you have to be safe. You don’t want to shoot anyone.

Anthony Hopkins: I noticed when I had a gun in one scene, and was walking with Bruce, I noticed he was very sure I was being safe. I wasn’t even pulling the trigger, but it happened to be loaded at one point, because we had to do a continuing shot, and I was aware of him being very aware of the safety and consequences of the firearm going off. He’s been around them, but I haven’t done much with them. You don’t mess around with those things.

In England, if you have to have a gun on set, and I’m not sure what the situation was like when we filmed there, but they are so tough on guns. As soon as you fire, the armory takes it away from you, and that’s it. You don’t mess with it. We don’t have firearms there, well, very few of them anyway.

Since RED was so successful, someone asked Bruce if there was any pressure returning for a sequel and outperforming the original. In that same question, Anthony was asked what drew him to RED 2, if it had been the success of the original or the script he was presented:

Bruce Willis: I’m always excited to see who comes to work on films. I was very, very excited Anthony [Hopkins] said yes, so it’s nice that you get to work with people you’re a fan of. You get to have fun. I don’t really think we took it that seriously though. I mean, you take work seriously, but we had a ball. We were all just laughing, watching one another do what we do. I wasn’t that concerned. I was a little more confused on the first one because it felt like we were trying to do so many things at the same time. Comedy, action, and romance were all in the same film, but somehow it seemed to work out. There’s more romance in this one, I think, than the first one. I haven’t seen the final cut and how it ends though, so don’t tell me!

Anthony Hopkins: Oh I loved the first one, but I just like to work. I’d read the phone book if they told me to. At my age, I’m just lucky to be around. I’m a big fan of Bruce, I saw the first Die Hard and many of his films, but I just love to work. I won’t do just anything, but when young actors always ask for advice, I always tell them to keep working. Any chance you get, just keep working. Work, work, work. That’s what it is. I have a young niece who has her first film part down in Atlanta, she’s really good and she’s never acted before, but I tell her the same things – just go and work hard. Enjoy it, have a great time with it. As Robert Mitchum used to say, “[Acting] beats working for a living.”

With the passing of James Gandolfini all too recently, someone asked Bruce if there’s a way to describe the impressive group of actors (including Bruce) who have come from New Jersey, a state I proudly call my own:

Bruce Willis: It’s a very peculiar state, New Jersey. I’m surprised anyone from New Jersey gets to work in show business, but somehow I managed to make a big career out of it.

I’ll certainly miss James Gandolfini, what a great guy. Life is short, isn’t it? Seems short. You’ve got to live it up, have fun, laugh, eat good food, do whatever you want, don’t hurt people, and try to have as much fun as you can. Don’t you think? Start making out with everyone right now! Don’t you worry, just tell whoever you try to kiss at a restaurant or wherever that Mr. Willis told you to.

Since everyone kept bringing up making out, someone had to ask Bruce what it was like at home after he kissed Catherine Zeta-Jones during the day, and as a follow up, asked Bruce if he’s an overprotective father:

Bruce Willis: Nope, nope. I change diapers, and I’m happy to be doing it. It’s just me at home. It’s one guy, and about thirty women in the house, so I don’t win very many arguments, but luckily we don’t really have arguments. No one gets mad if you have to kiss someone every once and a while. I say “Look, it’s in the script! Now kisses Mary-Louise Parker. Now kisses, Catherine Zeta-Jones.” They were even trying to get me to kiss John Malkovich at one point.

I’d like to thank Bruce Willis and Anthony Hopkins for their participation in this press conference. Don’t forget to catch RED 2 as soon as it opens on July 19th, 2013!