Bruce Willis Approves Of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Work In ‘Looper’

Bruce Willis was reportedly very impressed with actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s impersonation of the Die Hard star in director Rian Johnson’s recent time travel flick Looper, which opened this Friday. According to Contact Music, the Dark Knight Rises co-star hard work payed off in spades, as Bruce Willis was genuinely amused with the young actor’s portrayal.

“He’s a very understated guy, which I admire. It means you know he’s being honest,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt said of his Looper co-star. “But we were doing a scene where we were yelling at each other and between takes he said, in his off-the-cuff manner, ‘Ah, you sound like me.’ That was a moment of glorious victory for me. I kept it cool, I didn’t want to embarrass myself, but I was grinning ear to ear on the inside.”

In order to prepare for his role as a younger version of Bruce Willis’ character, Joseph Gordon-Levitt spent quite a bit of time watching the actor’s films. Instead of trying to mimic what Bruce Willis sounded like in his younger days, the 3rd Rock from the Sun alumnus decided to focus on his newer films, instead.

“I watched his movies a lot, but I focused on the recent ones. I was less interested in coming off like a young Bruce – I was interested in matching him now,” he explained. “Making sure audiences understood these two are the same man. I would also rip the audio off the movies so that I could listen to his voice on my iPod. In fact, he even recorded himself doing some of my voiceover monologues and sent them to me so I could hear what it would sound like in his voice.”

According to Internet Movie Database, the plot to director Rian Johnson’s Looper is described as follows:

“In the year 2042, a man working for a group of killers called “Loopers” (they work for the mob and kill people who are sent blindfolded back in time from the year 2072 by their bosses) recognizes a victim as himself. He hesitates resulting in the escape of his older self.”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s impersonation of Bruce Willis one of the many reasons to see Looper, which, according to Box Office Mojo, brought in nearly $6.9 million on its opening day. If all goes accordingly, the film stands to make around $20 million over the course of the weekend.