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Bruce Willis reflects on life at 50

He says life is good, following the news is bad and his new movie performance is "layered."

NEW YORK - Bruce Willis settles into a sofa in his hotel suite as a record-setting snowstorm rages outside. He is supposed to be boosting his new movie, 16 Blocks, but that seems incidental to him.

He'd just as soon talk about what he sees as the manipulation of the news, Iraq, the Jack Abramoff case and the corrosiveness of lobbying in Washington. He's even willing to talk about his friendship with ex-wife Demi Moore, the joy of seeing his daughters grow up and how he feels like he's 50 going on 25 and would love to have more kids - though not necessarily get married again.

Part of the job, though, is plugging the movie, which opens today. So a few minutes are spent discussing it.

In a role reminiscent of his busted-up cop in last year's Sin City, Willis plays New York police detective Jack Mosley, a limping, alcoholic shell of a man who thinks "life is too long." He winds up living the longest 118 minutes of his life as he tries to transport a prisoner (Mos Def) the distance given in the title.

"I feel like I'm growing into the ability to play roles like Jack Mosley in 16 Blocks. What I mean by that is, 10 years ago I don't think I would have been able to play him with the kind of layering that I think I was able to get to," he says. Then he jokes: "Maybe I didn't get to the layering."

Willis is now working on the psychological thriller Perfect Stranger, co-starring Halle Berry. And he's awaiting a Die Hard 4.0 script draft.

Of all his films, his favorites include 12 Monkeys, Nobody's Fool ("because all my scenes were with Paul Newman"), Pulp Fiction and The Sixth Sense.

The actor who first gained notice with his Emmy-winning turn as a roguish wiseacre in Moonlighting (1985-89) has continued to do TV. He won a second Emmy in 2000 for guest appearances on Friends, and last year he appeared on That '70s Show, which stars Moore's third husband, Ashton Kutcher.

He was a welcomed guest at the Kutcher-Moore wedding last year and explains why there is no acrimony between him and Moore, to whom he was married for 13 years: "We're still friends, and we put the kids first."

Daughters Rumer, 17, Scout, 14, and Tallulah, 12, are growing fast and making him proud.

"It's an amazing thing to see - the input that you've had in your relationships with your kids, and/or things that you've taught them that come out, you know, from a young woman. It's really rewarding," he says.

Willis turned 50 last year, and though it didn't bother him, he says he's "astonished" at how fast the last 30 years have gone by.

"I remember saying when I was a kid, 50 seemed so old - 50 is, like, your life's over. And I'm in the best shape I've ever been in my life. I think we're all only as old as we feel in our heart. I feel about 24, 25 in my heart," says Willis, who looks lean and fit.

"Even if you live to be 85, it goes by in a click. So if you try to pay attention to each day, and live your life each day, and you live to be 85, you'll have a lifetime of great memories. That's the plan anyway."

The plan could include more kids and "if it involves marriage, you know, that's fine. I (have) kind of done that. I think there are alternative ways to live your life."

Before all the discussion about his latest movie and his professional and personal lives, Willis reiterated his long-held aversion to watching or reading the news because he believes it's "manipulated and managed."

He has endured the stings of gossip columns, and he says another reason stems from his trip to Iraq last year. He says the rebuilding of the infrastructure and some other good news there appeared to be underreported.

He thinks people feel a certain despair from the news, and the resulting powerlessness translates into frivolousness, such as an obsession with celebrities.

"I think the news frightens people and causes people anxiety. So," he adds, chortling, "I recommend to all your viewers, all your readers: Turn the news off."

[Last modified March 3, 2006, 02:15:34]