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Bruce Willis‘ family recently announced that an unfortunate diagnosis would force the actor off the screen. Willis has aphasia, which affects his ability to speak. This is especially tragic news coming from someone with such a notable voice. Even though Willis made a name for himself as an action hero, he did the occasional voice-acting job. He even sang in an early 2000s Nickelodeon animated movie. 

Bruce Willis made a name for himself as an action hero 

Bruce Willis seemed to know his strengths from the beginning of his career. According to IMDb, Die Hard was his breakout role in 1989, although he had a few parts before then. For instance, he wasn’t afraid to cross over into comedy. One of his first parts before Die Hard was in the network television series Moonlighting. The classic show had Willis in an action role, although the content had comedy undertones. 

While most of his roles since Die Hard have been action-focused, such as Pulp Fiction, The Fifth Element, and Red, Willis wasn’t afraid to show the world that he was more than just an action hero. He even once took a prominent voice-acting role in an animated movie. 

Willis voiced Spike in ‘Rugrats Go Wild’ 

According to the Ms. Mojo channel on YouTube, Bruce Willis voiced a character in one of the early 2000s most anticipated crossovers. Rugrats Go Wild combined two Nickelodeon fan favorites: Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. Spike is Tommy Pickles’ beloved dog. When the Pickles team up with the Thornberrys, Eliza can understand Spike. When this happens, Willis voices him, and the performance includes an original song sung by Willis himself. 

Rugrats Go Wild only has a 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it may be the perfect movie for Nickelodeon fans looking for a two-for-one dose of nostalgia. It features a cast of characters from two of Nick’s most beloved shows, Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. 

Bruce Willis at a special screening of 'Rugrats Go Wild' from The Edwin Gould Services for Children
Bruce Willis at a special screening of ‘Rugrats Go Wild’ | Jim Spellman/WireImage via Getty Images

Spike wasn’t the only animated character to feature Willis’s voice. He played himself in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and voiced RJ in Over The Hedge, an animated film about wild animals that premiered in 2006. He was even in some animated adult features, such as Beavis and Butthead Do America, which came out in 1996. 

What other surprising roles has Bruce Willis had?

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Although action movies are Bruce Willis’s bread and butter, he’s proven he isn’t a one-trick pony from the onset of his career. He took roles in comedy and drama often, although not as often as he starred in action flicks. In 1996, Willis voiced baby Mikey in Look Who’s Talking, proving that he has a sense of humor. 

He would often take bit parts in sitcoms, presumably to exercise his comedy talents between action roles. He appeared in a few episodes of Friends and one of That 70s Show. He also had a part in Moonrise Kingdom, a heartfelt coming-of-age drama from Wes Anderson.

Willis was always willing to show his range and never took himself or his career too seriously. Still, he clearly loved acting. His filmography reads like a novel, with 10 credits listed in 2022 alone. He was such a prolific actor that fans will continue to see him in upcoming projects for the next year, at least, even though he is no longer acting. According to IMDb, he has three projects in various stages of post-production. 

Willis’s retirement was unexpected and a serious blow to the acting industry. Luckily he left fans with a lot of material, from action movies to musical dogs.