Bruce Willis Talks Tough in Internet Chat Room

When someone calling himself "Walter B" cropped up on a film website, claiming to be Bruce Willis and demanding to hear "the straight, tight shit", his fellow posters were understandably a little skeptical. It was not until Willis unveiled himself - live, via videoconference - that all doubts were laid to rest.

The actor - whose full name is Walter Bruce Willis - first appeared on Harry Knowles' fan site Aintitcoolnews earlier this month to join an ongoing discussion of his forthcoming blockbuster Live Free Or Die Hard. The fourth installment in the Die Hard franchise, the film finds Willis reprising his role as the intrepid cop John McLane. "I am John Ma-f*ckin-Clane," wrote Walter B. "What if I came to you all as just a guy [who] merely wished to have an outlet to chat with people I seldom get to chat with? And what if I just listened?"

But some guests were unconvinced. "Walter B is simply not Bruce Willis," claimed one poster, Moriarty. "I'm sorry if you all feel duped."

Willis responded by asking the poster to hook up with him via Apple's iChat application. He proceeded to show off his tattoos to prove his identity.

The Hollywood star said that he had joined the web forum because he felt "a strong personal pull to hear from an audience I do not know, sans bullshit (and that means I tell the truth), sans gossip, just the straight, tight shit."

As part of the discussion, Willis took a pot-shot at director Michael Bay, who he worked with on the 1998 blockbuster Armageddon. "Few people will work with him now," he claimed. "And I know I will never work with him again."

For good measure, he revealed that his own personal favorite films included Dr Strangelove, Raging Bull and Bridge On the River Kwai. He admitted that his two biggest regrets were turning down roles in the 1990 hit Ghost and Anthony Minghella's multi Oscar-winning The English Patient. "I passed on Ghost because I thought, 'a romance with a dead guy?'. And I was talked out of working with Anthony Minghella by my then agent."