I Just Watched Demi Moore Roasting Bruce Willis For Not Appearing In Ocean’s 11. Here’s The Full Story Behind What Happened

For the past few years, any mention of the all-star actor Bruce Willis has been accompanied by an update on the celebrity’s health. Die Hard star Willis announced his retirement from acting back in 2022 due to a diagnosis of aphasia, which has graduated to FTD, a form of dementia. And while we continue to keep Willis in our thoughts, I like to think of him in terms of his illustrious career, which had decades worth of highs – as well as an even number of lows. I spent years writing a book that analyzed Bruce Willis’ complete film career, and a lot of my research revolved around his flirtation with the Ocean’s franchise, something ex-wife Demi Moore used to poke fun of him during a celebrity roast.

Demi Moore is currently making the rounds on behalf of her Oscar-nominated performance in The Substance. But a while back, she appeared as a celebrity guest for a roast of Bruce Willis. And during that “attack,” she ripped Willis for passing up the Danny Ocean role in Ocean’s 11. That got a huge laugh out of Willis. But several watching this clip might not have even known that was a thing. Here’s Demi Moore at the Bruce Willis Roast:

Let’s talk about what we know regarding Willis’s possible involvement in the Ocean’s series, and how Clooney made good on it for Willis in the long run.

Bruce Willis would have played Danny Ocean

So, as legend has it, Bruce Willis turned down the role of Danny Ocean, a part that eventually went to George Clooney. After seeing the way that Clooney occupies the role through three movies, I can’t imagine anyone else in the part. He’s the perfect blend of cool sophistication, but dirty casino sleaze. He’s ideal as Danny.

That’s not to say Bruce Willis couldn’t play the role. It just would have been different. He still could have been the calm, cool, collected leader of a team of thieves that included Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts, and more. Only, he turned the part down, as was explained by Clooney in a 2007 interview with Time. Said the Solaris star:

We’ll get to Ocean’s 12 in a second. Why did Willis turn down the part of Dany Ocean? We don’t know for sure, but I can tell you that he was plenty busy in 1999 and 2000, when this movie would have been going through negotiations and pre-production. The actor had just broken the bank by portraying a child psychiatrist opposite Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense. He was riding high on the success of Armageddon (1998) and the Matthew Perry comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000). He didn’t need Steven Soderbergh’s casino romp.

Eventually, though, Willis got the chance to play in that particular sandbox, and to me, that’s a career highlight.

Bruce Willis stole the show in Ocean’s 12

Because Bruce Willis achieved global superstardom in the Die Hard franchise, he’s always been known as an action star. But Willis started in comedy, both on the TV show Moonlighting and in the film Blind Date. And his sharp sense of comedic timing was on display when he joined Soderbergh, Clooney and the cast for the European jaunt, Ocean’s 12.

In the scene, which I find quite brilliant, Matt Damon’s Linus is convincing Julia Roberts’ Tess to go along with a scheme that will have her pretending to be…. Well, pretending to be Julia Roberts. This will allow the crew the chance to infiltrate a museum and get close enough to a valuable treasure to steal it.

Only, as Tess is “pretending” to be Julia Roberts, she’s spotted by Bruce Willis playing the real Bruce Willis. And it leads to this high-wire comedy of errors that shows the best of everyone involved. Press play on this, and enjoy.

BRUCE WILLIS being BRUCE WILLIS in Ocean's 12 - YouTube

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As George Clooney notes, it’s possible Willis just regretted not being in Ocean’s 11, and wanted a piece of the fun. But also, on the audio commentary track for Ocean’s 12, Soderbergh explained that he tasked Julia Roberts with choosing a scene partner she already was familiar with, and she and Willis go way back in their personal lives. Hence all the jokes about Tallulah’s Spongebob blanket being left in Taos, New Mexico… where Roberts once lived (and still owns a ranch).

And that’s the story behind Bruce Willis turning down Ocean’s 11, but still getting into the series for a brilliant cameo. It’s possible we might get another Ocean’s movie, as there have been rumblings of a script, but no official announcements from anyone involved. If you want a taste of that Ocean chemistry, use your AppleTV+ subscription to watch Wolfs, a buddy comedy starring Clooney and Pitt that’s a pleasant diversion.