M. Night Shyamalan talks about the Bruce Willis situation and how it affected his family

M. Night Shyamalan’s career as a director is undeniably linked to an actor, Bruce Willis, who starred in the first success of his career (‘The Sixth Sense’) and who he transformed into the superhero of his films with ‘The Protégé’ and ‘Glass (crystal)’. Also, the actor and the director would collaborate again together on ‘Labor of Love’, a project Shyamalan has been trying to make since 1993. However, the diagnosis of aphasia that Willis announced in March 2022 forced him to retire from the acting world, something Hollywood obviously received with tremendous sadness.

Aphasia is a speech disorder that occurs as a consequence of a brain pathology and can result from trauma, tumors or neurodegenerative diseases. In the case of Willis, has progressively lost the ability to communicate through speech and writing, which makes it impossible for you to continue working. Faced with this situation, the actor sold 65 million luxury properties and shot up to 22 low-budget films in just three years.

Now that Shyamalan is promoting his 15th film, “There’s a Knock on the Door,” the Hollywood Reporter asked him what he thinks of his friend and collaborator: “Obviously it’s very important to me. I would do anything for him and his family, it was very difficult for everyone around him. I cried a lot for him, my dad is going through something similar. Having it on two fronts, it’s profound to realize how precious everything is. I appreciate what you did, because you didn’t manage at all. He protected me from the system in the early years, so I’m forever grateful.”

This isn’t the first time Shyamalan has spoken out on the subject, shortly after the news broke he tweeted: “All my love and respect to my older brother, Bruce Willis. I know his wonderful family surrounds him with support and strength. He will always be the hero on that poster on my wall as a child.”

All my love and respect to my older brother Bruce Willis. I know his wonderful family is surrounding him with support and strength. He will always be that hero on that poster on my wall as a kid.

? M.Night Shyamalan (@M.NightShyamalan) March 31, 2022

Marketing and expectations

In the same interview for THR and reviewing his filmography, Shyamalan spoke about the expectations that the industry has placed on him after the premiere of ‘The Sixth Sense’: “The hardest thing was fighting for David Dunn, Elijah Price and this character with dissociative identity disorder [Kevin Wendell Crumb] adapt to a movie. She sounds crazy, but that was the prevailing feeling at the time. Not money or fame.” And it is that the director was working on the screenplay for “El protégé” at the same time he was finishing editing and distributing his ghost film and at that time what would later become a trilogy (“El protégé”, “Múltiple” and ‘ Glass’) was supposed to be a single film. When he decided to break it up and release the first part without warning that it was just a small piece of something bigger (that we wouldn’t know about until 2016), the public has met with mixed feelings: “It’s an unexpected story compared to what the public expected”Shyamalan says, “I think it’s this, but it’s actually that.” And in this case, marketing probably had something to do with it. “Hey, there’s another scary movie from the same guys who made ‘The Sixth Sense,'” which isn’t the case at all. Thus began a really interesting understanding of audience expectations, framing and the importance of marketing. In the end, ‘The Protege’ was immediately given a second chance, which was wonderful. But it’s a very dry and dark film.” ‘There’s a Knock on the Door’, his new film, is now in theaters and you can read our review here.