Arnold Schwarzenegger addresses Bruce Willis’ retirement: ‘He will always be remembered as a great star’

‘Die Hard’ actor’s family said he would be ‘stepping away’ from acting following aphasia diagnosis

Arnold Schwarzenegger shared some kind words for Bruce Willis following his recent retirement from acting.

In March 2022, Willis’s family first announced that the Die Hard actor would be “stepping away” from acting after he was diagnosed with aphasia.

In a later update, his family shared that his condition had progressed, and he had now been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

While speaking with CinemaBlend about his new Netflix action-comedy FUBAR, Schwarzenegger took a moment to reflect on his Expendables co-star’s Hollywood legacy.

“I think that he’s fantastic. He was, always for years and years, is a huge, huge star. And I think that he will always be remembered as a great, great star,” the 75-year-old Terminator actor said of Willis.

“And a kind man. I understand that under his circumstances, health-wise, that he had to retire. But in general, you know, we never really retire. Action heroes, they reload.”

The two acting legends first joined forces working together at the restaurant chain Planet Hollywood. They then acted alongside each other in The Expendables franchise.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis (Getty Images)

Earlier in March, Willis’s wife Emma celebrated the actor’s 68th birthday with a tearful message.

“Sometimes in our lives, we have to put our big girl panties on and get to it. And that’s what I’m doing,” she said. “But I do have times of sadness, every day, grief every day, and I’m really feeling it today on his birthday.”

In the caption of the Instagram post, Emma wrote: “My birthday wish for Bruce is that you continue to keep him in your prayers and highest vibrations because his sensitive Pisces soul will feel it. Thank you so much for loving and caring for him too.”

Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger returned to the big screen leading Netflix’s series FUBAR as Luke, a CIA agent operative who’s forced to return to the field for one last assignment after discovering a family secret.