MovieChat Forums > Moonlighting (1985) Discussion > The Fighting Between Bruce and Cybill

The Fighting Between Bruce and Cybill

posted 11 years ago by Maverikk
6 replies | jump to latest

I always thought it was her fault because of other accounts with her not getting along with co-stars, but I'm not so sure if that was the case. I doubt that they hate eachother, and they may even have a friendship of some sort, but I remember always reading about the infighting while the show was on. She resented him becoming a bigger star than she was. She even commented when he was on the rise that he was just a bar tender a few years ago, as if she didn't feel like he had paid his dues enough to pass her up like he had.

Anyway, I'm watching this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R69XVxZ6ZEo and while they seem friendly, you can feel an odd tension every now and again, and right before the segment ends (starting at 9:15) Bruce gets in a dig at Cybill, thanking her for getting pregnant, which allowed him to do the first Die Hard, and he said "we all know how that turned out".

Was that really necessary? You could tell she knew it was a dig at her, but she remained professional on the camera.

[–] tpcorless 11 years ago

Well, I think over the year, Bruce Willis has shown that he can be a bit arrogant and rude (from that interview where he was snarky to the reporter). Cybill is not innocent but I don't think it was necessary for him to get that dig in. Maybe he was just joking but with Willis, it came across as arrogant.

Having said that, the fighting seemed to add to their chemistry.

[–] richard.fuller1 9 years ago

I liked the show when it began and grew to despise both actors. Well, I won't say it like that, but let's just say if there is ever anything 'guest-starring Cybill Shepherd' or 'co-starring Bruce Willis' I won't be checking it out.

They both became annoying. I think he sees it now, but I've always thought he was dreadful.

Clearly she has some ego as well, as became apparent with Cybill. She tried 'making a joke' when the Emmy nominations were read and she was shown throwing back a bottle, but whatever she planned, it didn't work. She didn't win and she lowered the bottle, then threw it back again, obviously either thinking she would win or startled she didn't.

I also got the impression when she was the same age as Marilyn Monroe when Monroe died in '86, she seemed to think she was the extension of Monroe's life, or she was supposed to get a movie portraying Monroe?

[–] Geek_XX 9 years ago

Cybill clearly had ego issues.

EVen when she had her own show "Cybil" she was always competing against Christine Baranski who was so much better and more popular than Cybil and I believe has won emmys when Cybil never won an emmy.

[–] richard.fuller1 9 years ago

She didn't win for her own show, and yes, Baranski did. I never watched the show, or I think I may have tried one or two episodes and it did nothing for me.

Well, a quick check, Baranski won her first and only Emmy for Cybill, and has since racked up a rather impressive ten nominations since then.

Truthfully, Cybill Shepherd has had one very unique career; promising stardom with Bogdonavich and Picture Show, then nothing, Yellow Rose was a big bomb, got Moonlighting and was shafted by Willis, got her own show named after her and lost it to Baranski.

You'd figure with that much insight, she'd be able to come up with something half-decent.

[–] baileythedog 9 years ago

I'm not sure if you could ever consider them friends of any type -- when I got the DVD set (whenever those came out--2005?) I remember cringing through the special features because they were just so uncomfortable. You could tell that the tension hadn't been fully put to rest or that Bruce and Cybill just plain did not like each other and were appearing just to get this product out.

During the run of the show, most observers blamed Cybill for the set dysfunction, noting that Bruce, as a newcomer, was punctual and professional, if a bit of a party animal in the off hours. (Cybill, after all, managed to get Glen Gordon Canon fired from his own show.) And she was clearly a diva on her own next show.

Having said that, I've read enough about Bruce over the years to think he's matured into an egotistical a$$hole. I was such a huge fan of his from the "Moonlighting" / "Die Hard" days but have gradually tapered off over the years. Not to mention, of the gobs of movies that he's made, I can point to maybe 10-12 that don't totally suck. (A few he has actually been great in. But given his output, the ratio is not impressive.)

Anyway, Cybill is pretty well off the stage and Bruce is a completely annoying person, so my memories of this show remain entirely of the era and I strain to keep any personal knowledge of them tucked away. I wouldn't want to sit across a dinner table from either of them.

[–] grumpy_otter 9 years ago

Anyway, I'm watching this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R69XVxZ6ZEo and while they seem friendly, you can feel an odd tension every now and again,

Overall during that interview, I got the impression that Bruce and Cybill had worked through their differences over the years, or at least that they had mellowed, but that both of them still hated Glenn Gordon Caron. The looks they kept giving him were daggers! And based on what I've heard of his antics, the hate is probably deserved. When he tells the story about the uzi, they don't look amused at all--it was probably too close to the truth.