‘Die Hard’ 30th Anniversary Screening at Nakatomi Plaza Featured Surprise Cast Appearances (VIDEO)
Die Hard celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and to mark the event, Fox not only released a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of the landmark film, they held a special screening at Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles on July 27.
Of course, there is no actual Nakatomi Plaza, but the Fox Tower, which was used in the film, served once again as the fictional company building, just for one night.
Also in attendance were two surprise guests – Reginald VelJohnson (Carl) and Bonnie Bedelia (Holly Gennaro McClane), who spoke to attendees before the screening.
Attendees to the screening were able to win seats through an online contest, and those who went were treated to a goody bag that included – of course – Twinkies.
Variety reports on the screening, and discusses the film with VelJohnson and Bedelia.
“I love to meet intense fans,” VelJohnson said. “They always come up to you and say their favorite thing in the movie, and I’ll have to think a minute to remember what they’re talking about! But I watch it and I see things I didn’t even know were there before. It’s the kind of movie that always surprises you when you watch it.”
Neither actor was looking for a project like “Die Hard” when it came around. For Bedelia, it just didn’t fit into her filmography at the time, which she admits she was somewhat precious about maintaining. It was actually Bruce Willis who turned producers onto her as a possibility.
“I was not looking to do an action movie,” she said. “I said, ‘That’s not me. That’s Sharon Stone or something. I’m just a gal.’ They didn’t want a glamour puss. They wanted someone who was pretty and could look like a leading lady, but had gravitas and you could believe was at a high level at a corporation, and yet could also look like she’d be married to a cop in New York. They were having a hard time casting it.”
Producer Joel Silver ultimately convinced her to take it on. “He said to me, ‘You’re a wonderful actress and you’ve done wonderful work but more people will see you in this movie than the rest of your filmography put together.’”
VelJohnson, meanwhile, was looking to get out of the game altogether. He had been in New York auditioning and performing in plays and was getting tired of the rat race.
“I had an interview at an advertising agency writing copy, and I was going to do the interview the next week,” he recalled. “Then when they called me for this role, I completely forgot about that and said, ‘I’m going to go out to California and do this.’ It was my last chance, so to speak.”
From there his career took off as he landed a starring role in the ABC sitcom “Family Matters,” which would air for the next decade.
Here is raw video from the screening, including interviews with Bonnie Bedelia and Reginald VelJohnson.
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