Cybill Shepherd Opens Up About Ending Her Long ‘Moonlighting’ Feud With Bruce Willis
Back in the 1980s, the primetime show Moonlighting was a massive hit for ABC, blending comedy, romance, and mystery while turning its leads, Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, into household names. The show followed Maddie Hayes (Shepherd), a former model whose business ventures collapse, leaving her with one remaining asset: the Blue Moon Detective Agency. She teams with the agency’s charming, yet slightly chaotic P.I., David Addison (Willis), and the two make a go of it, attempting to get the business off the ground. Together, the duo shared a simmering will-they-won’t-they chemistry as they solved mysteries and topped ratings.
However, behind the scenes was a slightly different story, as tensions reportedly flared between Shepherd and Willis. Their on-screen chemistry may have driven Moonlighting‘s success, but off-camera, the duo seemed to clash.
In an interview with EW, Shepherd said that during casting, she did script readings with 17 actors before Willis. “And I felt no spark with them. But with Bruce, the temperature in the room went 20 degrees higher. For me, anyway.”
However, the duo eventually grew to hate each other. “I remember at one point in the show, it had gotten to where we just hated each other. It was a very volatile show anyway, but that’s also what made it great,” said Shepherd to EW.
MOONLIGHTING, from top: Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis, (1985), 1985-89. © ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection
According to costar Curtis Armstrong, “Yes, Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepard hated each other.”
In his book Revenge of the Nerd: Or…The Singular Adventures of the Man Who Would Be Booger, Armstrong wrote that the two clashed on set, noting, “Bruce and Cybill were called to set at the same moment so that one would not have to wait for the other.” As tensions grew, their fighting worsened: “It escalated rapidly, ending with Cybill flinging a briefcase against the door with a force that shook the set.”
In 2002, Willis was diagnosed with aphasia, which is a debilitating neurological disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate, usually caused by damage to the brain’s language centers. The actor’s family shared the news on Instagram, which also announced his retirement from acting:
“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family, we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration, Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him. ”
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When interviewed by People, Shepherd revealed she reached out to Willis before he went public with his diagnosis and was able to reconcile.
“Yes, I’m very grateful for that,” she said, adding, “Yeah, it was time.”
Following Willis’ diagnosis, Shepherd told Extra: “I will always love Bruce.”
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