Bruce Willis on His Favourite Childhood Read – And How It Inspired His Action Hero Persona

If there were a Mount Rushmore for action heroes, Bruce Willis’ face would be chiseled in stone, right alongside the likes of Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Best known for redefining the genre with his everyman-turned-hero John McClane in Die Hard, Willis built a career on sharp wit, rugged resilience, and a whole lot of gunfire. Yet beneath the granite jaw and machine-gun bravado lies a man of more unexpected, literary tastes.

In a 2013 interview with GQ, long before health issues brought an untimely end to his acting career, Willis shared an answer that caught many off guard: his favorite book is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

“Maybe The Hobbit,” Willis said. “That guy has created his own little religion, his own little world. And I think it was great escapism. I just went back and read it again. I always said that it would make a great film. But no film can live up to the images you have in your head when you’re 16 or 17 years old and caught up in the noble actions of the characters.”

When asked if books like Tolkien’s provided comfort during his younger years, Willis reflected, “It was something I could do by myself.” In typical Willis fashion, the comment was delivered with a mix of straightforward honesty and understated sentimentality.

Of course, “that guy” he so casually referenced is none other than J.R.R. Tolkien, the literary titan whose 1937 novel The Hobbit changed the fantasy genre forever. Originally penned as a bedtime story for his children, Tolkien’s tale of dwarves, dragons, and reluctant hero Bilbo Baggins enchanted generations, laying the groundwork for the epic mythology of The Lord of the Rings.

Interestingly, when Willis mused that The Hobbit “would make a great film,” the first installment of Peter Jackson’s sprawling Hobbit trilogy, An Unexpected Journey, had already hit theaters. Though ambitious and visually spectacular, Jackson’s trilogy received a lukewarm reception compared to the near-universal acclaim of his earlier Lord of the Rings adaptations—perhaps proving Willis’ point: no film can quite match the vivid magic conjured in the mind of a teenage reader.

It’s a revealing choice for a man who built his fame on bullets and bravado. You might not expect the star of Armageddon and The Fifth Element to be drawn to tales of dragons and dwarves, but that’s exactly the kind of contradiction that made Bruce Willis so beloved. Tough on the outside, deeply human within, and—clearly—a dreamer at heart.

As we look back on Willis’ career with admiration and bittersweet gratitude, his fondness for Tolkien’s world serves as a reminder: even the fiercest action heroes need a little escapism too.