Caffeinated Clint
It’s fair to say, Bonnie Bedelia got Hans Grubered from the “Die Hard” franchise.
A mainstay of the movie series – right up until she passed 40, anyway – Bedelia essentially made her movies as the wife of hero cop John McClane, Holly McClane nee Genero. And audiences loved her; in fact, you can’t imagine the “Die Hard” films she’s in without Holly – she’s the rabbit that keeps McClane’s greyhound running, he gives her something to run towards. Come 1995’s “Die Hard : With a Vengeance”, the role of ‘the wife’ had been downsized to a faint voice on the other end of the phone, and come 200’s “Live Free or Die Hard”, there wasn’t room for Holly -or more importantly, Bedelia – at all. To say the character has been missed from the franchise is an understatement; if Fox really want to ‘fix’ the “Die Hard” series – and maybe it’s too late for that; we did, after all, just see McClane jump onto a fighter-jet that was circling the highway, a couple of years ago – they need to start by reintroducing the elements that made the 1988 original what it was.
Talking to EW’s Inside TV, Bedelia – now a regular on TV’s “Parenthood” – says she doesn’t expect to be asked back to reprise the role of McClane’s on-off missus. As she sees it, the blockbuster movie series doesn’t want an ‘old woman’ – despite the fact their lead is an old man.
“It says something about ageism and women in life, and our society, and certainly in films. It’s now Holly Genero’s daughter that is [in] the Die Hard movies. I understand but.. Bruce Willis is allowed to get bald, and old, but we’re not allowed to see a woman of a certain age? It says too much about how old he is.. if you see his wife? And, you know, I think I look better than he does.”
Though Fox are said to be developing a sixth “Die Hard”, it’s highly unlikely they’ll reverse on their decision to have Holly McClane play a part in the franchise again… but boy, they should. And throw in Al Powell while you’re at it, guys!
Here’s Bedelia in “Die Hard” :
