Who Did Bruce Willis Play In The Twilight Zone?

Sometime in the 1970s, the controversial, acclaimed science-fiction writer and notorious curmudgeon Harlan Ellison ("The Outer Limits," "Star Trek") was waiting for a date at a New York City restaurant. Realizing she was running late, he used a phone to try and call her for an update, but the noise of the dial tone and the bustling of a restaurant became a distraction, and he accidentally called his own landline number instead. The phone rang and rang until he realized he had called his own home, and was struck by the fear of how he would have reacted if he had answered the phone at home on the other end of the line. It is, of course, an impossible scenario, but one that became the idea for his short story "Shatterday," in which a man's life and sanity are utterly shattered after he comes in contact with a better version of himself.

It's also the basis for the first segment of the premiere episode of the first season of the first revival series of "The Twilight Zone." The revival came a decade after original show creator Rod Serling's passing in 1975, so Charles Aidman took over narration duties but never appeared on screen. CBS needed "The Twilight Zone" to be a hit after the less-than-stellar response to "The Twilight Zone: The Movie," so starting off strong with a segment inspired by Harlan Ellison's popular short story felt like a no-brainer. Ellis even wrote the opening of the episode, with Alan Brennert ("The Outer Limits," "Star Trek: Enterprise") writing the rest of the teleplay.

To pull off the episode they'd need a strong lead actor but hopefully, one audiences weren't super familiar with. Luckily, the hot new star of a new show called "Moonlighting" was just what they needed. I'm talking, of course, about Bruce Willis.

In 1985, Bruce Willis had not yet become the massive star we know him as today. He had just booked his breakthrough role on "Moonlighting" and had two uncredited film appearances to his resume. "Die Hard" was still 3 years away, so he was certainly not yet a household name. However, "The Twilight Zone" casting department could see that he had the goods, and tasked him with playing Peter Jay Novins — both of them. Peter A is living an unfulfilling life, but Peter B promises that he's going to change it and make it better. As the episode goes on, Peter A starts to deteriorate as Peter B becomes stronger, more positive, and begins fixing all of the problems in Peter A's life.

Peter A watches as he, himself, becomes nothing more than a distant memory — a soon-to-be-closed chapter in the story of Peter B's successful life. Bruce Willis plays both versions of Peter perfectly, expertly waffling between the two various states of being. In the few moments where both Peters are together on screen, Willis plays Peter B while a body double stands-in for the disappearing Peter A. Willis might not have been a leading man just yet, but he took the role very seriously. In the audio commentary for "The Twilight Zone: The Complete '80s Series" it was reported that he went Method for the role, and warmed up before scenes by swearing his face off and punching walls. It was said that he screamed so loudly that he lost his voice and a day's filming was cut short so he could recover. 

Fortunately, the episode was a hit, and Bruce Willis was the perfect actor to usher "The Twilight Zone" revival into the 1980s.