A Bruce Willis Request During The Sixth Sense Left M. Night Shyamalan Terrified

M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense" is arguably one of the most unsettling horror movies of all time, following a young boy named Cole (Haley Joel Osment) who has the ability to see and speak with the dead. Child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe, played by Bruce Willis, attempts to help him deal with what he believes is mental illness, though he eventually discovers that Cole's talents are all too real. With an incredible twist ending and one of the scariest scenes for kids ever, Shyamalan's 1999 thriller is an all-timer that launched him into mega-stardom right out of the gate. But while "The Sixth Sense" was a box office sensation and ended up becoming one of the biggest films of the '90s, Shyamalan himself (who was virtually unknown and only had a couple of features under his belt at the time) was a bit nervous during production, especially when it came to working with Willis.

Willis, after all, is one of the biggest movie stars of all time and has a bit of a reputation for being intense to work with. Though it happened years after "The Sixth Sense," director Kevin Smith would later call collaborating with Willis "soul crushing" on the 2010 film "Cop Out" because the two had such differing opinions on how to make the movie. Not only that, but he was also John freaking McClane in "Die Hard." Would you want to get on that guy's bad side?

In an interview with GQ breaking down his most iconic films, Shyamalan revealed that there was one moment on the set of "The Sixth Sense" that was scarier than any of its ghosts: he was unexpectedly asked to come see Willis in his trailer.

According to Shyamalan, they were nearing the end of the day while shooting "The Sixth Sense" when Willis felt like they had gotten a usable take and could start to wrap things up. Shyamalan, however, wanted the actor to try things a different way:

"And that's where you decide, that you know, it's weird you know, it feels scary to think that a small little moment like that decides your life. I went, looked at him and I walked forward and I whispered in his ear, and I could feel the tension coming off him [...] like, he was ready to strike. I was like, 'I want you to do one more and I want you to do this,' and I whispered my thoughts. I pull away from him and he kind of looks at me with ice, you know, and I go 'Roll sound, let's go!'"

Willis did the performance as asked, which was the take used in the movie, and then he walked off set. Shyamalan was then told that Willis wanted to see him in his trailer, and the filmmaker was extremely nervous about what might happen. Thankfully, Shyamalan recalled that Willis was thrilled with the fledgling director and gave him a hearty compliment, saying, "What you just did, I've only felt this one time before and it was with Quentin [Tarantino] on 'Pulp Fiction.' You got something kid. You really got something." The filmmaker added that he "skipped down the sidewalk," which is pretty understandable, seeing as he had just been compared to one of the biggest indie directors of the '90s and got a compliment from his movie's massive star. 

Willis would continue to work with Shyamalan several more times after that, appearing in his "Unbreakable" trilogy (aka the Eastrail 177 trilogy) as a security guard who is seemingly impervious to harm. All the same, it's really "The Sixth Sense" where their collaboration shines the brightest, resulting in the best movie of Shyamalan's career.