Although director M. Night Shyamalan had already helmed two movies ahead of 1999's The Sixth Sense, this horror-thriller was the film that really put him on the map. In fact, it earned him Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
However, there was one person in particular who realized just what a talent Shyamalan was ahead of the film releasing in theaters - star Bruce Willis, who portrays child psychologist Malcolm Crowe in the movie.
In an interview with Total Film in our new issue, which is out now and features Alien: Romulus on the cover, Shyamalan recalls a moment between the pair on set, where Willis initially had a cold reaction to a note from the young director.
As Shyamalan recollects: "There was a slightly tense moment in the last thing we were shooting on that Friday where [Bruce] did a line and I had a note. You never know when that moment happens, when you make or break your career, when you become who you’re going to become. I was like, 26 or 27. He gave me the ice look: 'I think we got it.' And I went over to him. He was ice. And I whispered in his ear the note. I said, 'I want you to der-der-der-der'. He kind of looked at me, and I quickly go, 'Alright, roll sound. Here we go!' I didn’t even give him a conversation."
Continuing Shyamalan explains how the actor then "nailed" the scene, but called the filmmaker over to his trailer later that day. Naturally the director was nervous about what Willis would say, so was therefore surprised to receive an incredible compliment as the star compared working with him to collaborating with Quentin Tarantino on Pulp Fiction.
Shyamalan remembers: "I go up, and I knock on the door, and the door opens. I go, 'Hey, did you want to say something?' and he goes, 'I’ve only felt this once before. I felt it on Pulp Fiction, and I just felt it now.' And then he goes, 'You’ve got it, kid.' So I said, 'Oh, thanks!' He closed the door, and I literally skipped down the sidewalk. But that’s who he was. He would test you, and basically say, 'Do you believe in yourself? Because I don’t think you do.' And if it works, it works. If it doesn’t work, you’re dead. And it worked!"
You can read more from our interview with Shyamalan and a whole lot else besides in the new issue of Total Film which is out now on shelves and digital newsstands.
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