Bruce Willis' 'Wire Room' Costar Oliver Trevena Says Actor Was 'Humble, Lovely, Brilliant' on Set
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Bruce Willis' Hollywood legacy will be one of kindness.
After the Golden Globe winner, 67, announced his retirement from the industry in March, his Wire Room costar Oliver Trevena tells PEOPLE about working with the "humble, lovely, brilliant" actor on one of his final films.
"That would be one for me on my bucket list. However you see Bruce Willis, he's a legend. I grew up watching Die Hard. I think most people did," Trevena, 41, says. "He's an icon in the action world, in the movie world. So getting to be in a movie with him in a prominent way was, as I say, it's a bucket list checked off."
Hollywood rallied around Willis after he revealed his diagnosis with aphasia, a language disorder that is "impacting his cognitive abilities." Following four decades of adored film and television roles, the actor's family announced he would be "stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him" to focus on his health.
"The guy in general is just a humble, lovely, brilliant man," Trevena says. "I've been in and around Hollywood for a long time now, and I'm always inspired by the people that have been in it for so long and achieved so much, but still treat people with humility and respect no matter who they are."
Courtesy Lionsgate
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
"I just believe in a mutual respect for each other. And you learn that from your peers. So I guess there's lessons I will take from Bruce ... but more in the way of just as a human," Trevena adds.
In Wire Room, Trevena plays gun smuggler Eddie Flynn, who's attacked by armed intruders at his home, while federal agent Justin Rosa (Kevin Dillon) watches and aids him via government surveillance from a room 50 miles away. Willis plays Justin's supervisor Shane Mueller, who has to intervene when things go south.
Filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the production mostly took place with actors filming from separate locations, which presented a welcomed challenge for Trevena.
"And I'm really just wearing an earpiece of having to act like it's all happening without anyone there in front of me," Trevena recalls. "So it was quite a fun adventure. I figured I could have some fun with it, which was part of the reason I signed up."
Lionsgate Movies
Trevena still had a chance to bond with Willis as he arrived to the production early to meet his costars and work on their lines together, praising writer Brandon Stiefer for writing an "interesting" and "very clever" script.
"I came to set early, I would say probably four or five days early to read my lines off camera so that they could see and I could see how we were going to play the scene," he explains. "Because it's all about their energy as well, what they're giving in the lines to what then I would know what to do with mine."
The British actor previously worked with Willis on last year's Out of Death, from the same Emmett/Furla Oasis production team, but Wire Room gave them a chance to collaborate on a deeper level.
RELATED VIDEO: Bruce Willis Has Aphasia and Is 'Stepping Away' from Acting, Family Reveals
"Obviously, having a chance to work with Bruce in a bigger capacity of what I had done before was nice," Trevena says.
Wire Room is now playing in select theaters, digital and on demand.
