'Die Hard' 30 Years Later: Bruce Willis Was 'Distracted' by Demi Moore, Jokes Costar Bonnie Bedelia

30 years after Die Hard swept into theaters one of its stars is spilling a few set secrets

Photo: Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection

It’s been 30 years since Die Hard swept into theaters and star Bonnie Bedelia, has been reminiscing about her favorite memories during filming.

Bedelia, 70, who played Holly Gennaro McClane in the 1988 classic, says that the first thing that comes to mind when looking back on the action thriller isn’t working with star Bruce Willis for two reasons: because they didn’t share many scenes together and also because the former Moonlighting star was a bit distracted by new love interest and future wife Demi Moore.

“When I think back to Die Hard, I think first of Alan Rickman,” Bedelia, 70, tells PEOPLE of the late actor, who played infamous villain Hans Gruber. “I mostly hung out with Alan on the set and we lunched together every day in the Fox commissary.”

Bedelia admits that their friendship blossomed because Rickman was “not only a wonderful actor who I so admired and who was so brilliant as Hans Gruber, but also a lovely, gentle, and invariably interesting companion,” and also because Willis was otherwise occupied.

For much more on Bedelia, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands now

“[Rickman] was who I actually hung out with because, if truth be told, Bruce had just met Demi Moore. So he was kind of distracted a little from me because she was there,” Bedelia reveals, laughing. (Willis and Moore were married for 12 years, from 1987 to 2000.)

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The actress harbors no ill feelings toward the star whatsoever, as she admits distraction is natural when someone is enamored.

“You know when romance is new and everything,” she says with a smile.

Since Die Hard premiered, Bedelia has had a lasting career in film and TV, most notably the films Presumed Innocent and Heart Like a Wheel, and TV’s Parenthood. And playing the Braverman family patriarch Camille in the NBC drama has made her more recognizable to fans nowadays than her previous work.

“Fans say things like, ‘I’ve watched you for years and have loved you in everything you’ve ever done,’” she says. “Which is gratifying to hear.”

Bedelia has kept herself busy by continuing to act, as well as embarking on personal projects closer to her heart, such as painting which she studied as a teenager.

“I still paint, portraits mostly,” she says. “I am currently writing my memoirs — mainly for my children. When I mentioned this to Jane Fonda she said, ‘Yes, of course, that’s why we do it — so we will not be judged so harshly.’ She couldn’t have been more right!”

The Die Hard 30th Anniversary edition is available now on 4K, Blu-ray, and Digital.