Finally Acting His Age, At Least Onscreen

By Rebecca Winters

He may refuse to grow up in real life, squiring a steady string of twentysomethings and throwing raucous parties, but onscreen, at least, BRUCE WILLIS, 50, has been embracing the realities of aging. In Sin City he was a 60-year-old cop on his last mission. Now he adopts a paunch and receding hairline to play another past-his-prime policeman escorting a witness on an ill-fated trek from precinct to courthouse in 16 Blocks, a thriller that unfolds in real time. Willis hand-picked his co-star, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's MOS DEF, after seeing the rapper-actor in the play Topdog/Underdog. For Willis, playing the burnt-out officer "is obviously not a vanity role," says director Richard Donner. But, for the record, "Bruce's gut is mostly padding." Phew. Then he hasn't hurt his shot at an Abs of Steel video.