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In Die Hard with a Vengeance, John McClane (portrayed by Bruce Willis) quotes a line from the song Flowers on the wall by the Statler Brothers while speaking to Zeus Carver (portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson)

Zeus Carver: What am I doing?
John McClane: Cheer up. It could be worse. I was working on a nice fat suspension. Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo.

In Pulp Fiction, Butch Coolidge (portrayed by Bruce Willis) is singing along to Flowers on the Wall by the Statler Brothers giving emphasis to the line:

Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo

Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson both starred in Pulp Fiction a year prior to starring together in Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Is there any evidence that filmmakers added this line in the film as a reference to Pulp Fiction? Was this line improvised by Bruce Willis?

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  • Hmm... the line does not appear in one of the first script drafts from 1994
    – Paulie_D
    Jul 21, 2017 at 8:28
  • 5
    Willis is notorious for doing on set whatever he pleases. Kevin Smith has talked about this at length.
    – BCdotWEB
    Jul 21, 2017 at 14:36
  • The lyrics of the song tell you a lot about Willis' characters in the two movies. He's going through some emotional turmoil and he's not doing as well as he lets on.
    – Charles Bruneski
    Feb 16, 2018 at 11:19
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    @CharlesBruneski: That sums up Bruce Willis in pretty much every movie.
    – Flater
    Feb 22, 2018 at 11:40
  • Maybe Willis was more cognizant of the song because of Pulp Fiction, but the song is basically about someone who has nothing to do and idle time on his hands, so maybe that has more to do with it's use than a "shout-out" to Pulp Fiction.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Feb 20, 2019 at 16:05

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