Bruce Willis John McClane in "Die Hard", Willis reprised his role in the sequels "Die Hard 2" (1990) and "Die Hard with a Vengeance" (1995). These first three installments in the "Die Hard" series grossed over US$700 million internationally and propelled Willis to the first rank of Hollywood action stars. In the early 1990s, Willis's career suffered a moderate slump, as he starred in flops such as "The Bonfire of the Vanities" (1990). He gained more success with "Striking Distance" (1993) but flopped again with "Color of Night" (1994): another box office failure, it was savaged by critics but did well in
Bruce Willis Sense", which was both a commercial and critical success. In 2000, Willis won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on "Friends" (in which he played the father of Ross Geller's much-younger girlfriend). He was also nominated for a 2001 American Comedy Award (in the Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series category) for his work on "Friends". Also in 2000, Willis played Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski in "The Whole Nine Yards" alongside Matthew Perry. Willis was originally cast as Terry Benedict in "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) but dropped out to work on recording