Reginald VelJohnson pays tribute to 'Die Hard' costar Bruce Willis on 'Dancing With the Stars' (original) (raw)

Yippee-Ki-Yay!

Reginald VelJohnson metaphorically (and literally, they put a car on the ballroom floor) returned to Sergeant Al Powell's squad car on Tuesday night's Oscars-themed episode of Dancing With the Stars. Dancing the paso doble with partner Emma Slater to "Ode to Joy," VelJohnson paid direct tribute to his role in the Die Hard franchise and to his costar Bruce Willis.

"Nice memories," VelJohnson told Slater of his time making the original film. "It was my first big film that I was in. It was an experience I’ll never forget. [Willis] was very kind to me in my first major role. I thanked him for that, I always will."

Reginald VelJohnson and Emma Slater on 'Dancing With the Stars'.

ABC

VelJohnson also made a point of dedicating his performance to Willis, who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia last year and has essentially retired from public life. "It's a tribute to my friend Bruce Willis," he said, before making a statement of optimistic confidence regarding his future on the show. "If you think I'm going out on double elimination, then 'yippee-ki-yay mother f--er."

The actor portrayed LAPD officer Al Powell in both 1988's Die Hard and 1990's Die Hard 2. In the original film, Al acts as a moral support and confidante to Bruce Willis's John McClane, staying with McClane over a walkie-talkie through the course of the night. Powell helps McClane with advice and words of comfort as McClane faces off against terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his band of thugs.

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Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" enjoys a major moment in the film when Gruber and his minions finally succeed in their plan to break into the vault at Nakotomi Plaza and steal all the money stored within it. Money flutters around Hans's head as he revels in his success in the aftermath of the explosion used to detonate the vault's door.

VelJohnson and Slater's routine nodded to the events of the film and that particular scene, opening on VelJohnson in uniform next to a cop car calling for back-up. As he and Slater delivered their paso doble, money floated around them in the ballroom. He ended the number delivering Willis's dialogue, "Welcome to the party, pal."

Reginald VelJohnson in 'Die Hard'.

20th Century Fox/Everett

"Ode to Joy" was also famously used in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, as a way to incite its protagonist, Alex (Malcolm McDowell) to moments of ultra-violence (it's also eventually used in his aversion therapy).

In fact, Die Hard composer Michael Kamen reportedly was inspired to use the song because of the Kubrick film. Additionally, the business at the heart of Die Hard is Japanese-owned, and "'Ode to Joy" holds special significance in Japan. It is regularly performed there in December, the month of Beethoven's birth, including in an annual event featuring 10,000 amateur singers.

"Ode to Joy" is the fourth and final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Emma Slater and Reginald VelJohnson on 'Dancing With the Stars'.

ABC

VelJohnson and Slater ended up nabbing 15 points total from the judges, bringing their two-week total to 31 points. The judges were encouraging of VelJohnson's "baby steps" of improvement from the premiere, with Derek Hough commenting, "This is the only place you're gonna see a cop in a cummerbund."

Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.