Rumer Willis Continues ‘Kooky Hollywood Legacy’ by Bringing Child to Set (Exclusive)

Rumer Willis is the first to admit she has, in her words, “such a kooky Hollywood legacy.” 

The actress-entrepreneur, 36, is recalling a behind-the-scenes photo taken on the set of a Die Hard movie that starred her father Bruce Willis. “His face is covered in blood and I’m about to give him a smooch,” she says, “looking ever so tender. And he’s just covered in blood and I’m not afraid.”

It was a full-circle moment when Rumer’s 2-year-old daughter Louetta visited during the filming of Trail of Vengeance, a Civil War-era action drama led by Rumer. Just as she used to be unfazed by dad Bruce or mom Demi Moore’s unusual career, so was Louetta. 

“[Louetta] showed up to set and she’s like, ‘Hi, Mommy,’ ” recalls Rumer, who was covered in fake blood at the time. “It didn’t scare her. I was like, ‘Man, I really know that you’re a Willis girl.’ ”

Trail of Vengeance is Rumer’s first movie since becoming a mom, she notes. (She and ex-boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas co-parent Louetta, who was born in April 2023.) “Louetta comes with me everywhere and she’s always on set with me,” says the actress, who also recently appeared on ABC drama Doctor Odyssey. That practice is “in my DNA,” she jokes, “because I grew up this way.”

In fact, Rumer is looking forward to letting Louetta “explore” the various locales actors tend to work in. “I was exposed to so many different people and so many different cultures and languages and just amazing artistry when I was a kid on set,” she says. 

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In Trail of Vengeance, Rumer plays Katherine, a widow and expecting mother avenging her husband’s murder after it’s revealed he’s a Pinkerton spy conducting espionage against the Confederacy. While Katherine is a far cry from her own life, she couldn’t help but uncover similarities as she realized her own power “as a single mom.”

“I had my daughter there with me and there was just a lot going on for me,” Rumer recalls. As she was “going from being in a partnership to being a single mom” in 2024 — asking, “How am I going to figure this out?” — the 1875-era Katherine was “going, ‘I just lost my husband and I have a baby. How am I going to figure this out?’ ”

“It really gave me that sense of, I’m going to stand on my own two feet and I’m going to take charge of my life,” Rumer continues. “I felt like I got to do that in a movie in one way, and I was doing that in my personal life in one way.”

Of course, she adds, in one of those scenarios she’s “going to go kill some people! But it was very cathartic to have an experience of embodying a woman who is discovering herself and discovering her power and how much she’s capable of.”

Calling Louetta “one of the most life-changing experiences of my life,” Rumer adds that motherhood has expanded her emotional range as both an actress and a person.

“It’s totally pushed the boundaries for me of the depth of love that I could experience and really how I relate to myself and my own capabilities, my self-love, my confidence. It’s totally shifted everything for me.” 

Trail of Vengeance is directed by Johnny Remo, who co-wrote it with Daniel Backman. Also starring Gbenga Akinnagbe, Jeff Fahey, Eric Nelson and Graham Greene, the film is in select theaters and on VOD now.