Hard man roles take toll on Bruce Willis

Hollywood tough nut Bruce Willis has confessed that he's finding it harder to do the stunts he was famed for in his youth.

The 52-year-old said that one stunt in the forthcoming Die Hard 4.0 almost left him without an eye.

"I took a kick to the head," Willis said of one particularly damaging stunt for the film.

"Half a second earlier and it would have taken my eye out. I love all the physical stuff, but the recovery time is a lot longer these days.

"Other guys have taken everything up to another level, doing things I've never seen anybody do."

It has been 12 years since the actor appeared in a Die Hard film.

In the soon to be released film he takes up the role of veteran New York cop John McClane as he battles against a gang of international criminal hackers.