The Young and the Restless

Soap Veteran Sean Kanan Shoots Not One But Two Films with Bruce Willis

Published by

Michael Maloney

4 years ago

Sean Kanan brought his bad-boy character Deacon Sharpe to both The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless. Now, he’s playing roles in two feature films, both of which star one of the actor’s favorite movie stars — Bruce Willis (Diehard).

Sean Kanan On The Big Screen

“If anyone had told me a year ago that I’d be doing two films with Bruce Willis during a pandemic, I’m not sure I would have believed them,” Kanan tells Soap Hub. “Both of them were directed by James Cullen Bressack. It was a fantastic experience.”

The first film, Killing Field, tells a story about how a man, who is living on a farm, finds his world interrupted when both a policeman and a party of criminals arrive. “I play a bad guy, Ed, who has a Mowhawk,” Kanan reveals. “You think the character is going to be really scary, but he turns out to be the comedy relief.”

In the second feature, titled The Fortress, Kanan plays Vlad, who is described as a scary mercenary. The film tells the story of a retired cop and his son who are forced to save the day after they’re challenged by a group of criminals, hellbent on getting revenge.

For Kanan, these weren’t just a pair of fun roles to play. Getting to work with Willis was a career highlight. “I grew up watching Bruce,” Kanan says, “He’s Bruce Willis! To say that I’ve now worked with him now is incredible. It’s also an honor working with James Cullen Bressack. I’ve watched him grow, doing bigger and bigger movies. He meets the challenge every time.”

There are even more familiar faces in both films. The Fortress also stars Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), Shannen Doherty (Brenda, Beverly Hills, 90210), and Jesse Metcalfe (Miguel, Passions; Christopher, Dallas). “It’s all pretty cool,” Kanan enthuses.

The actor has more good news to share. His Amazon Prime series, Studio City, has been nominated for a 2021 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Limited Drama Series. “It’s really exciting,” Kanan says of his show’s nominations. We did five new episodes at the height of the pandemic. It’s a complete testament to the dedication of our cast and crew.” The 48th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will air on CBS on Friday, June 25th at 8 p.m. and can be seen on streaming platform Paramount+ and on the CBS app.