Lily-Livered Luvvies

They may blow up skyscrapers and take down teams of terrorists on screen, but at the slightest hint of real danger, Hollywood's heavyweights turn into great big scaredy wusses. That is, according to the head of British Airways. "They want everyone to see their movies and think how big and brave they are," Rod Eddington told The Mirror. "But at the first sign of trouble they cower under their beds like gutless cowards. It's pathetic." A number of Hollywood stars have pulled out of scheduled trips to Britain recently and, while not directly citing a fear of hi-jacking as the reason, one can't help but wonder at the convenience of the vaguely alluded 'family commitments'. Die Hard star Bruce Willis is perhaps the most notable of recent offenders, pulling out of promoting Bandits as part of the London Film Festival, and Eddington had a few less than charitable remarks about the iconic action hero. "This is a guy who makes movies in which he's the hero saving the world. But in real life he's too scared to fly in a plane. Not much of a daredevil, is he? People like him should be setting an example - he and his acting colleagues are powerful role models." While we'll not be the ones to strut around outside the vested one's hotel, flapping our arms in poultry fashion, Empire Online can't help but be disappointed that so many of Hollywood's A-list have suddenly shunned our green and pleasant land. Perhaps it's just that us Brits are made of sterner stuff, but we can