Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, has revealed the actor’s speech is going amid his three-year battle with dementia.
“Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall, you know. It’s just his brain that is failing him," Heming Willis said. “The language is going, and, you know, we’ve learned to adapt. And we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a... different way.”
Heming Willis, a model and actress, got candid about the struggles that came with her husband’s diagnosis to Diane Sawyer in a preview for the new ABC special Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey that aired Tuesday on Good Morning America.
Heming Willis, 47, has been the primary caregiver for the Die Hard actor, 70, during his battle with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which affects the front and temporal regions of the brain. The family announced he had the disease in 2023.
Willis first showed subtle symptoms through his personality, his wife said. The “girl dad” who was once energetic and talkative became “removed [and] very cold.”
“When the family would get together, he would kind of just, melt a little bit,” Heming Willis said, describing the change as “alarming and scary.” Willis would seemingly lose his words and a childhood stutter reappeared.
Upon the Armageddon actor’s diagnosis, Heming Willis was handed a pamphlet and told that nothing could be done, as there is currently no cure for the disease.
“I was so panicked,” the model said. “And I just remember hearing it, and not hearing anything else. It was like I was free-falling.”
Since then, she has written a book chronicling her experiences titled The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on The Caregiving Path, which is set to release in early September. Heming Willis hopes to give a lifeline to caregivers and to advocate for greater support for those battling dementia.
Heming Willis is unsure whether Willis “ever really connected the dots” on his own diagnosis. Dr. Bruce Miller, a neurologist and leading researcher on FTD, said the experience was common in patients with the disease.
“The patient is incredibly unaware of what is happening,” said Miller. “I think the parts of the brain that allow us to suffer and self-reflect are lost very early in [FTD].”
Heming Willis got emotional when she was asked if there were days when the retired actor returned to his older self. The pair, who married back in 2009, share two young daughters, Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11.
“Not days, but we get moments. It’s his laugh,” she reminisced. “He has such a hearty laugh. And, you know, sometimes you’ll see that twinkle in his eyes.”
“And it’s just hard to see, because as quickly as those moments appear, then it goes,” she continued. “It’s hard. But I’m grateful. I’m grateful that my husband is still very much here.”
Willis is also being supported by his ex-wife, Demi Moore, who he was married to from 1987 to 2000, and their three daughters, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FTD “often leads to changes in personality and behavior.” Dementia is more prevalent amongst older adults, but FTD is also common among younger individuals.
